Our Beat-Up Mazda...

is, as of today, a little less beat up. I am so psyched I had to write a post to celebrate. Those of you mechanics out there can just hold your tongue while I tell my little novice story. A couple of weeks ago, I shut the door and the window glass fell into the door. It was actually quite comical, how it just slid on in there so smoothly and quickly. Well, it happened on my watch (and I get to play at home all day while Steve goes to work), so I got to learn how to fix the window.

First thing to do was remove the interior door trim. Steve helped me with most of this part while he had time.

Underneath, the plastic moisture barrier is affixed to the door with a nasty tar-like substance. The Chilton's says if the barrier is removed carefully and not torn, it can be reused. The Fullams say even if not carefully, it can be duct-taped.

I needed to remove the window regulator, which meant 1) removing two bolts connecting the window glass to the regulator, 2) disconnecting the power window wires, and 3) removing six bolts which held the regulator-motor assembly to the inside of the door. Then we pulled the assembly out from the inside of the door through the hole in the lower left portion of the door.

This is what a broken regulator-motor assembly looks like:

Now, when the window first fell into the door, I had pushed the window button up and down a few times, resulting in a crinkle-crackle sound inside the door. Don't do that. This is what happens (I've heard you can fix that cable and winding wheel yourself, but I had no interest in trying):

If I had left the window alone, I would only have had to replace these little plastic pieces that stop the window at each end of the track (though I am not sure if you can just buy those little parts):

Now, I bought a replacement regulator and motor on eBay for about $65 (free shipping). The only problem was the wiring on the replacement part; the new part had five wires coming out of the motor (into a six-wire harness, like on the right below). The old part only had two wires coming out of the motor (into a two-wire harness, like on the left below). So I took the two wires I thought I needed out of the six-wire harness and put them into the two-wire harness I took off the old part.

I hooked the two-wire harness into its receptacle and let the six-wire harness dangle. Then I crossed my fingers, hoping the other three wires were just for show.

With the door still apart, I hooked up the window controls just long enough to see if the window would run up and down. It DID! Yay! I reassembled the trim and didn't even end up with any extra pieces.

Now we have a working regulator, and I've never been so thankful for power windows! Our little Mazda may be a bit beat-up, but I'm so glad we have it.