This week both window regulators front and back on the driver's side went out. I don't have the money to buy new ones. My dad replaced one of his a few months ago so he has an idea what to look for. I know it's better to buy new, but he offered to go to the junkyard to pull two used ones to work until I can buy new ones. Other than doing the job twice which sucks, is this workable? I repeat, I know new is better, but after smog, registration, and insurance all this month, I'm broke and I need to roll my windows up, even here in Southern California.

 

Yeah...just get a few used units from the j-yard,you never know they may last for years..

 

a suggestion: if your motors are good, and the regulators are bad, find out if the jy you go to will charge less for regs w/o the motor. save some cash mebe...

 

Driver front

Driver rear

Both are under $25 including shipping. That's less than $50 total and the L front has a new motor with it. What does a boneyard charge, like $15 each? It's not that much more for new ones.

Oh, when I got mine, my driver side was slow and I got one with a new motor. I am VERY glad I did.

 

Don't go to the boneyard for these regulators. From posts here it (and my experience) the plastic slide on these regulators all last this long and then the plastic breaks down. My front drivers window broke, then like 3 weeks later the passenger side broke (both were the plastic regulator slide crumbling). If you get a similarly aged regulator from the bone yard it should fail pretty soon now. Only if you can find a junk car with a new regulator installed, do you have a chance of success.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ndow+regulator post #16

 

I have a feeling this person in that post (and several others in subsequent posts) didn't install the regulator correctly.

When I did my front one, I lined up the bolt exactly where the previous bolt was and my window would not roll all the way up. After a couple hours of throwing things and cussing, I realized that they are designed to be adjusted by tightening the bolt in a certain area. After adjusting it, it is perfect and like new.

I bought that regulator off of ebay and the other one came from you through another member that wrecked his car. It was only like 3 months old when I bought it.

I would still recommend buying from you, since you are a long-time trusted member and car parts pimp, but the OP was complaining about price, even though a couple of regulators is just a little more than the cost of a tank of gas.

 

every time I've done one there were no adjustment necessary. they just bolted in and go.

 

Where can we find them for 50.00 new? Here in the Los Angeles area, the cheapest price he could find was 86.00 at a dealership. All of the other dealerships he called could only get it as a special order item and some of them wanted to charge as much as 120.00 for the passenger side front. That's why I thought used regulators would be cheaper for a car that's costing me a lot of money in repairs, insurance, and registration that at this moment I don't have for all three. Not complaining or crying- it's just the situation at the moment.

My dad thought that I could get one of those plastic hooks that stick to the window and tie some string to it and tie that to the handle above the rear door to hold the window up until I get the money to get the proper part. Would that work?

 

i used a metal coat hanger.
bent to an "S" shaped (ok, a "Z" shape really...) hooked one end under the window, the other end i bent over the metal lip that is covered by the inside door panel, two per window.
I have had mine on both rear doors, because i never have more than one person in the car, and they've lased almost 6 months and are still holding.
hope you can get yours fixed sooner than i can.

 

Just get them off of ebay for $30 a pop. Install and be done. I've had mine on for over a year with no problems what so ever.

 

Brian > ebay he has fast shipping and if you need anything hes always on here. Its $10 more but it has a more reliable seller and if you have any problems I'm sure he'd take care of you.

~Alex

 

Or that... Probably who I'll be getting my CV Axles from in the future...

 

1. as other people pointed out I'm $40ish for them each
2. I actually used packing tape in a loop that went from the outside of the window, oever the top of the door to the inside of the window to hold mine up when I was replacing my regs on my first VE. I did the replacement over the course of several days in between phone calls at work. the tape held it up in 80 mph runs, with NO regulator inside the door

 

I'll be waiting

 

make that 2..i still need a d-side axle..

 

need a link ?

 

Naw,i got it..

 

I got new regulators from a dealer in NorCal for 60 bucks. I say shop around, or buy from the person ^^ up.

A metal coat hanger will hold up that window for a long time, you'll be surprised. A friend with a VE 5-speed has a rear window propped up like that for a few years now. He rarely has more than 1 other person in his car, so he hasn't bothered fixing the regulator.

 

i went and got mine at the j-yard for cheap..almost free..

 

Gotta say if you go the eBay route, I had bad luck with the regulators for both front windows buying from seller "am-autoparts" - the regulators were like 1/2" too tall or something for my 1994 GXE.

Next time I'm in Knoxville I'm gonna head to the Pull-A-Part.. $20 for regulator + motor + 30 day warranty!

 

Well did the new parts look exactly like the old ones? Even if they didnt, they should've at least matched in size. If you went ahead and installed seeing that they were 1/2" too tall then thats not the sellers fault rather yours for not letting him know it was the wrong part and attempting to make something else fit. Oh well too late now

 

BlooToof:
Well, when you advertise that a part is gonna fit on a 89-94 maxima, I'm gonna assume it's gonna fit. Or at least that it's a reasonable chance I'm getting the part listed. They looked about right on the ebay page to me (so chalk it up to bad judgement?).. If you order from just about anyone you put some trust that they're shipping you the right part and all that. Don't you take the same risk buying stuff from Autozone and the like too? I understand you're still gambling to some degree, and I lost.

Either way I am not necessarily blaming the seller. Did I actually say that anywhere in the post? Instead I'm warning of a bad experience that I had. I got some parts, they didn't fit. If you read my post I listed which doors (both fronts), exact year and model of my car. The OP might be looking for some regulators, and I'm just relaying what happened to me..

 

Yea I know but all I'm saying is that even though it said 89-94, people can make mistakes and normally when you're replacing aomwthing it is almost standard practice to compare the removed part to the new part prior to attempting install, but dude dont get defensive, I'm not Just be more careful next time so you dont get ripped off

 

Hah, interpreted your message wrong. Sorry man.

Pretty much didn't know what the regulator looked like til it was out, so by then it was too late Ah well, lesson hopefully learned.

 

try more parts stores (carquest, napa, or whatever's in your area) or go online. If you do the junkyard thing be sure to clean the regulator cables and regrease it, then leave your windows up till your situation allows you to buy the parts.

 

Just a little heads up, if you are going to the junkyard, make sure that you check the part there so that you can get a refund! I had to go through three of those parts there only to leave disappointed because none of them were better than the one that I had already in the car. Take my opinion; get new or damn near new. This is a part that you do not want to skip on.

 

so, the passenger and driver window regulators are out in my car, is it necessary to buy the regulator along with the motor? or will just the motor do?

 

if the motor is good, no need to buy both.

 

no clue what good is considering, working or not?

driver side moves down kinda... doesnt move up at all (not enough power?)

synopsis?

 

If the regulator is bad, you will be able to hear the motor working in the door, but the window will get stuck, fall down some, have to be "pulled up" while holding the button, etc. While if the motor is bad or dying it will barely make a "rrrrr" when activated, and/or there is no power or noises.

 

guess my motors are okay, no "rrr" noise... just not alot of movement.

 

Could be the regulator. Sometimes when it is getting ready to go, it is intermittent from what I have experienced. I had one that would always go down, but would not always go back up.

 

I've been driving with my driver window taped up since Summer.

I was late for school one day, and I always have to open my car from the passenger side or the alarm will go off. Anyway, I open the door, start it, and close the door, the car locks So I say okay, its just tape, but the tape was frozen on there for good, so I ran inside, grabbed a screw driver, and pushed down, and the tape finally broke.

 

My passenger front goes down but will usually not go up unless I sit there for 20 minutes praying it will go back up. Is this more likely a regulator or the motor. When the window does finally go back up, it doesn't seem to strain or have any issues motorwise. Could the regulator cause it to go down but only go up intermittenly? Thanks!

 

More than likely it's the master controller @ the driver's door that's intermittent! Test it by applying power to the regulator with the master disconnected, reversing the polarity will make it go the opposite direction. if it goes up and down consistantly your problem is in the master control panel....

 

I agree with him. If there's no struggling or slowness then its most likely the switch

 

Okay. To apply power to the motor/ regulator that I am checking do I pull the panel off and directly apply power to the motor by just using a hot wire off of a 12v battery or something? Thanks for your help guys, this is starting to drive me nuts.

 

that's exactly what you do (or at least what I did), you might need to ground it though, I can't remember if I did or not

 

i dont get these high prices? i have looked at www.rockauto.com and they range from about 20-34dollars.