Interchangeable window motors??

[Kaysboat]

Hello,

My front driver’s window on the 86 Crown Vic doesn’t work and after swapping out four extra switches I had, I’m quite confident the motor has packed it up.

I ordered a motor off rock auto, but the motor craft front left motor is out of stock. Are the motors in other doors interchangeable with the front driver’s (front left)?

[WagonMan]

Right rear is the same as drivers front. The wires may be too short, so you would have to lengthen them. WagonMan

[knucklehead0202]

If you can hear the motor run but the window doesn't move you can just rebuild the motor with new bushings. If not, what he said^^^Same goes for right front and left rear.

[87gtVIC]

I have fox body mustang window motors in my car. I think i had to swap them left to right though. I also have a tudor, though that may be a none issue in this discussion.

[sly]

same motors... just need to know which direction the gear housing is.

Here's the application chart...
FORD AEROSTAR 1986-1989
FORD BRONCO 1978-1996
FORD BRONCO II 1985-1987
FORD COUNTRY SEDAN 1969-1972
FORD COUNTRY SQUIRE 1965-1989
FORD CUSTOM 1965-1977
FORD E-100 1981-1983
FORD E-150 1981-1990
FORD E-250 1981-1990
FORD E-350 1981-1990
FORD ELITE 1975-1976
FORD F SUPER DUTY 1988-1992
FORD F-100 1981-1983
FORD F-150 1981-1992
FORD F-250 1981-1992
FORD F-350 1981-1992
FORD FAIRLANE 1968-1970
FORD FAIRMONT 1978-1983
FORD FALCON 1968-1970
FORD GALAXIE 1965-1974
FORD GRAN TORINO 1972-1975
FORD GRANADA 1981-1982
FORD LTD 1965-1986
FORD LTD CROWN VICTORIA 1983-1989
FORD LTD II 1977-1979
FORD MAVERICK 1970-1977
FORD MUSTANG 1969-1972
FORD RANCH WAGON 1969-1974
FORD RANCHERO 1968-1972
FORD RANGER 1985-1987
FORD TEMPO 1984-1994
FORD THUNDERBIRD 1967-1979
FORD TOPAZ 1984-1994
FORD TORINO 1968-1976
LINCOLN CONTINENTAL 1966-1972
LINCOLN MARK III 1969-1971
LINCOLN MARK IV 1972-1976
LINCOLN MARK V 1977-1979
LINCOLN TOWN CAR 1989
MERCURY CALIENTE 1964-1967
MERCURY CAPRI 1966-1967
MERCURY COLONY PARK 1969-1989
MERCURY COMET 1966-1977
MERCURY COMMUTER 1965-1968
MERCURY COUGAR 1969-1982
MERCURY CYCLONE 1966-1967
MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS 1975-1989
MERCURY MARAUDER 1965-1970
MERCURY MARQUIS 1967-1986
MERCURY MONTCLAIR 1965-1968
MERCURY MONTEGO 1968-1976
MERCURY MONTEREY 1965-1974
MERCURY PARK LANE 1965-1968
MERCURY TOPAZ 1984-1994
MERCURY VILLAGER 1966-1967
MERCURY ZEPHYR 1978-1983

[gadget73]

Something I will mention, Towncar front gear housings are not the same. They're damn close but will not swap. There is a raised boss around the bolt holes that locates into an enlarged hole in the window regulator. Ford motors don't have that. Basically if you try to use Townie motors, the gear won't mesh up correctly. Towncar rear motors are the same as Ford motors though.

I've repaired a number of those motors. Most of the time if you pull them apart, you can polish up the commutator and it will run just fine. Its also possible that the little plastic pills inside fell apart and have the gears jammed up. Also not hard to fix.

[turbo2256b]

I think I CHANGED A FEW TO LEFT TO RIGHT or right to left by swapping the ends. Wounder if that could be done between matching years for the Lincoln and a Panther.
Also the newer flat sided window motors are about a nats ass from the bolt holes matching up. Wonder what but head screwed that design up

[kishy]

Something I will mention, Towncar front gear housings are not the same. They're damn close but will not swap. There is a raised boss around the bolt holes that locates into an enlarged hole in the window regulator. Ford motors don't have that. Basically if you try to use Townie motors, the gear won't mesh up correctly. Towncar rear motors are the same as Ford motors though.

I've repaired a number of those motors. Most of the time if you pull them apart, you can polish up the commutator and it will run just fine. Its also possible that the little plastic pills inside fell apart and have the gears jammed up. Also not hard to fix.

I think there's even more to it than that. The Ford/Mercury motors, and I think Lincoln rear, the screws are self-tapping and thread into the gear housing on the motor. The Lincoln front ones, the bolt goes all the way through and threads into something behind the motor...I haven't put eyes on what that something is but it doesn't exist in the Ford and Mercury doors.

And yes I'm pretty sure you could use the "motor" half of a Ford/Mercury one with the "gearbox" half of a Lincoln one, and vice versa. But there were subtle variations even within each of those types of motors (longer ones, shorter ones) and I think some had the brushes on the end of the unit while some had the brushes near the gear end.

There are a LOT of spare and self-rehabbed window motors in my garage.

[Kaysboat]

As much as I always try to buy name brand parts, I wound up buying a motor through NAPA (dealers don't have any in stock/in the system anymore, and rockauto didn't have any right rear Motorcraft motors either, and the boxes are LONG gone from junk yards around these parts) . Not super happy with it as the casing is plastic and I hope it lasts, but I really don't drive the car much, so it should hold up for occasional daily summer driving. Thanks

I haven't installed it yet (doesn't really matter as the car is in the garage until the spring at this point), but should get around to it in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it goes well.

[kishy]

If it's one of the Dorman motors (plastic gear housing, with universal pigtails to fit different Fords), they work alright. Little bit slower in my experience and if you try to hold the window against the motor you'll find it runs out of steam and can't fight against you very hard.

Notice the application list above shows the motors end in 89. The motors beginning sometime in 89 through 91 are different from the earlier box motors (skinnier, flat-sided instead of the huge chunky older ones). They interchange fine...some say they don't, but I've mix-and-matched them regularly with no issues. The only exception is the Lincoln oddballs mentioned further up.

The skinnier 89-91 motors in my experience are prone to the magnets coming unglued inside particularly if you have a family member who is incapable of not slamming the door.

[sly]

Or the doors were like the ones on the Mad Marquis where you HAD to slam them. The rear doors' hinge springs were so tight that if you just rolled the door over nice and easy, it would slam itself.

[kishy]

Or the doors were like the ones on the Mad Marquis where you HAD to slam them. The rear doors' hinge springs were so tight that if you just rolled the door over nice and easy, it would slam itself.

Yep, that too...mine are like that as well. The rears get away from you if you don't guide them shut actually holding them. Combine that with an aggressive push and you see the value in specialty Loctite adhesives to self-rebuild the things.

[GM_Guy]

On my early 89 you could NOT interchange the flat motor and the round motor (round original to my '89) even though the door skin had the extra mounting hole, the flat motor gear did not stick out far enough to mesh with the regulator. I had to transfer the center gear AND plate to a flat motor in order to mesh with the mechanism.

[gadget73]

The flat ones seem to run faster though. More powerful magnet maybe. I have seen new motors sold for mid 80s models in that format though, not sure if they had a different gear setup than the late boxes or what.

While you're in there I'd give the mechanism a lube job. It really helps with motor survival.