Procedures for Replacing the Power Window Motor in a Ford Ranger

[dboner1@msn.com]

Note: I developed these procedures while working my way through replacing my power window motor on my 1999 Ford Ranger in February 2008.

1. Remove the two screws under the door handle. After this, you should be able to pop the door handle and power controls section off of the door. Additionally, there is a screw in the bottom left corner of the door panel that needs removed prior to lifting the door panel off. See Figure 1 - Door Handle Screws.

2. After you have popped the handle and controls section off of the door panel, you will see the cables for the controls connected to the door panel. You will need to disconnect the power locks and power mirrors – they both have click locks. For the power windows, you can disconnect the unit by unscrewing the two screws next to the wiring or you can pop out the entire assembly. Either way works. See Figure 2 - Power Control Cabling.

3. Once you have the control panel removed and controls disconnected, there will be one screw that will need to be removed as noted in Figure 3. After you have removed this screw, the door panel can be removed. To remove the door panel, you need to lift (push up) the door panel about 1 to 2 inches and the pull the panel off the door. It goes up really easy and off really easy. If you are having to force it, something is wrong. See Figure 3 - Last Door Panel Screw.

4. The last step you need to complete to gain access to the power window motor is to remove the protective cover. The cover is on the door with an adhesive – similar to tape. I recommend removing it slowly and setting it to the side somewhere. This leaves the adhesive intact and makes it easy to put back on when you are done. See Figure 4 - Inner Door Protective Cover.

5. Hopefully when the motor failed, the window was up, however it most likely wasn’t. I was unable to locate any procedures for getting the gear loose and sliding the window up. I ended up loosening the motor and freeing the gear. At this point, I lifted the window and secured it in the up position. There are a several ways that you can do this. You can use duct tape to tape it up or you can do what I did and push a screwdriver up into the slide to hold it in place (as noted in the upper left corner of Figure 5).

There are four screws that need removed – each of these screws is pointed to by the three blue and one red arrows. One important note: The hole that you see above for the red screw did not exist. I fought with this for about 10 minutes trying to loosen the bolt by squeezing my wrench and fingers through the two tiny holes. The problem is that there is zero room to maneuver. I ended up getting frustrated and drilling a hole in the panel as observed in Figure 5 and pointed out by the red arrow. I bored the hole just enough to get a ratchet into the hole. Once I did this, it took about 5 seconds to remove the motor. See Figure 5 - Power Window Motor Access.

6. To reassemble, simply reverse the directions. One other note. I paid $45 for the replacement part from O’Reilly Auto Parts (O'Reilly Auto Parts - Home) – that includes turning the bad motor in for $20 - Autozone wanted $75. Didn't bother with Ford - sure it was twice the price.

[dentil]

Thanks for your post and pictures. My driver side window stopped suddenly the other day. After searching and finding your post I decided to at least try to attempt the repair. The only thing different from mine was that lower left mounting bolt (left blue arrow on the last picture) was a rivet that I had to drill out. A pleasant surprise for me was that after taking out the motor I plugged it back in to the circuit and it worked. Then I re-installed it and it still worked. It must have been a dirty contact or just a dead (weak) spot in the motor. Anyway, thanks to your post, my window is fixed for $0 at least for now.
Dennis