another S13 power window issue...

[1fastser]

So here's the skinny....

My window made a "pop" sound when it reached the bottom of the rail after I pressed auto down on the switch. Turns out this was a small plastic gear on the regulator that broke...This was obvious. I replaced the regulator with a new OEM Nissan unit, lubed the rails, and cleaned the inside of the door like any car freak would! :)

This worked fine for a week then the window wouldn't go up again last night. It doesn't just fall down like before however I can push it down by hand. I can hear the amp click and the motor make noise when I press the switch but the motor does not go up without helping it from the bottom.

I inspected the solder joints on the amplifier (small box seen when you first remove the DRIVER'S SIDE door panel). I didn't see any obvious cracks like I've viewed from searches.

Should I be able to move the window up without pressing the switch? Stripped motor gear?

Is there a procedure to check the window amp (haven't found this)?

Any help is greatly appreciated...Jody

[e5s4y]

Mine did the same thing kinda. It would sometimes go up or sometimes go down, and at first i could just drop the People's Elbow on the arm rest part and it would go up/down. Then it just stopped. I had to pull the white box (the amp i think?) take the circuit board out (heat gun is your friend) and get some fresh solder on the bottom right connection. One of the guys on my local 240 forum did a write up on it, ill look for it and put in on here for you

[1fastser]

Again, I inspected the amplifier and there was no damaged components, cracked solder joints, or visible broken circuits. Could you post a link?

Searching sucks! You can't get an accurate list for what you're searching for without getting a crap-ton of unrelated threads. "Power amplifier" gets every thread that mentions the word 'power' along with car stereo stuff and all kinds of for sale threads. I'm guessing the "SEARCH THIS THREAD" function is not working?

[tommytwo40hands]

my car did the same thing, it would work sometimes and if it didn't i could press on the side of the door panel to get it to work. i thought it was the window motor so i got one off a friend and it didn't help. It turned out to be the window regulator(little black box that the switch plugs in to). i got mine from a junkyard for free, along with a nismo power brace and front lip for $20 bucks...those country folks know nothing about 240's.

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/1989-90/POWER_WI.pdf

[1fastser]

It turned out to be the window regulator(little black box that the switch plugs in to).

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/1989-90/POWER_WI.pdf

That sounds like you're referring to the amp...the regulator is not little, it's about 3/4 the size of your window.

Thanks for the link...page 2 shows inputs/outputs of the amp.

I'll dig into this on Sat and will report back...

[1fastser]

According to the chart for the amp, I need more than 9v on the output being tested (manual down or up, ect)...I have ~11.6vdc @ each output so it's probably the motor. I had to attend to the kids so I didn't get to swap in the passenger motor.

...those *will* swap, right?

At this point, I'm fairly certain it's the motor...now I just need more solid info on swappable motors!

[1fastser]

Does anyone know of other motors that are the same?

I came across some info that said the power window motor was the same as 240s for the following vehicles:

93-97 Altima
89-97 240sx
89-96 300z
07-08 Altima coupe

I'm skeptical of some of this info because some of the motors I've seen for those vehicles have 8 teeth as opposed to mine that's a square drive.

Any info on this?

[1fastser]

Update: I'm not sure where I saw the "square drive" I was talking about...there is not a square drive on the motor, it's just a regular toothed gear that's about 3-4" in diameter (the diameter of the round part of the motor).

I actually had two problems. The motor failed at some point and when the window fell down in the track it apparently damaged some plastic parts on the regulator. When I pulled it apart to inspect I saw the obvious damage on the regulator and assumed that was the only issue.

Also, here's some good info on testing these items...i.e. motor, amp, switch

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/1989-90/POWER_WI.pdf