This is a continuation of my original article and includes videos.
I had first looked at the control module. I don't think it would be possible to trouble shoot this effectively unless you were very determined. I looked for the obvious, bad solder joints, spider nests, corrosion, missing, damaged bits. Here is a good look inside. Mine was fine.
This is an explanation of the regulator together along with a folded view, the way it is inside the door as well as laid out on the bench so it is a bit easier to understand.
An examination of the failed motor. It still worked, went down with help but needed a lot of help to go up. Turns out it was rusty. Very strange considering the condition of the inside of the door. Where did the water come from?
A test of the new motor in the regulator before installation into the door.
As I said earlier, this is not a how-to, but a few notes about my experience, in case it helps you. I did not find much on the web when I had to do mine.
George Plhak
Lion's Head, Ontario, Canada
9 comments:
Hi, it seems that I now, suddenly, have the same problem with my 2012 Ford Focus and this is the best information that I found on the internet, for this fact I want to thank you very much for your time to put all this info together for other needed people like me! All the best to you!
George from Romania
Thank you!
I want to say that I too found this to be the most helpful (and comprehensive) post on this subject. Since my window was stuck in the up position, I also benefitted from an older thread in the uk that suggested tapping the motor housing while holding the switch in the down position. In order to do this on my 2012, I had to remove the speaker but I met with success! Sounds like these armatures are prone to fouling or corrosion, which leads to this type of failure. In any event, thanks for the excellent post; my next step will be to remove the motor to see if I can clean it in lieu of replacement.
Rich in Maine
Thank you Rich!
I too have a 2012 Ford Focus and the front driver side window motor went out. I tried searching YouTube but had no luck. I found your blog and it was what I needed to complete the job. I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to put this helpful info out to read.
HEy George, thanks for the writeup and the videos. Very helpful. Just wanted to ask you, can you not get the motor out of the door unless you remove the entire regulator?
Hi Chris. I don't think you can get the motor out of the regulator while it is still in the door. I took the whole assembly out because I did not know it was the motor that was at fault, nor did I know then that I could buy the motor separately from Ford.
Helpful write up and I hoped your techniques would work with mine but sadly the motor was stuck fast so the only way to get the window down was to cut the cable.
After that the 'new' one was in and door reassembled in 10 mins, typically pulling the motor apart showed the armature had seized and spinning it by hand got it working again.
From Stan in NH, another way to free the clips using a metal ruler:
Your write-up and videos were most helpful to me since I had to deal with this problem but for me, it was the front passenger side door that the motor seized up on. I also had the window stuck in the "up" position. I chose not to cut the wiring harness to try hot-wiring the motor. I DID find a fairly easy solution to getting the regulator out of the door, even with the glass stuck in the "up" position.
Between your videos, other YouTube videos and the comments on the first page of this write-up, I discovered the clips holding the glass were just a spring fit, if you will, holding the glass with a pin molded into the plastic clip. I discovered that by removing the weather stripping on the outside of the door, I had access to the clips with a long, thin metal strap; a putty knife is just a little too short and a screw driver might be too thick to get the shaft down between the glass and the outside door sheet metal. Whatever you use, it needs to be rigid. I used a metal ruler.
Use 2" duct tape or masking tape to tape the glass in place at the top of the window; in this situation, too much is never enough! You don't want the window to suddenly drop and shatter! Once the window is taped, remove all of the bolts holding the regulator assembly to the door.
This next part is easier with 2 people. On the outside of the door, have the 1st person slide the end of the metal ruler down the glass, wedging it between the glass and the clip on that side of the glass; the goal here is to push that side of the clip apart from the glass enough to disengage the pin molded into the clip. Depending on how thick your metal ruler (or whatever you're using) is, it may already be disengaged. If not, simply twist the ruler slightly to push the clip further away from the glass until the pin is disengaged. At the same time the 1st person is doing this, the 2nd person pulls down slightly on the regulator track connected to the clip being released; it should slide off easily. If not, then the 1st person needs to work a bit more to get the clip pushed away from the glass with the ruler. Once you get the first clip off, move to the other clip and follow the same steps to release the 2nd clip. Now you can pull the window regulator out and do what you have to do.
If you trust the tape holding the glass in place, you're done until it's time to re-assemble the door. If not, I would suggest having 2 people to carefully remove the glass from the door and set it aside for safekeeping. I did not remove mine but I don't think it would be too difficult to remove once the regulator is out of the way. In any case, if the car is going to be outdoors for any length of time (a couple of days or more?), I would get a large trash bag and slip it over the door and fasten it in place to keep inclement weather out of the car for whatever time the door is left disassembled.
Hope this helps the next person trying to fix their poorly designed Focus regulator motor!
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