JeffreyDurbin

Will is bummed because his driver side power window is not functioning and worst of all it is in the down position so he cannot drive to school. I removed the relay from under the glove box and used an emery board to clean the contacts. The passenger side window works so I think the relay is NOT the culprit but is it possible that within the relay the driver and passenger windows are separate? Will replacing the relay possibly solve the problem?

I think a bad switch or motor is the more likely culprit but I am trying to remove the easiest of explanations first.

Thank you!

NickTucker

You can easily swap the passenger switch with the drivers side to determine or rule out the switch as being the problem.. I would definitely start there.

Same happened to mine.. I needed to push the switch in a certain way to get it to work.. finally failed 100%..

dzaprev

It is usually the switch worn out. Try push down hard on the switch or swaping wiring left to right wiring see if it goes down.

Christopher Zach

It could be the switch, however try this: With the engine off and key on note the voltage reading on the dash. Press the switch and see if the needle moves.

If the needle does not move it could be a switch issue.

If the needle does move, it means the motor is jammed.

If the motor is jammed then the repair is not too bad: Take off the door panel, get the window lift system unscrewed, remove the motor from the lift system, take out the motor, take it apart, and see if there is a bit of debris jamming it. Then grease the bearings, put the motor back together, put it on the lift system, etc.

Overhauling these motors is not too bad. Sometimes a bit of the magnet flakes off and can jam the motor. Or the bearings are just dry and too much friction. I did this on my motors and they now go up and down like jackrabbits.

Alan

To your question - there is only one relay - if one side works OK then the relay is not the culprit. Check the switches, if no joy there - you need to open up the doors.

Alan

WyattsRide

Don't rule out a break in the wire, especially where the wire harness bends coming from the dash into the door, at the door hinge area.

My experience was that I was having an intermittent working nonworking drivers side window. Relay was fine, made repairs to switch and even swapped both sides ruling out a bad switch. Knew the motor was fine because of intermittent working. Visually traced the power wire through the door and found the break in the wire. No problems since.

M. Requin

In addition to all of the above, note the following. After you remove the door card, and when you are removing the motor and lift actuator, notice how much sideways tension there is on the four M6 bolts that hold the motor/actuator to the door itself. There are several failure modes that can cause this: the plastic wheel at the end of the actuator arm that rides in a channel under the window glass can be worn out (call Roger), the guides can be worn (ditto), the adjustable travel limiters may have lost their soft inserts (MrMerlin cuts hunks of tire for repair- search), and all of this can lead to a bent actuator arm. In the latter case remove, straighten, fix the underlying cause. And finally, you can get a new motor brush assembly with thermal cutout on ebay for about $15 if the motor is dead. Lots of stuff to go wrong in what seems like a simple system!

JeffreyDurbin

Resurrecting this thread. Once we determined that the switch was operational, we pulled everything apart. Getting the motor and arm out was a bit of a chore with twisting and turning. I am a bit concerned we bent it up a little in all of that. I tested the motor once it was out and disconnected from everything and it operated like a charm. The white wheel at the end was broken so we assumed that was the problem. I bought a new one (along with a new switch for the eventual replacement down the road and a key and key head because we only have one key. The key was too short but that is another story.)

I took the arm and motor on the plane with me to Los Angeles on a business trip because I have a buddy there with a good shop with vice grip and assorted tools and more importantly expertise. Of course, I got stopped by TSA both times because they wanted to know what I had in my backpack. My buddy and I drilled out the old pin and installed the new one while ensuring the wheel continued to spin smoothly. I brought it back and my son and I buttoned everything back up and it worked once or twice and then failed.

We were on the road for seven weeks so this is our first opportunity to take another look. We got the door panel off and I unbolted the motor from the door and we were able to move the arm back and forth in the channel. It moves but not too smoothly. Does that need to be lubed? What about the gears? When we took it apart they were nasty with grease and we cleaned that up. Do we need to grease up the gears on the arm to make it move smoothly? Is it possible that I burnt out the motor because the arm isn't properly lubed?

I suppose I should have tried the new switch first thing this morning to see if that solved the problem as long as I have it.

Thank you everyone!

M. Requin

And it is not just the motor that can jam. If as Chris notes the voltmeter indicates a draw under load, it may mean that the motor is not working properly, or that the entire window lift mechanism may be jammed. 4 6mm bolts (with Belleville washers - take care not to lose them if you do this) hold the motor and lift assembly to the door. Try loosening them a bit at a time, and if it feels that there is a lot of resistance to turning one or two of those bolts, you have some more work to do. If you remove all 4 and the lift mechanism moves to release tension you definitely have found the problem. The fix is not hard, I or others here can advise.

The Forgotten On

Everything needs to be lubricated in the window mechanism. Lithium grease works well here.

AirtekHVAC

Double check the wiring in the plastic chase between the door and the frame. It is a failure point, and I had the same issue

Christopher Zach

By the way I always take the motor off the lift mechanism before removing it from the door. That way the lift will always fit through the hole there with no bending or other issues. Check the motor off the lift, then on the lift to see what's up.

Ramp

If I want to test the switch, with the switch out, which wires do you jump to test the motor up/down ?