Hi All, My ID stems from having to work on my sister's Windstar - AKA The Money Pit. Here's the mystery: The driver's-side hand-crank door window regulator needs to be replaced. I ordered one from the local Advance Auto Parts - it's a Dorman 749-744, just like all the sites on the 'Net call for.

One small problem - it doesn't come close to matching up with the old one! The 2 bent tabs that 'hang' it on the door until you get the rivets in are about twice as far from the 'crank post' (where the handle goes) as the slots in the door. Said 'crank post' is double the length of the old one. The rivet holes don't all line up. It isn't the same regulator, period.

And yet, it's the ONLY manual regulator listed for ANY Windstar, and it matches the picture of 749-744 on the Dorman site.

This heap is a fairly early-production (6/94) specimen of what I understand is the first year of the Windstar. Is there some possibility that there was a change made early-on in production? Does anyone have any idea of where I can find the correct regulator?

Interestingly, the power regulators I see pictured appear to have tab/rivet hole spacing much more like her old one than those on the specified manual replacement...??? Seems odd that they'd have different door stampings (holes,slots etc.) for manual vs. power windows but...???

Thankfully, I had enough sense to check the new one for fit before removing the old one, so the van's not running around with a taped-up window or anything. It would be nice to get this taken care of before really cold weather, though; the Big Sky Garage doesn't have a very good heater!

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer!

 

Welcome to the site..

Was that a typo? Dorman SB 749-774

There's some OEM MANUAL running on eBAY..

 

Yeah, typo. It's 749-774, not 749-744. Was looking at ebay just now, and there are some on there that look correct, but no new ones. Most of the used ones don't have pics of the actual part. The one nice, cheap new one is a right-side one.

There's a definite difference between the OEM ones and the replacements (which I assume are all Dorman). Ebay item # 150822130592 is OEM used. Notice the location of the locating tabs close to the front rivet holes. And the fact that the front and rear rivet holes are the same distance apart top and bottom.

Now look at 130766181730, which is the Dorman unit. The tabs are clear back near the rear rivet holes, and the lower front rivet hole is well forward of the top front one. And the winder shaft is way too long. I really don't know how Dorman can sell these as suitable replacements when they don't even come close to fitting!

At any rate, I guess I'm either going to have to buy used or wait for an OEM new one to come up. I'll check with the local dealers, but have a feeling the price there will be prohibitive, if the part is even available.

I guess I now know what I needed to know, so no one needs to bother posting to this thread.