Car Door Window Motor

Power windows are almost universal in modern vehicles, and if a window doesn’t go up and down, the electric motor that supplies the power could be at fault.

The window motor is mounted inside the door panel and attached to the regulator, the mechanical assembly that does the heavy lifting to raise and lower the window.

Power windows may not work for a variety of reasons, but one way to check if the motor is at fault without disassembling the door is to activate the power window switch.

If you don’t hear anything, the motor or switch is probably bad. If the window raises and lowers slowly, the motor could be worn or the window tracks could be gummed up.

If you can hear the motor but the window doesn’t move, the fault could be in the regulator, damaged wiring or a bad control module. Other possible causes to check before deciding you need a new window motor include the fuse or relay for the power windows, but if either of those has blown none of the windows will work.

Motors aren’t usually that expensive to replace, but as with other repairs the labor time can greatly add to the cost because the door panel needs to be removed and the power window hardware removed.