Just fixed my power window issue and thought I'd pass along the symptoms and solution.
The first time my driver window got stuck in the down position was about three years ago. It happened off and on for a couple of days and each time I'd pound the interior door panel to correct it. Not the best idea, but effective in a jam. Once it was working again it would fall off my radar. Same thing happened a few times about a year later. And a year later again these past two weeks almost non-stop. No other windows were affected.
I realized it only happened during heat waves! I also figured out when pounding the door panel didn't correct it driving around a little bit did. Which indicated the vibration of pounding and/or driving was reestablishing a loosened contact, or a little current boost was overcoming resistance in a worn or dirty contact. I considered info outside the 9th Gen Corolla forum, including the possibility of dirty motor contacts, a loose harness to the master switch, or a bad switch itself. I was leaning toward dirty motor brushes since I'm in the dusty rural southwest.
Finally the driver window switch starting wiggling around in the master switch like a loose tooth. But I believe that's only because I'd been abusing it trying to get the window to cooperate. Removing the master switch (very easy task) gave me the opportunity to troubleshoot. I disassembled the entire master switch itself and found years of use had created looseness between a circuit board pin and the sliding toggle the switch cover usually activates. I could manipulate it into functioning while disassembled, but since the issue was due to wear I couldn't 'tamper' it back into reliable working order.
Replaced master switch on eBay for $30. Problem solved. Glad I didn't have to rip open the door.
The first time my driver window got stuck in the down position was about three years ago. It happened off and on for a couple of days and each time I'd pound the interior door panel to correct it. Not the best idea, but effective in a jam. Once it was working again it would fall off my radar. Same thing happened a few times about a year later. And a year later again these past two weeks almost non-stop. No other windows were affected.
I realized it only happened during heat waves! I also figured out when pounding the door panel didn't correct it driving around a little bit did. Which indicated the vibration of pounding and/or driving was reestablishing a loosened contact, or a little current boost was overcoming resistance in a worn or dirty contact. I considered info outside the 9th Gen Corolla forum, including the possibility of dirty motor contacts, a loose harness to the master switch, or a bad switch itself. I was leaning toward dirty motor brushes since I'm in the dusty rural southwest.
Finally the driver window switch starting wiggling around in the master switch like a loose tooth. But I believe that's only because I'd been abusing it trying to get the window to cooperate. Removing the master switch (very easy task) gave me the opportunity to troubleshoot. I disassembled the entire master switch itself and found years of use had created looseness between a circuit board pin and the sliding toggle the switch cover usually activates. I could manipulate it into functioning while disassembled, but since the issue was due to wear I couldn't 'tamper' it back into reliable working order.
Replaced master switch on eBay for $30. Problem solved. Glad I didn't have to rip open the door.
