1999 driver power window repair for Buick Century?

Answer 1

From what I've learned in the process of this repair, if your power window has stopped working, chances are that the part that's broken is the window regulator. It's a bar that runs up and down inside the door, with a sliding part on it that attaches to the window glass and moves up and down said bar. This assembly uses a kind of pulley system and has metal wire running all the way through it. The metal wire is attached to a gear wheel that locks into the window motor mechanism. If you can still hear the motor making noise, but the window won't move, It probably means the wire has snapped and is caught up in the gears. This is why the glass usually falls down into the door, because it has no more support. If you can't hear the motor working, you might have another problem. In my case, luckily, I was able to just replace the regulator without the motor. They are sold together or separately. Another possibility is that the window glass has somehow slipped off of the rubber track which wraps around the window on either end (horizontally) of the door, and guides it as it moves up and down. I'd imagine that would be a pretty easy fix, but would still involve taking the door all the way apart. So in either case, that is going to be your first step. Taking off the door panel: 1.Use a flat screwdriver to pop off the 3''x1'' oval bolt cover in the little pocket on the arm rest. Take out the bolts using a 10 mm socket. 2. Remove the screw that is located behind the door handle. 3. There are white plastic rivets inside of the door panel that attach it to the door. Starting in the lower left corner of the panel, pry under it with a flathead screwdriver until you can see one of the rivets. Pull firmly on that corner. Once you get one rivet out, work your way to the right, then up the right side, and then do the left side, saving the top for last. You DON'T have to waste time being delicate with these rivets, or prying each one with a screwdriver. Why? First, they are pretty durable. Second, they are cheap, and available at most auto part stores. Third, if you break one or two, the door panel will go back on just fine. I took this panel off and on 4 or 5 times while fixing the window, and towards the end, I was taking it off in about 15 seconds. When you get the rivets out of the left side, work the ones in the top corners (these will give the most resistance, since they are the last ones) and then the ones along the top should pop right out. Grab the inside door handle and move it out so that you can get panel free, and then move it out so you can see the wires attached to the electronics. This step will be a little tricky the fist time, but all I can say is have some faith. At first, this step was the biggest hurdle for me in attempting this repair, because I was afraid of breaking something. Don't let it slow you down too much.

4. Disconnect all the wire harnesses that go from inside the door to the electronic switches in the door panel. If you've messed with electronics/sound/computer systems before, this will be pretty easy. If not, spend some time looking at how the harnesses snap together. There is either a wedge that you have to hold down as you firmly pull on the connector to get it out, or a clip that simply must be lifted to get the connector free. There are 5 in all that must be disconnected. First do the one for the little speaker towards the top of the panel. Then, the big one that goes to the power locks. Then, you can probably flip the door upside down to make it easier to get to the ones for the windows and mirrors(the last 3). Congratulations! Once you've gotten the wires free, you can set the door panel to the side! You're about 1/3rd of the way done. Next, you must remove the faulty regulator by disconnecting the entire motor/regulator assembly. Don't worry, its not as hard as it looks. First, remove the large speaker in the bottom right corner and disconnect the wire harness. Next, peel the sheet of plastic off of the door, and as you do this, try to take as much of the black gunk that holds it on with it. This stuff is actually a pretty good adhesive. Its not as messy as it looks, and will stick to the metal just as good when you put it back on. Set the plastic to the side. Now you can look at the regulator. It's the assembly in between the two layers of the actual metal door frame. It consists of the 1.)Vertical Bar, the attached 2.)Window Bracket that runs up and down the vertical bar and is in turn attached to the 3.) Window Glass, the 4.)wire that runs throughout the assembly, and the 5.) Motor/Gear wheel assembly, which is held in place by a bracket just under and to the right of the inside door handle. Take a minute to inspect this entire assembly. If you trace the wire, you will most likely be able to find where it has snapped, and you have found your problem. If it hasn't snapped, it may have slipped off one of the wheels in the pulley system, but is most likely still tangled up in the gear wheel. You can now see that the regulator is bolted to the door in 3 places. 1. The motor assembly, under and to the right of the inside door handle. 2. At the top of the door under and to the left of the inside door handle 3. At the bottom of the door Time to remove the faulty regulator: Grab a screwdriver with a large star bit. Start at the Motor. Remove the three bolts that hold the Motor/Gear wheel bracket to the door frame. Now pull out the motor and undo the three bolts that hold together the gear wheel and the motor. You will feel some spring tension as you get to the last bolt. This is where you can see how the wire has become tangled in the gears, if that happens to be your problem. Once you have removed the plastic gear wheel, make sure to save the motor and the bracket. These will house your new regulator.

Next, at the top of the door, remove the metal piece that supports the arm rest. It is held on by a star bolt and a regular bolt. Next remove the third bolt that is to the left of that piece. Now raise the Window Glass to a level where you can detach it from its bracket. It's held on by a star bolt on either side of the Vertical Bar. Once you've done this, set the window glass all the way down inside the door. Lastly, remove the bolts that hold the regulator at the bottom of the door. It should be completely disconnected. Remove the regulator by turning it horizontally and taking it straight out, motor and all. Great! Now you're almost done! To install the new regulator: First, on your new regulator, observe where the wires are insulated, running from the motor to the top of the vertical bar. Notice that they criss-cross. This is the only way the motor fits back in the way it's supposed to, and apparently is part of the design. It may look weird, but from what I've read elsewhere, is correct. Now the new gear wheel should slide right in to the motor, and can be screwed back together. After that, attach the bracket to the Motor/Gear wheel assembly. Insert the entire regulator into the door, Motor first. Re-attach the motor bracket to the door. Now attach the vertical bar at the bottom of the door. To move the window bracket in a position where you can attach it to the window glass, you'll want to reconnect the wire to its switch on the door panel. I found it helpful to also prepare the window glass by propping it up, in a favorable position, using a wooden shim. **When you reattach the glass to the bracket, make sure that the glass is positioned to move freely into the rubber tracks of the window (the space where the glass sits when it is "up") If the glass doesn't reach the rubber track on the short side of the window when you are reattaching it, make sure that you compensate for this by guiding it in place when you go to put the window up. You may want to check this by reconnecting just the window controls from the door panel before you put the whole panel back on.

Once that's done, reattach the vertical bar and the arm rest support at the top of the door. Congratulations! You should now have a functioning power window! You can now replace the plastic and big speaker, and lastly put the door panel back on by popping the rivets in place and replacing the bolts and screw. You're done!