DIY: Power Windows Wont Work!

[Mister_Perkins]

So you've determined that your switches are good, your motor is good, but it JUST WONT MOVE!!! or it only goes up or down. Now you've figured out that its a wiring issue. This is an easy fix... Heres the tools you will need:

1. Soldering Iron
2. Solder
3. Small gauge wire (12 or 16)


I am showing you this with a harness that I had in my garage. Funny thing was it ended up actually needing repairing anyways.

First thing you have to do is remove the door panel completely. Disconnecting all connections.

Heres a good write up on removing the door panel:
http://autorepair.about.com/od/other.../aa092504a.htm

After you remove the panel, and disconnect the connections for the harness, remove the inside kick panel (under the Hood Release). You will see where the harness plugs in. Push the harness through the door, and through the body of the car so the harness is now inside the car.



Locate the rubber section that goes between the door panel and the body as listed below


pull back the rubber grommet to expose the wires. HEY Looky there, looks like two wires are split


Connect your wires to repair the harness


Solder the wires up


Wrap the wires up securely and reinstall the harness on the door panel


Presto Your windows work now

[doozergreengrass]

wish mines had power windows lol

[Mister_Perkins]

lol , they are nice but they have their downside too. The cables break over time (manual windows have a gear mechanism. The windows freeze to the door, and the window motors aren't powerful enough to pull it down and if your cables are weak that little tension could break the cable. The wires break like shown above in the DIY. Manual windows suck because if you want a rear window or passenger window down you have to have someone with you, or lean over and crank it down. But they will almost always outlast a power window.. that is unless the gears break or something. Which generally doesnt happen with manual windows

[ty**20]

nice DIY. Will be very helpful for us. ur cat looks like it wanna chew on the harness.haha..j/k

[Mister_Perkins]

Originally Posted by ty**20

nice DIY. Will be very helpful for us. ur cat looks like it wanna chew on the harness.haha..j/k

hehe . He just likes to smell everything. Hes a very curious cat

[BMR]

Nice DIY Mister Perkins! This problem/question comes up fairly often; it'll be nice to be able to refer people to it.

I've had to repair some wires in that harness in my Camry twice. The first time it was affecting the passenger-side window control. It's been quite a while, but if I recall correctly it had to do with the child lock-out switch wiring that went to the driver's controls. That one had me scratchin' my head for a while!

[Mister_Perkins]

The child Safety lock is a mechanical lock thats on the side of the door. Spins sideways

Or are you talking about the Window Lock button?

Keep in mind, All the windows power goes through the Drivers side window switch first and then is spread across the car. If you have a problem with the wiring between the drivers door and the junction box (Broken wire) it could affect any door window function

[BMR]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

The child Safety lock is a mechanical lock thats on the side of the door. Spins sideways

Or are you talking about the Window Lock button?

Ah, right, I meant the window lock. The one that disables all the other doors' window switches to keep kids from hurting themselves or each other.

Keep in mind, All the windows power goes through the Drivers side window switch first and then is spread across the car. If you have a problem with the wiring between the drivers door and the junction box (Broken wire) it could affect any door window function

Yup. It took me a while to figure that out the first time. I had assumed the passenger side got its power independently; not via the driver's controls. Had to study the wiring schematic and probe around for quite a while.

Oh, one thing to add that may seem obvious to some but not all: when splicing in a chunk of wire, use stranded wire, not solid. Solid wire won't take the flexing for very long before it breaks again. The finer the wire stranding, the better.

[lenore]

great writeup, previous owner just spent $200 on the switch assembly and didnt fix problem...Gave me a $200 discount on car, and I wiggled the boot between door and frame and the windows worked....Thank you, I love the car and saved an extra 2 bills to boot. Next step do what you did and repair the wires...

[lenore]

thank you guys, found 1 broken wire and three that broke when I pulled on wire loom....Windows work great, now to sell the brand new door switch assembly on flee bay and recover some money....The old switch assembly was fine...