power window wire shorting

[hansenlegacy]

Hello Team TN,

I have a 1987 Camry LE

I'd like to start with a quick background of my issue then I'll get to the question.

A couple weeks ago my passenger window (powered) wouldn't budge, I pushed down while using switch and it finally moved. Window worked no problem after that.

4 days ago my wife went to roll the window up (it was 1/2 rolled down at the time) and it wouldn't budge. I went to try and I pushed the down button and it went down, but when I tried going up, nothing. (both driver and passenger switches do not work.) So now the window is all the way down and stuck.

-I replaced the motor and nothing.
-I cleaned the contacts and still not working.
-I tested the door light and it gets power, but the window switch connections gets no power.

-I went to the driver side and played around with wires going from door to kick panel (where the rubber tubing is) and there is a short cause now the back door behind driver window doesn't roll down) err!
and the switch panel looses power when wires are moved.

-My driver door switch also can't lock/unlock the doors.

So obviously I have a short somewhere.

My question is, how in the world do I get the wire harness out of door and kick panel area to inspect the damage? I spent a couple more hours tonight trying to get the wires free with not much results.

Any ideas on freeing up the wires or other possible issues causing my power window issue is greatly appreciated.

And sorry for the long message.

Thanks

[Kep]

You can open the kick panel by the brake to get to one connector and you can open the door panel to get to the other. When this happened to me I got an ohm meter to check resistances between the two ends of each wire. That established which wire was damaged (I had to wiggle the wires while I checked each one). Then I just stringed a new wire through and hooked it in to each connector. Mine turned out to be a ground wire (there were at least two) so it affected several functions.

I found that the narrow metal strip running the length of the blade of a windshield wiper worked excellent as a "wire snake". You need to be careful not to tear the boot but it wasn't particularly difficult.

I expect that there is a way to unhook both connectors and wiggle them through each panel or maybe wiggle one through both panel;s but I didn't take the time to investigate it. If you learn how to do this please take pictures and post a description up. It would be useful.

Kep

[hansenlegacy]

Thanks Kep. This has been useful.

I will document my progress and post the results and images.

Cheers!

HL

[hansenlegacy]

one more question. I attempted to rig the window motor to the battery to get the window rolled up until I fix the problem, but it rolled the window down instead of up, how do you reverse the function(current) to get it rolled up?

my goal is to have it fixed today, but just in case, this would be useful.

thanks in advance for your help.

HL

[new echo owner]

Just switch the wires around, it will go the other way.

N.E.O.

[hansenlegacy]

can I cut all the wires so I can get them out, locate the problem, then reconnect the wires?

i know i should just test each wire with ohm meter, but i don't know how to. where do i stick the +/- ends to test?

i am very frustrated especially since i know where the problem lies, but can't stick my finger on it....

thanks

HL

[hansenlegacy]

thanks neo, that worked. now to find the cause.

just to confirm, 2 of 5 window don't work (sunroof included but sunroof works fine) so the only thing this could be is a short in a wire somewhere.

when i move the wires around under the kick panel and inside the door that is when i get a short.

how do i test the wires to find the problematic wire? i have a digital meter but not sure how to use it and how to test the wires.

how do i know which color of wires to test with the meter?


thanks for excepting my ignorance.

HL

[new echo owner]

Were you able to find the connectors behind the kick panel? Sometimes you can tug on the each wire individually, if you come across the one that is broken you will be able to pull it out off the harness. Now look at the other end inside the door, do the same or find the same color wire and pull it out, solder another piece of wire to it and feed it back through the harness, connect it to the broken end and test the circuit.

Good Luck,

N.E.O.

[hansenlegacy]

so i got the wires out and the boot free (thanks to my neighbor) and we found 7, yes, 7 wires cut. this may have been due to trying to find the original wire problem more got cut in the meantime, but we are now dealing with 7 wires damaged (cut) so i am now commencing SM1 (solder mission 1) lol.

i have photos to show when i figure out how to load images here and will keep you posted.

HOLY SMOKES, this is crazy.

HL

[new echo owner]

The age of the vehicle has more to do with the borken wires than you cutting them during your search for the problem; after all, every time you open and close the door, those wires are flexing, how much do you think they kind take.

Good to hear you find your problem.

N.E.O.

[hansenlegacy]

wow, for those of you that helped out, THANK YOU!

I had 7 severed wires from door to kick panel. killed passenger window, door lock on my side and back driver side window.

what i did next was drew a diagram showing where all color coded wires go into both harnesses using microsoft paint and uncliped them all, pulled wires through the rubber boot and soldered the broken wires.

My goal was only to fix window problem because door lock didn't work since i bought it, but I soldered all wires together (1st time soldering) pulled all wires through boot and recliped all wires into harnesses and pulled through hole, and WALA!!! all windows plus bonus door locks work perfectly!

3 days and 5 hours today, 2 trips to wrecker and it is done.

what a project and what an accomplishment.

thanks for your help N.E.O & Kep and to my neighbor Fred who helped rip out wires.

Kinda sad project is done, but glad everything works.

CHEERS

HL

[new echo owner]

Good to hear that!

N.E.O.

[Kep]

Great to hear that everything worked out alright. No worries though, there will be other projects!

By the way, this is late but may be helpful later. You can use the ohm meter function of a multi meter to locate broken wires by turning off the power (disconnect the battery if necessary), setting the meter to "ohms" and then touching the plus probe to one end of the suspect wire and the minus probe to the other end of the suspect wire. If there is a break you will get an infinate resistance reading. If the wire is good (and not too long) you will get a zero resistance reading. Before you use the meter for a test it is always prudent to set the meter to ohms and then touch the minus probe to the pos. probe. It should read zero resistance. If not, adjust it (normal) or you may have a bad battery (unusual) or a failing probe wire (unlikely). If your probe wires won't reach from one end of the circuit to another you may need to add a length of known-good-wire and calibrate the meter back to zero.

Congratulations,
Kep

[chreeha]

I'm wondering if there is a way to bypass the master switch so that the passenger window control will operate the pass. window?

I'm pretty frustrated at this point, and I don't think I have the patience to trace/replace the shorted wire from the master...

Thanks!

Chreeha

[Doctor J]

I suggest you to read my thread "Power window troubleshooting". [to get general idea].
you will need to cut two wires from the window switch to the master switch [not blue, not solid red and not solid green].
Insulate the cut outs on the master switch side.
Connect BOTH cut outs from the window switch to the good ground.