Window motor compatibility

[WestCoastEta]

Hey guys. My passenger window motor burned out unfortunately, so I need to source a new one. I understand that later model regulators are different, but does anyone know what the compatibility is with the motors?



I also read a post on e30tech about some guy using a driver's side motor on the passenger side. Not about to take my other door apart to find this out, but maybe somebody here knows.

Just surveying my options before scouring the junkyards/craigslist.

[phenryiv1]

I have successfully moved the motors all over the car- front to rear, side to side. As long as the regulator stayed true to the car the motors have been interchangeable from 86-89 models. I have had an 86, an 87, an 88, and an 89 and all were the same. I also have a 92 'vert with the same motors.

[WestCoastEta]

Thanks for the info, Patrick. I thought I'd share what I learned after getting my hands on a late-window motor from an 89 coupe. I encountered a bit of a discrepancy between early/late style motors, as both used different types of regulators.

First of all, I discovered that my old motor wasn't burned out, but the lower "ball" was rusted to "shaft," if you will. In other words, my motor's housing was bad, but the electronics were still functional. (I also sanded down all that rust on the motor)



Comparing the old/late motors side by side, they look pretty damn identical, but the shafts have different threads and there are slight differences in the housing.




At first I tried to just install the entire new motor unit into my window regulator, but it wouldn't fit because of the different thread. So I took my old motor and put it in the new housing, which seemed to work, but when I wired it up and tested the switch, it functioned in reverse. So I compared the electronics of the new and old motors, and sure enough the polarities are swapped:



The simplest solution was to use the electronics from the old motor with the new housing, but an extra tab prevented this from working. After a little bit of dremelling on the old plastic component, I was able to fit everything together.



So with a little bit of Frankensteining I now have functional windows. Hopefully somebody will benefit from this :o