How to Replace Front Window Regulator 2002-10 Ford Explorer

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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks!

In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the front window regulator. It's a pretty common repair in these vehicles. You'll hear a snap or a pop and a grinding noise, and then you'll be able to actually lift the window up and put it down just with your hand, but it won't work with the motor. What you'll need is a new window regulator from 1AAuto.com, flat blade screwdriver, 7 to 11mm sockets with the ratchet and extension, pliers, hammer and punch, a drill with a 3/8- to 1/2-inch bit, rivets or replacement nuts and bolts, and some plastic wire ties.

You can use a flat blade screwdriver, and I'm using a rag just to protect the door panel. I work the screwdriver in under the end of this panel and pry straight out. You don't want to pull up or down. You want to pry straight out to release the clips, and then you pull it off the rest of the way, again, straight out, and remove that panel. The clips come off with the panel. Slide them off to either side, and then replace them in the rectangular slot in the door panel. Then, again, you can use your screwdriver. There are four clips. There are two on each side. You just pry up right near the clip, again, straight up to get the switch plate up and off. Once it comes up and out, there are three harnesses. You just press the tab on each harness to disconnect them. Again, use your screwdriver and pry out the panel on the door pull.

There are six 7mm screws. Two, and then you can see one inside that round part and then another one below it, and then right inside the door pull, and then two more at the bottom. I'll fast-forward as I use a 7mm socket with a ratchet and extension. The two bolts at the top kind of fall down in. That's all right. Once you get the door panel off, you can usually retrieve them. Use the flat blade screwdriver to pry the bottom of your mirror switch, and then pry each side to release the clips. Pull the switch out, and there's a tab on the harness to disconnect it. Push the tab and pull the harness to disconnect. Pull the door panel up.

If you have any problem on this step, it's usually because one of the bolts is not all the way out. Then pull it back, going behind to disconnect the cable. You need to pry two tabs that hold the cable into the door panel. Pry the inside one there first, and then I push on the outside one as I'm pulling the cable out to release the cable from the door panel clip. Then pull the cable out and around, and then you pull the head of the cable out of the door handle. Then your door panel is off.

Sometimes the bolts will fall to the floor, or you can shake them out of there if they get stuck. Next, you'll want to use a 6mm socket and ratchet, or you could use a 6mm wrench. Remove the four screws that hold the speaker in, and then pull the speaker out and disconnect it. Next, carefully peel back the water shield, and you want to avoid ripping it. Peel it back, and then push it up and out of the way. You'll have to pull out a couple clips of the door as well as pull some of your harnesses and cable through. Not a great shot of this, but there's a little clip that holds the door handle cable. I'm just using a pair of pliers and pushing that back through. Then the 6mm socket and ratchet, remove the bolt that holds this pad in place, and then pull it out. More accurately, pull it forward and out.

The window is riveted to the regulator. You can see one of the rivets there and then another rivet over here. If your window motor is not working and you can't move the window by re-hooking up the switch, you can cut this cable here. Obviously, when you replace the regulator, you'll have a new cable, so you can cut that cable, and then if that cable is already cut or if your window regulator has failed, you'll be able to just pull or push the window down by hand so that you can get to those rivets. I moved the window so that I can get to the rear of it there and the front rivet right through there. Use a punch and a hammer, and you want to knock out the center of the rivet. Get the rear and then the front. You can see basically a hole in the center of the rivet where the center was. So you drive out the center. Then use a 1/2-inch drill bit and drill off the rivet. Okay and you can see the rivet comes off there.

Once you drill the rivets out, you may have to pry between the window and the regulator bracket, but release the regulator from the window. Then you can pull the window up, tilt it forward, and pull it out. You'll have to pull the window ledge weather strip off as well. Five 11mm nuts hold the regulator in place, and I'm just going to fast-forward here as I remove those. Now it's a matter of changing the regulator out.

As you start it out, you'll see the connector on the window motor. There's basically a tab right at the back. You press and pull the connector off. There are a couple of connectors. There are gray ones at the top and bottom. Disconnect those and pull the clips out, and then just carefully pull the window regulator out. There is a strap down here, just a plastic wire-type strap. We cut it with a pair of pliers, and that allows us to get the regulator and motor out the rest of the way.

Here's the original regulator on the left; and a new one from 1A on the right. They're basically the same. Couple minor differences, the biggest difference being the pigtail on the connector, which we'll show you how to take care of a little bit later. Just removing the two wire ties that kept it in the shipping box.

You do have to transfer the mounting stud from the motor plate, and you see me undoing it with some pliers there and then installing it with pliers. You could also use an H6 inverted Torx bit if you had one, but pliers work fine. We'll speed up here a little bit through installation. Just make sure you have it oriented correctly, and there were some shipping cushions that we just took off, and slide in there. Make sure you don't pinch any wires or anything like that. Then mount the top first. You can put the nuts on top. Actually, you could put the nuts on the top before you even slide it in there. Then they kind of hang down from the top. Then start the nuts on the bottom as well as that motor plate mounting stud, and then tighten them up and finish by connecting the harness.
Here, I'm just using some plastic wire ties to replace that one that we cut before when we were removing the regulator and then to secure the harness. Since the pigtail is a little longer on the new one, you just want to make sure that you secure it so that none of that wiring gets caught up in the regulator or the window. Then cut the extra tie off.

Occasionally, if you order one of our lower-cost regulators or regulators from some other internet company that's not as reputable as us, there may be an issue where they switch the wires so when you press your window up it goes down or down goes up. All you need to do is switch the wires, and it's pretty easy. You just pry a little tab that locks the connector in place. Pry the tab up and pull the connector out. Then you would switch the connectors. Pull them both out, switch them, and put them back in place.

Use a pair of pliers and pull out any of the old rivet that might be remaining in the brackets. Basically, you just grab hold of it back and forth, loosen it up, and it will pull out. Then tilt the front of the window down. Put it down in. Guide the front into the track, and then rotate it back into the rear track. Once it goes in, make sure it's nice and free, and slide it down to the track on the regulator. If you happen to have a rivet gun and the correct rivets, and you can get in there and re-rivet it, you can do that, or you could use an M6 10mm bolt, a washer, and a locking nut and take the place of the rivet with that means. Put the bolt in from the outside side of the car, then the washer and lock nut. I'll fast-forward as I do the same for the front. You can move the window up and down by reconnecting your switch if you need to get in there easier. I'll also fast-forward as we just tighten those up using a 10mm wrench to hold it and a 10mm socket and ratchet to tighten.
Reconnect any of the harnesses you may have disconnected and re-clip them. Put that window ledge molding back on. Put the insulating block back in place, and we did find that we had to cut off just a little bit of the block to make it fit properly. Slide it back into place, and then bolt it in place with the 6mm bolt. Clip the door handle cable back in place, and then you can put your water shield back in place. Make sure you line it up correctly. Pull all the harnesses through. Reconnect your speaker, and put the four 6mm bolts that hold it in, and tighten them up.

To reinstall, get your door panel close. There are three tabs on the bottom that you can kind of rest the door panel on the door. Put the cable into the handle, and then pull the cable down and clip it into the door panel. You can line up the three bottom clips on the door panel. Kind of rest it in place. Make sure you pull all the harnesses through their correct spots. Make sure you can see the mirror harness. I pull the mirror harness through there, and then just push the door lock knob into the hole. Then press the door panel. Make sure it's flush against the door, and slide it down into place.

To reinstall the two bolts up top, put them into you socket, and then you can look right in there, feed them into place, and put them in. If you want, you can put a little bit of tape or glue on the socket to hold the bolt in place to get it back in there. We'll speed up here. Basically, on these bolts, the bottom two that hold the bottom of the door panel, just tighten those up snug. You don't want to strip out the plastic grommets that they go into, and then the top four you want to be tighter because those are where you pull against the door more. Reconnect your mirror switch and push it into the door and into place. Then the trim panel on the door pull pushes straight on. Reconnect the three harnesses to your switch, and then push that down into place and apply pressure in the four spots where it clips in. Then line up the last panel, and basically tap it into place.

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