Battle: Honda Element 2006 Window Regulator!

Sitting at a stop in my 2006 Honda Element, and hear a nice loud crack – glancing quickly to the right,  I see my passenger window slide down into the door. I press the up/down button and just hear a metallic hum. Shit’s broke.

This is apparently a common honda problem. Which means there are plenty of tutorials and other online help on how to fix it. This video was very helpful, and pretty clear walk through.

My experience only differed in a few areas.

A: BROKEN PLASTIC!

Door handle clasp. Although shown in the video above at 1:20 – pay extra attention to how this rotates.

door handle clip

The metal will then lift up out of the purple plastic clasp.

B: MORE BROKEN PLASTIC

I was not able to easily lift out the front panel as shown in the video.   Trying to “gently” pull the plastic panel out led to 2 plastic cracks. This is one of the most frustrating parts of car stuff – and I always fuck it up.

IMG_9116-1000There are  a number of plastic screws that need to be gently popped up. knowing where they are will help you from accidentally putting pressure in the wrong area. Use a plastic pry tool from harbor freight.

image_20820This is where the pop screws are located.

IMG_9117-1000Minor detail:  The thin plastic wrap pulls of easily, but not all the way across…there are areas where the wiring is woven through it, so I left mine draped to the left.

I followed video instructions on unscrewing the window from the regulator, and then the regulator from the door.

EDIT: just break this fucking orange thing. it pops out from the back, and your regulator comes with a new one. Unplugging the regulator power cable was a perfect time to break another piece of plastic – it is mounted to the door… but I got lucky.  Push DOWNWARD and it slides off the orange mount

IMG_9119-1000

After that the whole regulator slid out nicely.

Took longer than expect, and the usual broken plastic. Frustrating, but ok. We will see how the rest of it goes later this week.

IMG_9122-1000

Continued…

Welp. That was pretty simple. Not worth another page.. so this has been downgraded from PART 1, to just.. well. nothing. Picked up the part at local dealership for $130. Could have gotten cheaper on line, but needed the car working by today. A few things to note:

  • Get a 10mm socket + attach it to your drill. Speeds things up quite a bit.
  • Parts went in ok – a bit cramped, and follow the order they do it in video. I tried bolting in the motor first, and then couldn’t get the rest of regulator in place.
  • Watch to make sure your motor powercord is against the metal of the door, and not wrapped around the mechanism cables

Seeing the sad stock speakers, I have been motivated to try and upgrade them. I have a set of component polks that will fit. I WAS waiting until I could try and do a fancy amp install, but I think I can put in the speakers myself, and then get an expert to install the amp under the car seat.

SCORING FOR BATTLE WINDOW REGULATOR!

Project Completed: +20
Money Spent: +10 ( could have gotten a bit cheaper if I had ordered online  – but overall saved about $150 bucks on the install
Fallen Allies: 0
Damaged Plastic: -10
Time Taken: 3-4 hours counting driving time for parts

Final Tally: Not too shabby

 

 

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