How to Replace Window Guides

Window guides, also called regulators, keep the car windows in position and allow them to move up and down through the door. The guides are secured within the door itself as they hold the window glass. The exact type of window guides depends on the type of vehicle you have. This will also determine the exact process needed to replace them. Replacing window guides requires you to get inside the door.

Instructions

Removal

1

Disconnect the battery in the engine compartment by loosening the black cable's clamp with your wrench and removing this negative cable from the terminal.

2

Detach the door's window control. Rub a rag behind a manual crank to disconnect its clip. For an automatic control, pry off the control switch plate with a trim stick and unplug its wiring.

3

Pry off all trim bezels from the inner trim panel and remove all mounting screws with your screwdriver. Pry the panel off the door with a large trim stick along its edges and lift the panel off.

4

Remove or loosen the bolts connecting the window glass to the guide with your wrench and then lift the glass up and out of the door.

5

Remove the guide's mounting bolts; some have rivets that you must drill out. Collapse the guide on itself and remove it through the access hole in the door.

Installation

6

Install the replacement guide through the door's hole and open it up into position within the door. Apply the guide's bolts or fix it in place with a rivet gun -- whichever is needed for your model.

7

Lower the glass down into the door through the top opening and make sure it fully seats in the guides. Tighten the bolts for the window glass.

8

Reconnect the trim panel to the door using its clips and screws.

9

Connect the trim panels and window control to the door trim panel.

10

Reconnect the battery cable with its clamp.