Brought to you by 1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet.
Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
In this video, we're going to show you how to replace a power window regulator on this 2006 Chevy Impala, pretty much the same for any 2006 to 2011. A lot of times, when the window regulator goes bad, you'll hear kind of a popping noise or a grinding noise. You hear your power window trying to do something but nothing is really happening with the window. In this video, we replaced the left hand front. The right hand front is basically the same procedure. You'll need the new window regulator from 1AAuto.com, a small flat blade screwdriver, 8mm and 10mm sockets, ratchet and extension, T30 Torx driver, pliers, and some tape.
Start by pulling up on the door handle. There's a little panel that you just use a small screwdriver to pop out, it kind of pries right out. Then there's another small panel at your door pull that pulls up and out. Using the same small screwdriver, pry out on the reflector on the bottom corner. We'll fast-forward here. Behind, where you took the reflector off, there is an 8mm screw to remove and then there are three T30 Torx screws with two of them at the door pull. One of them is behind where the inside door handle is. Remove all three of those.
Use a small flat blade screwdriver or some other flat tool to carefully pry on the triangle at the top of the door starting at the top front corner. Pull firmly. You'll start to release the clips. You just slide your hand in all the way around. Keep pulling the door, the door panel until it's free from the door. Once the clips on the outer perimeter are free then you can pull the door panel up off the window ledge and out some more. Now, using a pair of pliers, pinch the tabs and pull the cable housing through the back side of the door handle, and then pull the cable up and out. Then there is a lock. You pull the white part of the lock back which unlocks the connector, and then you can pull the connector free and take the panel off.
Next, we're going to carefully pull off the water shield. Make sure you don't tear it because you want to obviously reuse it. Actually, what we're doing here now is the regulator that's in our vehicle is in fine shape. We're just turning the vehicle on and putting it up into position. Basically, these are cable actuated regulators. Here, we're just going to disconnect the connection. They are actuated regulators. Normally, what happens is the cable that's right in behind breaks. When that cable breaks, usually you can just grab onto the window and move it up and down. You want to move it in a position where you can get to the two bolts that hold the regulator to the window, there and there. Now, we'll use a 10mm socket and ratchet to remove those two bolts.
Now, slide the window up off the regulator. Pull it up. You can pull it up on the top. Use a piece of tape. You'll see we have some painter's tape on there to hold it up. Then disconnect the lead. Press in on the little tab and push the connection down and out. Then there are six bolts: three that hold the motor there, and three that hold the window regulator rail. I'm going to fast-forward here. Only one of the bolts has to be removed all the way. It's the bottom left bolt on the rail. The rest of the bolts can just be loosened. That's what we're doing now.
Once you've loosen them up, you can pull the rail up off, slide it out of the door first. Next, pull up on the motor, slide the bolts out of the door, and then pull the rail regulator motor assembly right out of the door. New assembly on top from 1A Auto. Old assembly is on the bottom. They're all the same. The new assembly from 1A Auto could have a pigtail, which is a longer lead. It still connects the same, but you will need to make a little bit of a change. Just wire tie that on and you'll see that later.
Here, we're just taking all the bolts that are in the old regulator and putting them in the new regulator in the same spots so that we can reinstall it on the door the same way. Slide your regulator in the way it came out, motor first and then the rail. You need to kind of make sure that the top goes in first. You have to put it between the window and the door and get the top of the rail in first and then the bottom of the rail. Then you can slide your motor in and slide the bolts down. I'm going to fast-forward here again as we tighten up those bolts and reinstall the third bolt into the bottom of the regulator rail.
Now here, we're going to reconnect the window motor. As I said before, the replacement part from 1A Auto has a pigtail on it. You just need to make sure that you secure it so that the pigtail doesn't have any chance of getting caught when the window goes up or down. We just use a wire tie to tie it to the existing harness in the door, and then flip and trim the wire tie. Now, you can take the tape off and carefully slide the window down and align it up with the regulator. Once you have those holes lined up, it shouldn't take too much pressure, just a little bit of maybe back and forth.
Once you have them lined up then reinstall the two bolts and tighten them up. Here, we're just going to test it. Reconnect our door harness and turn the vehicle on. We'll just run it up and down, make sure everything is working correctly. Then we can disconnect the harness. Once we've confirmed it works okay, put the water shield back on and finish up by putting the door panel back on. To reinstall the door panel, bring it close to the door. Reengage the ball into the door handle, and then snap the cable housing in place. Now, reach down in and reconnect your harness. You push the two connectors together and then flip the white clip up and over the walk it in place.
Now, be sure to line up the door lock hole with the door lock knob. Then push the door panel down onto the window sill. Make sure it goes on there correctly. Then set the clips around the outside edge. Now, reinstall the three T30 Torx screws, one in behind the door handle and then the two behind the door pole. Once you have those done, reinstall the 8mm bolt or screw that goes in behind the reflector on the back of the door. Finish up by reinstalling the triangle trim piece up the top, the little trim piece that goes in behind your door handle, the trim piece that goes into the door pole cup, and finally the reflector on the back side.
We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.