Power window not working, 66 Landau

[videosteve]

The drivers side window on my 66 Landau has stopped working. I tested the switches, and the wiring all the way to the motor, all good. When the switch is activated, the motor makes a very soft click type noise. I'm sure the motor is bad, but want some confirmation.

Also, will a window motor from a 65 replace the one for in my 66?

Thanks, Steve.

[tbird5866]

1965 and 1966 use the same window motors. RH is not the same as LH but can work by changing the gear housing..

[El Sol Infinito]

I had the same symptoms with my '64 when I bought it last year.
If the window is all the way up, you might be able to get lucky and just have a buddy push down (HARD) on the top of the window while you hit the switch, sometimes the motor and mechanism just need a jump start.
More than likely though, it is one of two things. The regulator is all boogered up or the motor is shot. In my case, it was both.
First things first, take off the door panel to get to the bolts that hold the regulator in. It's not hard to work on, really. Take out the regulator and motor (it's in one piece at this point). I would clean and lube everything in the regulator gear housing and the scissors lift. While you're at it, you should hook up the motor to the battery direct and see if it spins. NOTE! Just because it spins under power doesn't mean it has enough juice to raise and lower your window.
If you need a new motor: Don't waste your time and money with the used junk they're selling on Ebay, just buy a new motor. I bought mine from Thunderbird Headquarters, as they seemed a little cheaper at the time than everybody else ($125 plus core). However, there has been a link on www.lcoc.org/bb.htm posted very recently to a shop out of florida that might have T-bird motors new for as little as $75.00 with no core. It's worth a few minutes to check it out.
Getting the motor/regulator/scissors assembly back in the door and hooked to the window is the FUN part. Good luck.
In all reality, I'd say your motor is shot. Sorry.

[tbird5866]

Bob: Are you sure the motors you are referring to are indeed NEW? At a price of $125, it sounds rebuilt.. I didn't know anyone was selling NEW motors.

[El Sol Infinito]

Well, I guess I don't know if they're NEW. I ended up replacing 3 of mine with the one's from Tbird HQ and they work great now.

[videosteve]

Bob, thanks for the great info! I'm working on a couple of other minor things, so the window is next on the list. A newbie question: the regulator, what is that, and how does it relate to the motor? Also, I did find a driver's side motor on eBay, at about $55, but am leary even thought the ad says it works. Will probably go with the "new" one from a catalog :-) Thanks!!

[Harley Eaton]

The regulator consists of the arms that raise and lower the window. Positioned between the motor/gear assembly and the window glass/frame. Per previous messages, you may NOT get "new" motors when you order. "New" motors are non-existant or extremely rare. 1963/64 motors are different from 1965/66 motors.

[El Sol Infinito]

I would strongly advise against buying used equipment like that on ebay unless the deal is amazingly good. Just because the motor spins when it is hooked up to power does not mean it has enough moxie to push up your window. I've found that a lot of stuff for sale on ebay for tbirds is borderline junk or otherwise over-optimistically described.
You'll understand why I advise you to go with professionally rebuilt motors and such when you try to put the whole thing back together inside the door. You REALLY don't want to do it twice. I did. It's no fun.
And another thing: make sure you have the counterweight spring (the spiral one) tensioned really good on the regulator when you put it all back together, it doesn quite a bit of the lifting work.

[videosteve]

Thank you, gentlemen, great info, very helpful!

... and I promise not to order a "new" motor of course. eBay is not bad for hardware, but electrical parts... I agree, no way to ever be sure.

Say, Bob, I'll be in the Overland Park area tomorrow thru Friday on business. Any hot spots to check out classic cars? Thanks!!

[El Sol Infinito]

Used to be a great tbird resource in downtown KC called Don's Thunderbirds, but they've recently gone out of business and had ALL of their hundreds of cars crushed. (!!!!)
You might look up Alan Tast, he's the former president of the VTCI. A great guy, for sure. He knows everything there is to know about our cars. He works at a firm called Gossen Livingston. They're in the white pages phone book.