In my '95 Outback the lift mechanism in the driver's window went bad. The
motor was fine but the metal arms bent out of shape. I straightened them
temporarily, knew it would not last, planned to take it out and weld on some
reinforcement.
I got so busy that did not happen and of course the metal twisted again. The
dealer did sell me just a set of arms, that I could move the motor to, for
somewhere around $70, so I bought that. Guess what: The new arms had
reinforcements already welded on. So I think they found the original design
was too weak and would sometimes give up: The window was not out of
alignment, and I even from time to time lubricate it in the tracks lightly.
They were right. I think the mechanism has been essentially the same for
years. I assume more recent cars have the bracing to begin with.
Replacing the mechanism is not hard if the arms are not bent and you can
raise and lower them. If they are bent so you can't raise it to undo the
nuts, then lower the mechanism away from the glass to make it fit through
the small openings, it is much harder... But if they are bent you probably
don't mind bending them some more, so just pull and push and twist, etc.,
and eventually you can get the remains out of the door.
Bob Wilson