2004 Cadillac CTS Power Window Inop, Fell Down

This 2004 Cadillac CTS came in with the complaint that the driver’s window is down and will not go back up and stay there. The owner said she heard a pop and the window went down. Sounds like the power window regulator broke.

I started by removing the manual door lock button. With the button pulled all of the way up you can see the locking tab in the center that has to be pulled out as shown below.

With the tab pulled out it slides off of the actuator threaded rod.

Next there is a trim cover behind the pull handle that has to be removed.

Now that the trim panel is removed the phillips headed screws can be removed. The power window switch can be lifted up and unhooked as well.

The trim panel around the interior door handle unsnaps and pulls off.

With the screws and trim pieces removed the door panel can now be snapped off. You can see the gray retaining clips around the perimeter of the door panel as viewed from the inside of the panel. The wires for the speaker also had to be removed.

The lower anchor plate has to be removed.

Now the vapor barrier can be carefully pulled back without damaging it (needs to be in place and is a pain top make a new one).

Now, this is where the job goes a little sour for me. The customer could not afford to replace the power window regulator and wanted it jambed in place. After removing the broken pieces and looking over the situation I decided to go with the following approach. An inexpensive pair of locking pliers (about $6.00) clamped the slide assembly to the main travel bar. I did not want the release on the locking pliers to move and allow the pliers to become unlocked so I installed a hose clamp around the locking mechanism to clamp it together. It worked quite well on this pair of pliers but it could be a different set up and another pair.

Even though I hated doing this kind of repair ( I like actually fixing things) the customer was quite happy and given the economic situation I thought it worked out pretty good overall.

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