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The windows on my car stopped working a few months ago. I could hear the motor running but the wouldn't go back up. Managed to get them closed by putting my hand flat against the window and pushing upward to help the motor.

Today I was driving down the highway and one of them fell open by about 6 inches. It doesn't seem to want to go any lower but I haven't tested that hypothesis. I don't have the cash to fix it right now and was hoping I could get some pointers on a way to at least keep it closed.

The vehicle is a 2001 Buick Regal LS.

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Duct tape? Or a wooden shim between the glass and the door panel. –  mikes May 28 '12 at 21:33
Might help if you mentioned what car it is. –  Timo Geusch May 28 '12 at 23:12
Sorry Timo. Added the info. –  Matt May 29 '12 at 3:34
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4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

If the open one is still on the track, it may stay up if you can get it get back up and pull the fuse the windows are on. If it's partially off the track (one of the rollers has popped out) or the mechanism and / or motor are really shot, you might have to pull off the door panel and rig something up to keep it in place until you can fix it or have it fixed. The wooden shim mikes suggested sounds like a good idea. Once you've got the door panel off to access the mechanism, though, you're almost half way to fixing it. Shop around for the parts, if you can afford them, fixing it might actually be the easiest way. If you need cheap parts, see if you have a Pick-N-Pull or other 'pull it yourself' boneyard near you. In addition to discount parts, you get to practice taking the door panel off. Worst case, you can always tape up a sheet of plastic. You wouldn't be the first to drive around with one of those until you can afford a window fix.

See moving a dead power window in order to remove it for a description of one type of mechanism. Here is a video showing the removal of a cable driven mechanism.

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Did some research and it looks like the type of regulator my car has is cable driven but unlike in that video there are bolts attaching the mount to the glass. The first link implies that if the motor is detached then I should probably be able to manually move the window down to a point where I can loosen the bolts. Is that typically the case to your knowledge? Already practiced getting the side panel off my car but I want to make sure I'm ready to get the whole piece out of another car when I find a Pick-N-Pull. –  Matt May 29 '12 at 3:46
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I have had the same issue three times with two different vehicles. Check out www.shimjim.com for a temporary fix. It is a rubber wedge that inserts between the window and the inside window trim.


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I had this on an old beat-up Chrysler. The temporary solution was to wedge a pair of vice grips between the window and the door frame (on the inside). The vice grips served a dual purpose: for holding the window up when it was raining and for grabbing the top of the window so I could pull it up, after I needed to let it slide down for any reason.

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I had this happen many years ago with an old Volkswagen, just before a 700 mile drive.

Duct tape is simple - tape the glass to the door frame, both inside and outside.

And (as we learned very quickly) - if it is raining also duct tape all around the window!

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