3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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The driver's window regulator on my GF's 93 Camry is broken. The plastic piece that attaches the window carrier to the cable disintegrated. Motor seems to be running strong.
Should I replace the regulator assembly only? Or the motor too? Price is about $30 vs $40. If the motor is a common failure, I'll replace. But I in my experience, cheap aftermarket motors are also prone to fail - in which case I'd rather keep the working original unit for now. And if I did replace just the regulator assy, is it easy to swap the motor over?
In all honesty, I would just change the entire assembly. A regulator from ebay is ~23$ shipped, a regulator and the motor is ~30-35$ last time I checked. It's much easier to change the entire assembly than have to deal with disembling the unit and replacing the regulator alone (from experience).
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1995 Toyota Camry V6 LE-6M1 250K Miles, Fun Car
1997 Acura RL-Gone
2007 Acura RL SH-AWD, Technology Package, Opulent Blue Pearl- Fun Car/Daily Driver
Thanks for the replies. But it sounds like conflicting opinion on the ease of swapping out the motor. The cost difference between the two isn't much of a factor - It's the quality of the cheap aftermarket motor that I question. I don't want to replace a solid running OE motor with one that will die in a year. On the other hand, if it's a pain to replace just the regulator assy, I'd rather just replace the whole thing. So I guess my questions really are:
1) Are the motors that come with the cheap eBay regulator/motor assemblies of decent quality that I can expect a couple years of life at least?
2) How much additional effort is it to replace just the regulator assy, and swapping in the old motor?
(In case it's not obvious, since this isn't my car, I'm trying to minimize the effort that goes into it - now and later )
1) The Ebay motors aren't half bad! I got 3 years of life out of the driver's door motor+regulator, and I use it daily, at least 3-4 times a day in the winter (I park in structures with a monthly permit) and even more in the summer.
2) Getting the motor off isn't hard, it's just there is a cable assembly winds inside the motor that once removed, is a pain to put the new one in. At least with the motor + regulator, it's a direct swap.
I don't know if you looked thru the FAQs? Here is the DIY for the regulator+ motor change
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1995 Toyota Camry V6 LE-6M1 250K Miles, Fun Car
1997 Acura RL-Gone
2007 Acura RL SH-AWD, Technology Package, Opulent Blue Pearl- Fun Car/Daily Driver
1) The Ebay motors aren't half bad! I got 3 years of life out of the driver's door motor+regulator, and I use it daily, at least 3-4 times a day in the winter (I park in structures with a monthly permit) and even more in the summer.
2) Getting the motor off isn't hard, it's just there is a cable assembly winds inside the motor that once removed, is a pain to put the new one in. At least with the motor + regulator, it's a direct swap.
I don't know if you looked thru the FAQs? Here is the DIY for the regulator+ motor change
Great, well if the regulator/motors on eBay aren't total junk, I'll just replace the whole thing to keep things easy.
I did see that DIY thread... but it seems the images are no longer there, so it's kinda useless. I already have the door panel off, and in looking at it all, it seems like it's a pretty straightforward job... Unless there's some "gotcha" I'm not yet aware of...?
Great, well if the regulator/motors on eBay aren't total junk, I'll just replace the whole thing to keep things easy.
I did see that DIY thread... but it seems the images are no longer there, so it's kinda useless. I already have the door panel off, and in looking at it all, it seems like it's a pretty straightforward job... Unless there's some "gotcha" I'm not yet aware of...?
Ahh sorry, I haven't read it in a while
It is pretty straighforward now that you have the panel off
There is 3 washers holding the motor to that cross bar in the middle of the door, another 3 washers along the regulator (1 in the top, 1 in the middle and 1 in the bottom).
The most important thing to remember is to lower the glass a little bit until you can remove the 2 10 mm bolts that attach it to the regulator. I would even suggest you start by unbolting those 2 screws and removing the glass before removing the 6 other washers
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1995 Toyota Camry V6 LE-6M1 250K Miles, Fun Car
1997 Acura RL-Gone
2007 Acura RL SH-AWD, Technology Package, Opulent Blue Pearl- Fun Car/Daily Driver
If you remove the motor from the regulator (The steel bars with cables) You have to wind the cables around the motor plastic and reinstall it into the motor
Gen 3 and gen 4 are different because uh.... They're different cars.
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'07 Honda Ruckus Big Bore TOTALED: '03 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 4x4 5.4L, '96 Camry LE 5S May '10: '11 Sienna V6 XLE FWD 8-pass. July '10: '06 Matrix XR Auto FWD Oct. '09: '05 RAV-4 L 4WD
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95 Camry
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Piece of Crap
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