One window stopped working

[Stainless]

I haven't driven my car much this year. A few weeks back, the passenger window didn't go up or down except after trying it a few times. Then it worked fine. Flash forward to two days ago and the window wouldn't respond to anything that the switch was telling it to do. It wouldn't roll up and a rain storm was coming in.

I first suspected the switch was going bad, so I took it out and cleaned all of the connections. It was a bit dirty, but not bad. The switches are new as of a few years ago. Cleaning it didn't fix anything. I then swapped switches with the driver's side. The switch worked to control the driver's side, but the passenger side still didn't work. So the problem does not appear to be with the switches.

I took off just the upper door panel to see if anything looked suspicious, like a loose connection. I unplugged and reseated all of the molex-looking connections, but nothing changed. I did notice one of the connections in the middle of the door appeared to have burn marks, but I don't know what this connection controls:
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The connection with the burn marks is in the middle. Below is a closer picture of the connection in question.
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Looking through the parts history of the car, I don't see anything window related being replaced expect the switches and the window seal. If the window motors have been replaced, it would have been done by an owner prior to 2006.

What is the best next step in troubleshooting this?

[Chris4099]

You need to remove the lower door panel. The connectors you are looking at are for lock solenoid and lock switch. Once the lower panel is off, you can access the window motor connector. Disconnect it and hook up a meter to the harness side. You should get 12v when the window switch is pressed and then the polarity should be reversed when you press the other direction on the window switch (don't forget to turn the ignition key to accessory mode or else nothing will happen). If you are getting voltage in both directions, then your window motor is probably shot. If no voltage, then there's probably an issue in the door wire harness somewhere (assuming the other window works fine).

[Stainless]

Excellent information. Thanks Chris! I'll do that in the coming weeks and post back with the results. My first baby is five days past due, so I may be busy with more important things in the near future.

[DMCMW Dave]

You need to remove the lower door panel. The connectors you are looking at are for lock solenoid and lock switch. Once the lower panel is off, you can access the window motor connector. Disconnect it and hook up a meter to the harness side. You should get 12v when the window switch is pressed and then the polarity should be reversed when you press the other direction on the window switch (don't forget to turn the ignition key to accessory mode or else nothing will happen). If you are getting voltage in both directions, then your window motor is probably shot. If no voltage, then there's probably an issue in the door wire harness somewhere (assuming the other window works fine).

You can see/ touch the connections on a OEM motor by removing the forward door edge light fixture.

[Silkie]

You can see/ touch the connections on a OEM motor by removing the forward door edge light fixture.

My passenger window works fine.
But my Driver window will go down a half inch then stop.
It will go back up though.
Any ideas on this?
Thanks!

[SS Spoiler]

I had something similar happen. Turned out to be the brass gear in the motor was cracked and would allow only one revolution before the gear bound up. I took the motor completely apart, drilled the brass gear hole slightly larger and super glued it to the shaft. I wrapped a hose clamp around it until it dried. Put it back together and it's worked fine over twenty years now. These are original motors.

Paul Cerny #2691
Kalispell, MT

[Silkie]

I had something similar happen. Turned out to be the brass gear in the motor was cracked and would allow only one revolution before the gear bound up. I took the motor completely apart, drilled the brass gear hole slightly larger and super glued it to the shaft. I wrapped a hose clamp around it until it dried. Put it back together and it's worked fine over twenty years now. These are original motors.

Paul Cerny #2691
Kalispell, MT


Thanks for the info. Is the motor difficult to take apart?

[SS Spoiler]

Hey it was twenty years ago. If I remember right there were some pot metal tabs to bend out...careful.
Getting it out of the door was the hard part. Good luck.

[Stainless]

I finally had time to dig into this today. After removing the lower door panel on the passenger side, I discovered that one of the connections to the power window motor had come off. I hooked it back up and it began working again. Problem solved! Thanks for your help everybody.