replacing a window motor on 2003 mercury grand marquis

[grumpyvette]

well as usual, just when I think todays going a bit better than expected, the drivers side window in the wife's mercury quits working, so here is a few links, posted below, so far I think its a mechanical linkage failure , as the switch seems to make the window motor run or at least I can hear it, obviously further testing and inspection to follow after the door panel gets removed

You need to remove any screws that are in the vicinity of pull handles and door pockets. These screws will be under little trim covers that you need to pry off to get to their heads. Look for the screws around the edge of the panel and also the screw in the latch release handle recess.
The lock knob, if there is one there, will have to be screwed off and then carefully work your way around the door, freeing the panel's clips from their holes in the door frame.
Finally the panel will probably have to be lifted out if the window slot. (If the panel does not come off, work out what is retaining it and remove that screw or slide it off the clip that is still holding the panel. Disconnect any electrical plugs behind the panel. Under the panel you will find a plastic dust sheet that is stuck to the door frame, remove this carefully, you will have to replace it before replacing the panel.
Remove 2 screws at bottom of door and 1 on side of door.Pry off plastic cap behind inside door handle and remove "star head" screw.To get to last screw- need to pop out the control switches for power windows,door lock,etc. to get to the screw.
After all are out,start prying off door at bottom of panel.There are 4 or 5 plastic hooked shaped "latches" to pull out.They are fairly sturdy and can take a firm pull.Once they are off need to lift up and out on the panel to get it free.Be careful not to bend lock knob at top of panel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcDRJr4ekU0

http://www.justanswer.com/ford/2d38x-20 ... -work.html

http://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to ... ndow-motor

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/fordg ... 500_a1.pdf

watch the videos they hold a great deal of useful info
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivnt6Ifj06A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3QvtJIMY48

 

[grumpyvette]

all I can say is WHAT A P.I.T.A. it is to get into that door, theres hidden screws torx bit and phillips , snap in plastic, glued parts , switches that don,t easily disconnect and very limited access , you can,t see crap, your working by feel, but its obviously a defective regulator cable assembly because it came out in a busted clump of aircraft cable springs and bent plastic, bird nest crap, and busted plastic

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php
lucky rock auto lists several from $60-$110 each with shipping which is far better than the $340 they charge for some corvette regulator assembly's

after looking over the job its rather obvious to me that ford never intended for repairs on the inner door mechanical s to be repaired or at most they were a total after thought that was given darn little or almost no real thought into what would be required.

 

[grumpyvette]

well I replaced the window regulator in the mercury , its removal and install, requires an almost total dis assembly of the door and drilling out of more than a dozen or so 1/4 diam. rivets of various lengths, that the ford /mercury assembly line guys used, I replaced those with the various 1/4" diam. 1/2" and 1" long ,grade #8 bolts in 1/4" 28 thread pitch with washers and NYLOC thread nuts as required in each location.
much of the old regulator was found, in a state of self disassemble or random pieces inside the door,the cables snapped and the guide wheels wore out completely on the original regulator but the cars got 200K miles so thats expected.
you need to leave the regulator to door mount bolts loose until the window self centers the regulator in the felt lined window glass tracks in the window frame, or it won,t glide smoothly into place, once its up you can tighten and cycle check its full function., its a P.I.T.A. but not that difficult once you watch the videos, but it does take time to go to the local hard ware for the assorted fasteners required, (naturally it took two trips because I failed to see two bolts must be noticeably longer) the ones thru the actual window glass need to be 1", the rest can be either 1/2' or 3/4" in length but most required the 1/2" length

 

[Indycars]

Cruising the Dorman website and thought about you Grumpy. Wonder if you could have used these instructions, they are very nice and 12 pages long. This is what one page looks like.

http://www.dormanproducts.com/Pages/getmore/

Download the instruction here for the 2003 Mercury Grand Marque:
http://www.dormanproducts.com/DigitalAs ... 664_IS.pdf



Here is just the hardware kit, it's not nuts and bolts but mainly rivets.

http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-50668-7 ... ware%20Kit

Dorman also has videos.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp

 

[grumpyvette]

thanks for posting that link and instructions, it adds a bit more info too what I found, before and during the repair!
yes I could have used that info. but having installed a few regulators previously i muddled thru with the instructions I had and previous experience, with similar project repairs.
the main thing you need to do during projects like this is to do as much research before you start as needed to feel semi comfortable in your ability to do the work and not to just start ripping out or disconnecting stuff until you have some idea how things work or at least should be working and take the time to match the new replacement parts to the old parts you remove noting fastener locations, size type and condition of electrical plugs etc. you might be surprised at the number of times Ive found supposedly direct replacement parts that are not really compatible, or interchangeable.
at times its simply bad part numbers but lately I find cheap import parts with very bad copies of the original part with little regard for dimensions or quality of materials as the more common problem

 

[grumpyvette]

http://www.decodethis.com/VIN-Decoded/vin/

viewtopic.php?f=87&t=10271&p=41388&hilit=vehicle+number#p41388
when ever you go to get parts for a car it helps to write down the vin number and look it up, if you go into a shop and order things like interior trim there could easily be several shades of, gray,white, beige, red, blue or green trim ETC. and if you don,t know exactly what your car has you could be in for far more return trips and expensive mistakes.
I pulled this info on the wife's mercury, notice its called a PARCHMENT interior and MATADOR RED

http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/select-color-1a.cgi

Select your color, then click "Select Your Products" to order.
Color Code: AQ/M6985Arizona Beige Metallic
Color Code: B4/M6938Chestnut Metallic
Color Code: C2/M7065Gold Ash Metallic
Color Code: DT/M7057Matador Red
Color Code: DX/M7083Dark Blue Pearl
Color Code: FS/M6860Spruce Green Metallic
Color Code: JP/M7052Silver Birch Pearl Metallic
Color Code: LL/M6910Deep Wedgewood Blue Metallic
Color Code: LS/M7054Light Ice Blue Pearl Metallic
Color Code: P5/M7056Aspen Green Pearl Metallic
Color Code: TS/M6720Silver Frost Metallic
Color Code: UA/M6373/M6877Black Ebony
Color Code: WT/M6640Performance White
Color Code: 28909Medium Parchment (Interior)
Color Code: 2T5AExpresso (Interior Dupont P431