magconpres

1992 G20
The drivers window on my g20 wouldn't roll up all the way. I replaced the motor and that fixed the problem. But there is about an inch of vertical play in the window. If i grab the glass I can move it up and down about an inch. The glass is mounted solidily to the regulator.

Do I need a new regulator?

I'm assuming the play is either somewhere in the regulator between the regulator segment gear and the motor gear.

loopedr1

you are correct about where the movement is...a little movement is normal as when the motor switches direction. i probably have about an inch of play in all my vans. its normal...

magconpres

Thanks looperdr1.
I did order a new regulator just in case, but can always return it. I don't feel much motion at the sector gear when I move the window up and down, but there is some. I suppose it's gets magnified due to the length of the regulator arm Pocking around in the door, I also realized that the sash is nearly rusted out. So I figure I may as well replace that as I have the panel off and am into this whole window thing. So I need to remove the window.

My plan was to first remove the regulator and then lift the window out. The instructions I found (https://www.justanswer.com/uploads/m...230318_dpR.pdf) say to :
Raise the window and tape it up
unbolt the regulator (with motor still attached) and slide it backwards to disengage it from the window and door channel.
then remove the front roller (I assume by sliding forward...not clear there).
Then collapse the regulator (I assume to do this by hand as I'm supposed to have the battery disconnected at this point.
Remove Regulator with motor attached.

I'm stuck at sliding the regulator backwards.
First of all, just to get the stud on the regulator to clear the door panel, I had to unbolt the front channel as it runs right behind the regulator.
Even having done that, I cant slide the regulator back very far because the motor hits the front channel.
But, if I remove the motor, I'm not going to be able to collapse the regulator because of the spring.

Any advice on how to do this? Do I have to remove the front window channel completely?

If I lower the window, drill and lock the sector gear, remove the motor, can I get the regulator off the window with the window down?

thanks.

James

loopedr1

if the battery is disconnected you wont be able to move the window at all. the motor is spiral drive and you cant move it by hand . you will need to jump it with an external power source. its been a long time since ive done one of these BUT. if you disconnect the regulator from the door with the motor attached you can extend the regulator while in the door to get it into position to remove it from the doorglass channel, when the regulator is free from the doorglass channel remove it from the door .then loosen the front ventglass frame leaving a gap between the frame and the inside of the door. now lower the doorglass into the door. while in the down position free the glass from the front channel to the inside of the frame,. now raise the doorglass coming out the top of the door next to the ventgalss frame and the door. you will need to open the vent glass a little as the ventglass handle will block the doorglass from coming out of the door......thats the short cut method..........the PROPER way is this way.......jump the motor to lower the door glass. remove the outer belt molding. remove the hardware holding the ventglass assembly in place ..remove ventgass frame assembly by pushing the assembly into doorglass opening. there is a bracket that wont let the frame come out of the door. push the frame to about 45 degrees and rotate it so the bracket in the door aligns with the opening in the top of the door then pull up to remove frame from the door.,raise dooglass 3/4 the way up. with the vent assebly removed its easy to slide the doorglass off the regulator...then remove regulator out of the gutted door...DO NOT UNBOLT THE MOTOR FROM THE REGULATOR WITH OUT IT ATTACHED FROM THE DOOR GLASS..... if the motor is removed it will let the spring release and the regulator will scissor and you could be missing a finger..if it was me i and the widow goes up and down fine with the play you have i would leave it alone.because taking that door apart can open up other problems like damaged outer belt molding...scratching the door reinstalling the vent frame. breaking the door glass if you get it into a bind while removing it.... .i hope this helps...

magconpres

I would live with the play, but the window has to come out as the sash is almost rusted through and I want to replace it. I have a new one on the way.

I like the idea of not removing the vent and front channel if I don't have to. So let me see if I got this right:

Lower the window to a point where I can get the regulator to slide back enough to free it from the window. about how far down is this? I can go all the way down as I have to loosen the front channel so I can push the regulator into the door to get the stud out of the mounting hole. If the window is there, it's going to put stress on the glass....that sounds like a bad idea.

Once the regulator is disconnected from the glass, I can life the window by hand and tape it up and out of the way.

I can use the motor to lower the regulator the rest of the way and remove the regulator with the motor attached.

Seems like the motor will hold the regulator in place against the spring, so all good there. At this point, it seems the easiest thing to do is just plug the motor back into the harness and rais the regulator all the way to the full up position.

Once the glass is off the regulator and the regulator is out of the door, I show be able to tip the glass and remove it from the door, correct?

All the regulators I've worked on in the past just bolted to the glass, this is the first time I've had to deal with a sash channel on the glass.

Thanks!

magconpres

Windows and regulator are out!

Here's how I removed them.

Removing the Window Regulator:

1. Lower the window so that the regulator are is about horizontal. This puts the bottom of the window almost in line with the motor gear. I was a bit above this as I was concerned about pressing on the window to get the regulator stud to clear the door panel.
2. Remove the bottom bolt on the forward window channel. This is the one attached to the vent window. This allows the channel to move back abit so you can press on the regulator and get the studs out of the door panel.
3. Slide the regulator forward to get the front roller out of the window channel. All the instructions I have seen say to slide it back, but the motor is in the way and I didn't feel like drilling the gear to lock the sector gear in place.
4. With the front wheel off and the front channel loose, I was able to work the rear roller off the window as well as the roller out of the door channel. At this point you can rotate entire entire regulator assembly and move the window enough to get it to clear...It was still close.
5. manually lift the window to the top of the door and tape it up and out of the way.
6. put the regulator back into the door panel (I just attached it at two points) and use the motor to extend it to the top position. Make sure it is all the way up. I put it all the way up till it the rollers touched the bottom of the window channel. I then pulled on the rear arm a bit to get it to to move up next to the channel and raised it that last 1/2" or so. With the regulator fully extended, it's at the end of it's range of motion and the spring can't move it anymore.
7. Remove the regulator from the door panel again
8. Remove the motor from the regulator. With the regulator free from the door, you can move it around to easily get to all the motor bolts. If you have drilled your door, you could probably remove the motor before taking the regulator off the door panel. Note that when I remove the motor, the arms did move just a bit more (less than a tooth's worth on the gear rotation). Just be careful, and keep your hands away from the regulator. I just held on to the motor while I removed the bolts.
9. Work the regulator out of the opening at the bottom of the door. With the motor removed, you can now move the regulator backwards. This takes a bit of messing with the find the right angles, but it wasn't hard. Take your time and peek inside the door to see what you may be hung up on.

Removing the Window:
This was definitely the harder of the two processes. Take your time, Don't force anything. Not sure I did this in the best way, but It worked.

1. Tape around the edges of the door openings to protect yourself. I used electrical tape.
2. Tape the door around the window at both the top and bottom, inside and out to protect the paint. I used 3 layers of electrical tape. Thanks to LoopderDR1 for warning me about scratching the door (though this is a 92 van with platy of scratches already).
3. I didn't do this, but if I ever have to do this again I will. Tape the window glass with packing tape to protect it from scratches. I didn't get any, but I had to be extra careful and was concerned I would. Even with tape, I'd be verfy careful, but it would offer some additional protection.
4. remove the window stop at the bottom of the door (two bolts vertically aligned in the middle of center (front to back) of the door.
5. remove the bottom bolt or the rear window channel. This is the bolt in the slotted hole.
6. loosen the top bolt of the window channel from the door jamb edge of the door.
7. holding the window in place, remove the tape and then lower the window to the bottom of the door. Push the stop out of the way so the window gets all the wise to the bottom of the door and out of the way. Once it is down, it is easy to get it out of the front channel.
8. Remove the window sweeps (felt) along the bottom of the window opening. Mine are all cracked and I have new ones ordered, so I wasn't too concerned about them, but here's how I gout them out. I cut a notch in a metal paint scraper so I could slide it between the door end the clips hooking the top of the clips so I could pull then straight up. If you have a SlimJim, that would work better as the paint scraper handle is a bit short. Most popped right out. I few I had to wrestle with and ended up ending a bit before I got them out.
9. Remove the top window seal. Just start at the rear of the door and work you way forward. Mine popped out fairly easily with a bit of wiggling. The front does not come off as it runs down the front window channel and is all one piece.
10. remove the top screws and the two screws on the front edge of the door jamb that hold the vent window in place.
11. pull the top of the vent window back until your the mounting brackets clear the front of the door, then carefully work the vent window and front channel out of the door. This was the hardest part for me. There's not much extra room. I took a moment to tape the top vent window bracket so that if it hit the door it wouldn't scratch it. As you work the window back and up, there will be a point when the front seal comes free from the door and things get a bit easier. I remove the window to the insid of the door Note that you have to move the entire assembly to guide the bottom bracket through the opening in the window frame.
12. At this point the window should come right out. Just push it up from inside the door until you can grab the glass and pull it out.

What I discovered:

• I removed the regulator first as I was hoping that I could get the window out without removing the vent window. That didn't seem to be possible. This may have been easier to remove the vent window first, but I'm not sure it matters. I did like have the window down in the bottom of the door mostly out of the way. If you just need to upll the regulator, then I think the method I described above works pretty well.
• LooperDR1 was correct, there isn't any play in the regulator, so it must be in the gear interface.
• Both studs on my regulator where worn about halfway through I tried to press them out but couldn't back of the mounting plate close enough to avoid bending it, so I'll just put in the new regulator since I have it. Maybe the old gears were worn and I'll have less play. I may grab the motor out of the door and mount it up to see while I wait for some parts.
• The sash channel rust wasn't as bad as I thought. It's not great buy any means, but the channel is pretty thick. I may try to clean it up and repaint it without removing it.
• Patience is key. Take your time, don't force anything. This is actually my son's van and he is out of town for a bit. I'm fixing some things for his birthday, so I have no time pressure.
• This whole thing would be easier if the regular just took bolts and no studs. Had I been able to press out the stud, I would have welded on a nut in it's place.
• This is the time to replace all the window seals. I'll be ordering the rest today.

Tags to help with searches: "Window Regulator Removal" "Vent Window Removal" "Window Sweep Removal" "Window Felt Removal"

TrishaB

Hello. Where did you get the regulator? I'm looking for one for a 1998 Chevy Express 1500 and I'm having a tough time. I need one for the works with the electric mirror. Thank you

loopedr1

the regulator we were talking about was for an old g20 van…yours is different…..I’m sure you can get one from GM…Amazon…or eBay…

magconpres

Do you have specific questions? I tried to post the step by step above. Happy to answer any questions you have.

Best advice though is to take your time...
may be easier to PM me.