Driver's Side Window of Car Stopped Working

Pepper said:
Not so fast! Sure you can!
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Many years ago, I wrote a poem for my Dad to be read at a Father's Day Bar-B-Q, devoting each verse to a member of the family. We each read our verse to him, and part of mine went:

"...Dad, there's something that I need for you to do-
I broke this thing, and it belongs to you..."

So, yeah, Pepper, you are correct.
 
Deb, did you check out windshield repair shops? They may not list this in their ads but they‘d sure know how to do repairs to any window in a car.
 
debodun said:
I asked the woman who came to buy some items I had for sale if she knew any local window repair places. She said, just get Safelite - they come right to your house. The soonest they can come is May 29th, so I took that slot.
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Deb are you sure they do that kind of repair? I would ask so you don't waste money on a service call and delay the repair further.
 
debodun said:
2002 Honda civic LX sedan. I was driving when I heard kind of a rattling thunk and though I had run over some road debris and didn't think any more about it. When I got home, I went to put up the widow and it went up about half way and slid back down. Now it doesn't move at all. I tried to raise it manually, but when I let go, it slides back down. When I press the door control button it makes a whirring noise for about 3 seconds and stops. What's wrong with the old paint shaker now?
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It is a complex DIY problem. If you don't have a lot of DIY experience, just take it to a mechanic. Anyone who works on foreign cars should be able to do it. Should probably cost between $300 and $500. Can look up an estimate here: Car Repair Estimates | Auto Shop & Mechanic Reviews - RepairPal
 
debodun said:
I tried to make an online appointment with a local shop that has done work for me before, but no slots available until next week. I hate to take it to the dealership. I feel like they're overpriced and everything for them is "labor intensive". If they have to turn a screw a few times it's labor intensive. ;)
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Oh please don't! It will cost you 2x or 3x as much there and it's not that tough of a job!
 
Tape up that window for your delivery with plastic. Probably your only hope until the repair.

When I bought my car I wanted a car with manual windows. They call that a "stripped down" model. I didn't care. My previous car had power windows and I had nothing but trouble with them. I had only one window I could trust enough to go back up the last few years. I was so grateful to have a driver side window I could now roll up and down.

I don't even know if they make manual windows now.
 
Long ago, we had a 24-year-old diesel Mercedes that my parents had bought new in Germany. It was a flake of rust on wheels by the time they gave it to me. All of my younger sisters had wrecked it at some point. But it kept on going, so I kept on keeping it.

One day the driver's window fell down into the door and wouldn't crank back up. I removed the upholstered part of the inside of the door and the cranking mechanism was too far gone for repair. Couldn't find another part from the junkyard and the repair place didn't have the part but could order it from Germany for an obscene price.

I realized that there were holes I could insert a big thick bolt into the mechanism and that would hold the window either closed or 3/4 of the way down. So that's what I did. If I needed to lower the window to use a drive-thru, I just reached down (having left the upholstered part of the door off), grabbed the bottom of the window, pulled the bolt out and eased the window down. Then I'd move the window back up if needed and insert the bolt in another hole. It worked and it was ..... free..... "Free" was very, very important to me back then.
 
Murrmurr said:
She said the motor is "whirring" so I'm sure that part is fine.

I think a screw came lose ....from the assembly, not Deb's brain.
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Maybe it's whirring, whatever that is, but the gear is stripped. Otherwise, I would guess its' a track issue which is professionally called the door regulator on Domestic automobiles. I have replace them also. If someone chooses to replace it their self, I would recommend allowing yourself some time and take it slow. It can be a bit of a nuisance taking the old one out, but pay attention to the details of the alignment.
 
I've had it happen twice to me..Once here when the window of my previous car fell down just as you describe... the garage fixed it without any problems.... and the other time when my car was broken into in Spain they smashed the passenger side window, and there was nothing left of the glass... again... I took it to a local village Garage... and at the time I couldn't speak more than a dozen words in Spanish... but I didn't need to they could see the problem and fixed it , and I was able to pick up the next day this was the Spanish car after the repair

rover-car-spain-2005.jpg
 
debodun said:
I had a message on my answering machine that Safelite cancelled my appointment. I called them back and the agent said it was because they don't repair regulators. Their web site clearly states that they do. I think the real reason is they don't carry parts for a 22 year old car. I bit the bullet and made an appointment with a Honda dealership.

View attachment 347592
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Actually it says "service FOR your power window regulator", it doesn't say they replace regulators, easy to see the confusion though. I'm surprised they cancelled the appointment, could be as simple as a bolt or rivet fell out of place which can be repaired without replacing the regulator.
 
C50 said:
I'm surprised they cancelled the appointment, could be as simple as a bolt or rivet fell out of place which can be repaired without replacing the regulator.
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I agree, the problem could be ANYTHING affecting the operation of the window from electrical to mechanical. They seem judgmental in making an assumption before even determining the cause of the malfunction.

Another factor is that Safelite would have to make a 60 mile round trip to come. The nearest one is in Queensbury, NY.

I tried taping clear plastic over the window, but working with what I had on hand, it didn't hold. As soon as I went over 30MPH, it was snapping like a flag in a hurricane and it peeled off twice.
 
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Tomorrow's the day to go to Honda. They used to have computers in the waiting area with Internet access, but they did away with that years ago. A few reasons I can think of - 1) people were abusing the privilege. 2) most people now have cell phones with Internet access. They still have shuttle transportation, but the driver will only take you one way - either home from the garage or from your home to the garage, which doesn't make any sense to me. 🤔

It's gonna be a LONG day.
 
debodun said:
Tomorrow's the day to go to Honda. They used to have computers in the waiting area with Internet access, but they did away with that years ago. A few reasons I can think of - 1) people were abusing the privilege. 2) most people now have cell phones with Internet access. They still have courtesy transportation, but the driver will only take you one way - either home from the garage or from your home to the garage, which doesn't make any sense to me. 🤔

It's gonna be a LONG day.
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Do you like to read?

;)
 
debodun said:
I used to, but vision changes make it more difficult for close-up purposes.
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Some dealership waiting rooms have TVs, too.

Anyway, I hope they do you right and fix the window without charging you an arm and a leg. At least they never charge anybody a couple of eyeballs...although, if they did, I'm not sure they'd consider yours a fair trade.
 
debodun said:
Diagnosis on car window - bad regulator. Bad news - the car dealership didn't have the part needed - they have to order it and it will take several days. I have to go back next week. I hope the weather holds up. Bottom line to fix including "diagnostics" - $460.
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it's the damn labour that hikes the price so high.... dealerships are the most expensive. Ideally You needed to order the part yourself and find a back street mechanic to do the repair
 

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