Honda Civic Power Window Repair
The first generation of the Honda Civic was first introduced in 1972 and is still in production today. They are fantastic little cars with great gas mileage and our customers boast of having kept them forever, but that’s when you run into trouble when you have to remove the door panel. Everything is dried out, crispy and ready to crack.
Let’s talk specifically about the 1992-1995 model years. The Honda Civic Coupe had a scissor-action regulator in its doors and the Civic Sedan has a scissor-action regulator in the front door and a single-action power window regulator in the rear. While we can repair these model years, we prefer not to. We will install new parts and do our best to give our customer the most professional installation possible, but again, everything is going to be brittle and extreme caution and patience must be observed when working on these vehicles.
Model years 1996-2000, we find the Honda Civic Coupe with a much larger piece of glass sitting on a scissor-action regulator. It literally looks like a large scissor about the size of one used in a ribbon cutting ceremony. On one arm is a large crescent shaped gear with teeth, which is rotated by meshing with the power window motor gear, causing a similar action as your hands would in the process of cutting paper with scissors. In the center is a pivot point that balances the entire mechanism, and at the other end is the glass. As the scissor-action arms move closer together or further apart, so the glass is raised or lowered.
The Civic Sedan has a single-track cable window regulator in the front door and a scissor action regulator in the rear.
The greatest weak point in the scissor-action design is the pivot point in the center of the scissor. It’s responsible for supporting and transferring the entire load. Over years, it will twist warp and come lose. When this happens the crescent gear on the end of the regulator will be pushed away from the teeth on the motor and it will start to skip. CAUTION: If you act immediately it is possible to save you some money. Because this skipping action puts unreasonable stress on the teeth of the regulator the will soon become worn completely off. Once this happens the only option is to replace the entire mechanism, which can be more costly than a simple repair. One sure way to diagnose this problem is when the window is raised up using the power window switch, if it starts vibrating just before it get to the top of the door, you have your answer. If you stopped using it when you realized that you had a problem, you’re power window motor will likely work just fine, but be forewarned, if you didn’t stop using it when it started acting funny, you may be looking at replacing that power window motor in your Honda Civic at the same time.
CAUTION: Dear DIY enthusiast, the scissor regulator, received its nickname because it has very sharp edges and can easily cut off your finger if it drops while your hand is in the door. It’s also spring loaded, which adds to the risk of losing your fingers. This power window regulator is also spring-loaded, which adds to the risk. If the pivot point is decayed enough, it can completely release while you are trying to remove it, which will force the two sharp metal arms together and we guarantee you don’t want your fingers in there when that happens.
Finally we get to model years 2003 to Current. Both the Honda Civic Coupe and Honda Civic Sedan have a single-track cable window regulator in each door. This is one of those years where the motor connection changes and the confusion begins for some mechanics.
Now when it comes to the Honda Civic cable power window regulators, we have plenty to say. Honda power window regulators are a neat design and provide years of reliable service, they all look the similar, but due to various dimension differences, they are not interchangeable. The tracks are different lengths and the mounting and fixture points are inconsistent. The power window motor connections have changed radically over the years, so although the regulator track may match a vehicle, the motor connection would render it useless. Honda unfailingly uses single-track power window regulators where a cable action regulator is used.
What Happens
In the Honda Civic, there are typically five places where we see the power window regulator fail. We usually hear from our customers shortly after the warranty period has expired. No kidding.
The issues we see day in and day out with the Honda Civic power window regulators include the disintegration of the main anchor attached to the glass carrier, the upper pulley housing disconnecting from the track (this causes the lockout of the upper pulley wheel), the lower fairlead breakaway due to excessive force on the down swing, the spool housing anchor breaking away from the power window motor housing and the spool housing cover popping off which releases the cable tensioning on the spool wheel.
All of the above issues can cause the door glass to drop into the door, but when the upper pulley wheel locks up, the glass could get stuck in one position or simply restrict the regulator causing the power window motor to burn out prematurely.
Power window motors in the Honda Civic are more likely to burn out in newer models. The older Honda Civic power window motors seem to be holding strong.
The difficulties we find associated with repairing the Honda Civic power window systems really surround whether or not a DIY enthusiast or an unskilled mechanic have been in the door before Power Window Repair. We’ll talk about that further below. Extreme care is always taken when our technicians remove a door panel on this vehicle. Having the proper tools for this repair is a must!
What We Do
At Power Window Repair, we only repair OEM Honda Civic power window regulators. We believe so strongly in our proprietary method of repair that we have an additional fee for all non-rebuildable cores. Power Window Repair defines a “non-rebuildable” window regulator core as an aftermarket, non-OEM window regulator or an OEM window regulator that someone has attempted to repair unsuccessfully. When this happens, we simply add that fee for our rebuilt OEM core and we install quality and reliability back in your door!
How We Do it
There are good reasons behind what we do and how we do it! Power Window Repair’s entire existence surrounds providing our customers with a repair they can count on. If we are going to stake our good reputation on a repair, you can bet we’ll need to do it our way! The reasons are simple. Our repair is stronger and superior to even the original OEM Honda design, aftermarket parts are made with the cheapest of materials and are inferior, and most importantly any repair done in a junkyard or slapped together is never going to be worth the money!
What We Do
Our repair on the Honda Civic OEM power window regulator includes five areas that are strengthened with our proprietary process that is intended to last the lifetime of the vehicle. We first apply an avionic stainless steel repair to the plastic anchor that’s attached to the metal glass carrier. That connects the cables to the glass carrier, replacing what the original plastic was designed to do, but clearly isn’t doing any longer. We then replace the upper pulley wheel with a heavy-duty wheel and fortify the pulley wheel housing by applying an avionic stainless steel repair. Next we strengthen and fortify the lower fairlead, allowing the cable to run smoothly across as the window is operated up and down. Both the spool housing anchor and spool cover are also strengthened and fortified with stainless steel, ensuring that the spool wheel housing remains attached to the power window motor and that the spool wheel remains secure If the power window regulator in your Honda Civic is tensioned properly and is in solid working order, the rest of the power window system will operate for years, just as it was designed to. A regulator problem can quickly cause problems with motors and switches if not repaired in timely manner. It’s important not to use the power window system if you suspect it isn’t working properly.
What’s the worst thing we see in Honda power window systems? We’ve said it above and we’ll say it again below: Unskilled or untrained mechanics attempting to install or repair ANYTHING inside those doors. As these vehicles get older, the plastic panel clips become brittle, the panels become warped and plastic trim becomes crispy. Now if you’re into rattling doors and pieces falling off as you’re driving down the road, go right ahead, but we’re giving it to you straight when we say that you’re asking for trouble. We’ve gone above and beyond to help our customers fix someone else’s mistakes and messes. The worst is to have to tell a customer that they’ve done the damage. We can’t stress enough how frustrating this is for the Power Window Repair technicians. You’re not doing us any favors by taking off the panel and doing half the work. That doesn’t happen in our world. It takes us minutes to get in and out of a Honda Civic door in a professional manner, whereas most mechanics will finally be in that door in about an hour. While we appreciate the effort, we’d appreciate it more if you called Power Window Repair first. We are going to immediately save you time, money and a whole lot of frustration.
Aftermarket Parts
We’ve heard it all. From saying they just replaced it months ago themselves, to they’ve paid someone to do it 9 months ago and now they’re being asked for more labor to install the part under warranty. This just reinforces what we already know. While the price looks right, those aftermarket parts are inferior to the OEM Honda Civic power window regulator. Side by side, there’s no comparison. These power window regulators often break under warranty, causing you to pay more in labor at your mechanics or in your time and labor shipping parts back and forth, uninstalling and reinstalling. That process can quickly turn into a shade-tree mechanics nightmare.
Inexperienced Mechanics
Again, we understand that money is often a factor in the decision making process, PLEASE DON’T TAKE YOUR NICE CAR TO A MEAN OLD JUNKYARD OR LET SOMEONE WHO IS INEXPERIENCED WORK ON IT! It’s immediately evident to us when someone inexperienced has been in the door of a vehicle before us. You can’t fool our technicians. These repairs are often crude and in turn have damaged some of the internal workings of the door, for example the power window switch connectors, interior door handle linkage, the door lock system, speakers and wire harness. The repair may have looked enticing and may have even appeared to work for a short time, but it’s going to cause one whopper of a headache later.