Chris Lockhart

I was pretty sure they didn't, but it's been 3+ years since I drove mine I was a bit fuzzy. Thanks.

9two8

H,mm, there's a lot to be said about the advantage of " Keep fit window's "

jwyatt8171

I would keep the power windows for safety. In the event a person under the age of 30 has to escape from the car they will not know what that handles for and could perish!

dr bob

So for the longest time, "power windows" was an extra-cost option. While the big metal manual-window "regulator" cost more to build, install, and drag down the road. These days even the cheapest US cars have power window motors because they cost less.

*****

The power window switches for my car still work perfectly,perhaps the result of not using them to support transitting my fat butt into and out of the seat. On too many cars they get pushed down, the console supports give way, and ultimately they fail mechanically as well as electrically. At the same time, the switches do a little bit of the directional switching needed, carry the extra current needed to move windows with un- or under-maintained mechanical bits in the door, etc. So they suffer from arc-flashing and will fail from it.

The grease in the bottom of the switches is often congealed to wax, as has the grease in the little gearbox on the window motor. These are age-related maladies that happen regardless of how often you use them.

Looking forward at things that would help, adding relays between the switch and the motor would stop the arc damage in the switch. The switches plug in and all the power connections are there in the plug so not a huge problem to have a plug-between relay setup or just add it to the switch wiring; the switch wiring does extract from the plug handily.

Andy -- try replacing the grease in the window motor gearbox with something like a synthetic #2 (mobil-1 grease from PepBoys...), clean the guides and guide rods and add a film of waterproof grease to those. Maybe new felts while the door panels are off. And don't touch the switches except to move the windows, rear wiper or the sunroof. (same grease in those little gearboxes plus the front wiper motor drive will work wonders too...)

Bill Ball

My original switches still work, but I've used those "inexpensive" supposedly OEM switches to replace failed ones in other cars. They look and feel as good as the originals, but the few I have used have failed within a few years.