Window Troubleshooting
 

97 Civic LX 4 Door Front Driver Window (power)

The window was half way down and when I tried putting it up, I heard what might have been something hitting glass or possibly glass breaking and the window wouldn't move. I hear the motor moving up and down but the window is staying where it is. I can gently jiggle the window back and forth a bit and pull it up, but can't get it past about 2" from the top. With the window almost all the way up, there are no visible cracks.

Is it common for a motor attempting to open a window to crack it? When the broken glass sound occurred the window was on it's way up. The glass didn't drop at all- the motor just became obsolete.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, since it did sound a bit like broken glass, I'm looking into options for finding a replacement window. Anyone have good leads on inexpensive windows? Finding a 97 civic in a junkyard is close to impossible. I might be able to find a 96, 98-00 or maybe a 96-00 acura. Is there any way to find out if any of these years/brands share the same windows?

Sounds to me like your window came off the track. Pull the door panel and take a look at it. If there is no visible crack in the glass or weakness you don't need to replace it. If you do end up replacing it call around to your local salvage yards they usually have good prices on windows you just have to call around to find them.

common to civics. i had 3 cars at the shop that this happened. you need to take the panel off and behind the speaker is a 10mm bolt, take it out and swing the track to the right and slip the glass in. you might disagreee on this but its better off not putting the 10mm bolt back in as the glass will comeoff the track someother time again if you put the bolt back in.

but its all up to you