power window problems

[whiterider00]

off and on for the past year or so my drivers side front window would get stuck down. if i held the switch up and slammed the door it would come up and i would be fine for another week or month or whatever. few days ago the same thing happened, but this time the door slamming trick didnt work, and i havent been able to get the window up for a few days. my question is, is there a way to test if its the motor, or regulator that is bad? i know one of those white plastic things fell off too, but i will worry about that when i can actually get the window up to fix it. also, i cant manually lift the window, i dont know if this means its one over the other, but i am kinda lost. dont feel like spending money on a part thats not broken. thanks.

[bdyman]

almost sounds like the regulator is shot, and the mount tabs on the glass
replace the regulator, when you get to that point post back up and i can tell you how to do it your self

[whiterider00]

would an ebay one be alright, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-00-01-02-Olds-Alero-4dr-Window-Motor-Regulator-LH_W0QQitemZ130296462758QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_ Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item130296462758&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A131 8
or is this something i should get from a dealer/auto parts store?

[bdyman]

from the dealer i want to say its almost 200 bucks, i bought mine from a web site richie gave me, it was 75 bucks

[SittinOnChrome]

You Own A Alero Get Used To Replacing Regualtors.

[whiterider00]

suprisingly, ive had the car for just about 3 years, and ive never had an issue until now. this looks like the original one as well, or if it was replaced, it was quite a while ago.

[troyertrain]

yeah, mine typically last me about 8-10 months, and i just get them off Ebay. I have replaced my drivers side probably 7 or 8 times now, but my passenger side has never failed since I have owned the car (quite odd I know). Just another one of the junkier things about our cars...

[whiterider00]

ya. gonna go ahead and order the ebay one and hope for the best.

[whiterider00]

got the new motor/regulator yesterday, and i guess its true you get what you pay for. it was under $50 including shipping, and it looks about that cheap. hopefully it lasts a while tho. anyway, this evening i set out to get the thing installed so i cud take the plastic wrap and packing tape off my door. already had the door panel off so i followed along in the haynes manual how get the old regulator out. theres 2 bolts holding the assembly to the window located at the bottom edge of the window. the same edge that was stuck down in the door because the motor was frozen in the down position. anyway after managing to get that apart and out, i realized that one of the plastic pieces epoxied to the window was no longer epoxied to the window...yay! found the only heavy duty adhesive i had and reglued it to the glass. i finally got it all set and the new one installed and ready to test. hooked up battery, turned ign to on, pushed "up" on window switch, and watched window roll.........down! they crossed the wires to the harness or something, and it works opposite how its suppoesd to. but i just plugged in the harness backwards and taped it up, and it works fine. tested it a bunch of times to make sure there were no other issues, then put the door panel back on and all the screws back in, and everything all set. then i see the plastic water shield thing sitting on the floor of the garage...which i am going to put back in tomorrow.

[Nate's Alero]

how hard was it to install?

[whiterider00]

i guess the giant paragraph above wasnt enough detail. lol. if the window is stuck in the up position, and nothing else is broken, just the motor crapped out, its a 10-15 minute job maybe, once the door panel is off. if you have problems like i did, itll take maybe an hour or so, which is about how long it took me.

[Nate's Alero]

i guess the giant paragraph above wasnt enough detail. lol. if the window is stuck in the up position, and nothing else is broken, just the motor crapped out, its a 10-15 minute job maybe, once the door panel is off. if you have problems like i did, itll take maybe an hour or so, which is about how long it took me.

ok, let me see if i can explain any better, my motor works, but it just pops and cracks on the way down