How do you change a power window motor on a Pontiac Grand Am?

Answer 1

I just completed this job on a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am SE, 2 door. It's not fun. First you'll have to remoe the door panel and all the little pieces: Remove the little plastic slide piece that locks the door (I'm assuming if you have power windows you have power doors too) Then remove the plastic cover under the door hande. (Pry up with a flathead screwdriver) This will reveal a bolt/screw that needs to be removed. Then pry up the plastic cover that the power door lock switch is on. Disconnect the wire and set the plastic cover aside. Then remove all the screws along the bottom of the door trim. Remove two srews in a triangular plastic cover, up by the top of the door, by the window and then remove the plastic cover. Pull out the door panel along the front and back, (it's only connected now by plastic clips/pins.) Pull up on the door panel and it should become loose. You'll have to losen the seat belt to pull the panel away from the door. The panel will remain connected to the door by the seat belt. This is a pain and will keep the door trim in your way the whole time! Carefully pull down the clear plastic vapor barrier. The window should be halfway down. The lifting arm will be attached to the glass window with two bolts, one on each side. loosen, but do not remove the bolts. (Move the window up and down a little to get it in the best position to reach the bolts.) Be very carful not to break the glass. Disconnect the window from lifting arm after you've loosened the bolts, by pulling down on the lifting arm or use the power window switch to move the lifting arm down a little. Tape the window up to the frame so it doesn't fall down while your working. There are two bolts attaching the botom of lifting arm to the door frame, remove them. Disconnect the wire clip from the window motor. The Power window motor is attached with 4 rivits. You will have to drill them out and then chop off the rivit heads with a chisel or screwdriver to remove the rivits. The whole assembly can now be removed through the large opening in the door. The window motor is attached to the lifting arm with 3 rivits, they will also have to be drilled out. ***Danger*** the lifting arm is attached to the motor with a large tightly wound spring. This must be secured or locked in place with a hole drilled in the unit and a bolt inserted or it will spring apart and may cause injury!! Also it will be impossible to re-attach the spring correctly if it does come off. Remove the motor and replace it with the new one. The new motor comes with it's own screws so use them to re-attach the new motor to the lifting arm, instead of rivits. Re-install the unit in the reverse order. The motor will have to be mounted to the door frame with 4 new rivits. There is no space to use bolts or screws. . I learned it the hard way. Ouch.

This is my tale for a 97 SE.

I started by taping the window to the window frame using packing tape. I have tinted windows so I put the tape on the outside of the window and over the doorframe. Put something between the tape and the rubber trim, the tape will leave residue on that. Then loosen the two bolts that hold the window to the regulator. Disconnect the wire harness at the top of the motor. Then drill out the four big rivets, starting with a 1/8 inch then 1/4 inch bits. I used Craftsman Zirconium Nitride Coated Drill Bits. Go slow and shoot a little WD-40 to help, it takes a while to get them out. When the last rivet falls out, the regulator will collapse so mind your fingers. Try not to make the actual hole in the metal any bigger that it already is. Then remove the two bolts that go to the bottom of the regulator. The whole assembly will now slide out one of the big holes in the sheet metal, and no, you don't need to cut any metal. You can buy the motor with a new regulator already assembled, or just the motor. I got just the motor on eBay for $40. There are cheaper ones but I wanted a good one. If you just get the motor, you'll have a little more work. Drill out the four rivets holding it on to the regulator. You can either rivet the new one on or just use four small machine screws, that's what I did. It won't hurt to put a little grease in the tracks now either. Slide the whole assembly back in and attach the two bottom bolts then the two that hold the window to the regulator. Attach the wire harness and power the motor back and forth until one of the holes that you removed the rivets from is in alignment with the holes in the new motor. When you get one bolt in, power the motor a little in either direction to get the other holes in alignment. Now the tough part, getting the fat little bolts in those holes and getting a nut on it. I think I used 1/4 X 3/4 inch bolts. I got them at Home Depot but there's a better selection at auto parts stores. If you want to spend the money, you can get the big rivets and a big rivet gun, but I didn't think it was worth it. I've had the one window in for over a year with just the 3 bolts and it's holding fine. You can only access 3 holes in the motor if you're using bolts to attach it. If while drilling out the rivets you made the holes bigger, you may need to use a washer. Get one in, then power the motor a little at a time until the other holes are lined up and get at least three bolts in. Get them as tight as you can using locking nuts. Try putting the bolt in from either direction to see which way works best. The first time I did this, it took me over 4 hours. The second window, 90 minutes. Now you can go through the drive thru again.