Did a search but can't find anyone having my same issue.

2001 Dodge Dakota, Quad Cab. All 3 of my passenger windows work fine from the driver door control, however my driver window now does not work. It was getting sluggish and then just stopped working... of course, in the down position. It has no power now and I can't even get it to manually slide up.

All other windows operate at normal speed and with no issue. What could the problem be? Motor?

 

It very well could be the motor. All the windows share a common feed. It could also be something causing the motor to bind.


You can pull the regulator and test the motor.

 

You can try removing the door panel and moisture barrier, tap on the motor with a small hammer, if the window works after that you have a bad motor. If it still won't work at least you can unbolt the glass from the regulator and slide it back up into the closed position. You can either duct tape the window in place or brace it from inside the door cavity until you can fix it. You could also have a bad window regulator. They have some plastic parts and yours may be broken. You may even find plastic shrapnel in the bottom of the door cavity. The good news is whether it is the regulator or motor it is an easy fix. Parts stores may sell the motor and regulator separately. Dodge only sells the regulator and motor together as one unit. Here in Florida it runs roughly $125.00 depending on what dealer you buy it from.

Jimmy

 

I haven't had to replace one in my Dakota, but my wife's Durango is simple, and they go out all the time. Usually the regulator. I started buying the regulator/motor combo at O'Reilly's because they come with a lifetime warranty and the junkyard ones only lasted a year or two tops. I've only been able to find the whole assembly here in MN, but I keep the old ones now for spare parts in case of emergency. Easy to replace, just a few screws to take off door panel and 4 bolts for the assembly.

 

Mine were replaced by dealer some time back; my controller is having issues though now; passenger side is not getting power to go down but can go up.. driver side master controller you have to push in sometimes to make contact or push the entire assembly in.. short in the connectors or something.. Might check that out; make sure power is getting to the motor before droping the coin repalcing it else it could just be bad switches/connectors on teh back side of the switch.

 

Remove the door panel and tap on the motor with a small hammer and hold the master switch button down. If the motor rolls the window down, the switch is good. If it doesn't roll down, start checking power and ground with test light or power probe.

 

With power windows, if it starts to get sluggish (or stops up or down entirely after being sluggish) it's almost always a bad window regulator (cable rusts, then the mechanism brakes). New regulator comes with motor and runs $80-$100 at the common autoparts places and 2nd gen Dakota is possibly the easiest window regulator I've ever replaced.

Easiest to remove the door switch wiring with the panel on: Pull up on the rear edge of the switch panel, then front edge slides rearward. Press center latch of each connector (they have to go far) and wiggle out wiring connectors.

Remove door panel: Long #2 phillips screw at mirror, two short #2 phillips screws at bottom of door on front back. Remove #3 phillips under door pull, and the other one hiding under the 'D' shaped plastic cover (I use a pocket knife to flip open the cover) behind the door lever. Grasp door by handle and pull upward and away from door. Press center tab and wiggle connector tweeter speaker wiring (if installed). Look carefully at rod mounts to door latch and lock - the plastic connector has two lips keeping the rod from pivoting - usually you can press them apart with your thumb while pivoting the rod relative to the arm (use a flat blade screw driver if they need coaxing), then once free of the lips, the rod lifts out of the plastic door lever (one for the latch, and a second/identical mechansim for the lock).

Pull off water shield from rear upper corner: discconnect power mirror wiring connector, and the window motor connector (pull red locking tab all the way down, press center tab firmly and wiggle apart). Try to use the fingertips/nails to loosen adhesive and keep water shield from stretching/tearing. You only need to free the shield to get access to the rear 2/3rds of the door, but I usually leave just the lower front corner attached to have full access to all the window track bolts.

Examine door mechanism: You can reconnect the motor wiring connector and door switches (just the rear connector) and turn key to on to check mechanism. Is the window of it's track, window regulator broken freem from window (uncommon on glued on 2nd generation), the motor spinning, or the cable/mechaism broken? The cable usually rusts and the cable housing decays, putting strain on the mechanism and it breaks. The motor, cable, and regulator come as a unit making it easy to fix.

Slide window regulator down so window is only ~1" from fully lowered to have access to the two 10mm bolts holding the glued on window clamp to the regulator. The rear most is accessible through the large door panel opening, but the front is only accesible through an access hole. These 10mm bolts are shortert than the others. Once removed, slide window all the way up, hold with tape against the glass and around the upper frame or a large suction cup on the lower edge (I use a body panel puller suction cup).

The window motor is held by three 8mm (stock) or 10mm (common replacement) bolts in the center of the door. The front lower one must be removed completely but the other two can be merely loosened. Then slide motor upward & rearward to free the bolts through the keyhole shaped mounts.

The window regulator is held on by a pair of 10mm bolts in both the upper and lower middle of the door (four total). The forward bolt of each pair must be removed completely but the rearmost bolts can be loosened and removed with the regulator through the keyhole mount holes.

Once the window regulator and motor bolts are removed, the regulator can be removed by pivoting it top forward, raising the lower edge and pulling the whole thing out through the large access hole in the lower rear of door panel. Note it's orientation as it comes out.

Re-installation is reverse of removal. If the window tracks need adjusting, it's the remaining 10mm bolts on either side (they shouldn't normally need adjusting, but you might put silicone lube on the track felt if the window is still stiff). I usually slide in regulator, bolt in motor first, then the upper/lower regulator mounts (remember some of the bolts might still be on the old regulator), the reconnect the motor wiring, temporarily hook up the switches, lower regulator to ~1" above fully down (lining up window mount holes with access hole), carefully lower the window down by hand, reinstall the short 10mm window mount bolts. The pressure sensitive adhesive on the watershield is usually sticky enough to hold it back in place and don't forget to hook back up the power mirror wiring before reinstalling the door panel.

Reinstalling the door panel is easier if you first fit the bottom row of plastic hooks in the slots and then reconnect the door lever/latch rods and remaining wiring.