That switch has one more terminal than I’d expect.
A window switch should be a single pole, double throw switch - on each switch you’ll have a common ground plus one terminal for each side of the switch (one for up, one for down), so three per switch.
At a guess, I’d say F was the common ground for the driver side and A & B were each side of the switch. So, if you connect your continuity tester between F and A, then you should get a connection when you press either up or down, then the opposite side of the switch will work with F & B.
That’s assuming the switch is working, which is a silly thing to assume so try that with C,D & G. You may have to play about with the different terminals (I’m just guessing as to which does which!), but you’ll get the idea. Once it makes sense, try it on the driver switch. If one side doesn’t work, then you’ve got your culprit.
No idea what the seventh terminal does - some sort of ground?
Red: left window
Green: left window
Red/black: right window
Green/black: right window
Black/red: positive
Black: negative (ground)
Black/blue: positive out to right side switch – can be disconnected by lockout switch
I have seen cars where the rest position everything is connected to ground, operating the switch flips on side or the other to power. So you have:
Rest
Up
Down
A test light or volt meter will tell in a hurry if both sides are connected to power or ground when the switch is relaxed.
Gotta say that if you can do this you’re qualified to tear into the door panel! The problem sounds like a mechanical jam or failure. Here’s your part - I chose this vendor for good pictures - there are other sellers, brands, and price levels.
The motor has only 2 wires so you might be able to apply 12V momentarily to understand the up and down rotation. On mine that failed recently the problem was the spool that moved the actuator cable and it was solidly stuck down.
Noise when the OP hits the down switch and silence when he hits up position argues strongly against any type of mechanical failure and points almost exclusively to a switch failure in the up position.
Just as obviously points to a solid jam in the up direction like the mechanism sitting in my garbage can right now. Exact same symptoms as OP.
In any case the easiest way to diagnose the problem or implement a quick fix is to isolate the motor wires and try applying power, whether at the switch or in the door. There’s only 2 wires (Did you notice that or even look??) whereas my German engineered :rolleyes: Volkswagen had 6-8 to a motor-encoder assembly.
I tried figuring out a pattern but am not sure what combinations tell me what. Here’s what I have (this isn’t a complete list of possibilities—not knowing which to test is what cut it short):
Left alone, I have continuity on the following:
A-C
A-D
C-D
C-G
D-G
E-F
But if I push a switch, things change in non-obvious ways.
Now A-B has continuity. For a while. Flipping any of the switches doesn’t seem to break that continuity. Turning the ‘lock’ switch does break continuity, but it return when I turn the lock off. But it doesn’t stay that way. I can’t tell if it’s timed or I’m doing something to trigger it.
A-D normally has continuity, but not with the passenger switch is down or the driver switch is up
B-C is another one that wasn’t on (i.e. continuity detected) at first, then it was on. But off when passenger up and driver down.
A-E is the same way, but on when the driver is up and the passenger down.
We’re about to load up and drive away in an hour or so; after that all this becomes moot and I’ll take it to my mechanic on Monday. But if you can see some sort of pattern in there to save me the open window trip, that would be great.
What I’d really like to do, if it can be done safely, is to use a piece or pieces of 12 gauge to make a jumper. Slide it into the female wiring harness and see if the window moves up (or I get sound but no window). Any chance of that at this juncture? Or would that likely cause more problems than I started with?
The jumper wire is exactly what I’d try if your switch layout makes sense as being a direct contact to the motor. Do you have a multimeter? You should be able to identify the two motor wires which should measure no more than 10’s of ohms whereas switch contacts and wire connections should be less that than say, 2-5 ohms.
Also consider checking from body ground to any of the contacts into the door wiring.
I’m sorry this it too late to be of help. Here it is in a crude nutshell:
You don’t give a tinker’s dam about continuity. What you care about is which terminals have power (show 12v, light up a test light clipped to ground) and then which one loses that power, and ideally changes to ground, when a given switch is pressed in a given direction.
You’ll have to figure out the correlation between your A, B, etc. and the actual wire colors. ETA: Or not. The letter position isn’t going to help. The wire color is the thing to go by.
If I’ve read the wiring diagram correctly, when the left window switch is pressed to the “UP” position, the red wire should stop showing power, and if the switch was working properly would be connected to ground. Connecting that red wire to ground while holding the switch in the “UP” position would get around the failure of the switch do that, and if said failure was indeed the case should cause the window to rise.
So we took off with her as-is, grateful that it was a sunny day out. I’d reconnected the wiring harness and largely reseated the switch in the armrest. The passenger worked as expected, but nothing from the driver’s side-
-until about thirty minutes into the jaunt. I pulled up and lo, the window followed suit. So there it stands, and I’m not quite sure what I’m to do next.
Since it’s up and staying that way (for now), I think my concern goes from what-does-what to what will fix it. As in, do I shift to trying to take the switch itself apart and looking for burned/rusted/corroded contacts? I’ve only done a cursory search, but it looks like replacements will either be hard to find or expensive, so I have some play to try and fix this myself. Is it safe to assume I should be taking out the little screws next, pulling it out of its housing and seeing what’s behind it?
Barring that, and assuming Radio Shack is no longer an option, who does one call for a small repair like this? Keep in mind I’m in rural NY, so I no longer have a real city at my disposal.
It’s possible you could fix the switch, but I’m not optimistic. Some of those switches have a lot of little internal parts (contacts, springs, spacers, etc.) that fall out of place when the switch is opened and are the devil to get back together. For a reliable fix (and possibly the only fix) I suggest get a replacement switch.
If you have a soldering iron handy, you may have some luck reflowing the solder joints - they have a tendency to dry out and crack over the years and I’ve had some success repairing vehicle electronics this way.
I’m not hopeful in this case, though - as it’s the driver side (they always wear first) I would expect the switch is just worn out. As Gary T says, unless you really know what you’re doing it’s best not to start taking the switch apart.
Where have you looked for replacements? I had a cursory search on ebay and there looks like being a couple there - not particularly cheap though. Have you looked around at any breakers yards? I don’t know how it works in the US, but here in the UK most breaker yards advertise online and will happily ship any parts to you.
In the meantime, if you’re having trouble sourcing a new switch, it may be worth swapping the wiring around so the driver and passenger switches are reversed - that way you’ll have a working driver window but a dead passenger one. Not ideal, but better than you have now.
so try that with C,D & G. You may have to play about with the different terminals (I’m just guessing as to which does which!), but you’ll get the idea. Once it makes sense, try it on the driver switch. If one side doesn’t work, then you’ve got your culprit.