Ah, crap. Our 2001 Olds Intrigue’s electric windows stopped working. Both passenger side windows are stuck in the down position, and both driver’s side windows are stuck in the up position. There is no response from the switches for the electric windows.
Is there any way I can fix this in my garage over a weekend?
OR
How much can I expect a mechanic to charge me?
Thanks.
Might be nothing more than a 79-cent fuse. The trick is finding it - under the dash, in the glovebox, near the battery, etc…
If the fuse tests OK, my next guess is a problem at the driver’s switch panel. Could be the wire that supplies power to the controls got broken, or perhaps the “lockout” switch is stuck.
Overall, it is probably fixable at home, so long as you’re good at sussing out electrical systems without a wiring diagram. Fair warning - power windows can be a pain to sort out.
It may be a fuse. Check your owners manual for the location of the fuse box/s. Sometimes they hide them pretty good. But for the most part are designed to be easy to replace. Souldn’t be more than a couple of bucks if it’s a fuse… Unless something else caused the fuse to blow.
Double check that you didn’t bump the button that locks the windows.
Since all the windows are stuck, I’m gonna guess that’s probably going to make it cheaper then if it was just one. When it’s all of them, it’s probably going to be something electrical (see above suggestions) rather then if it was just one and more then likely a motor.
FWIW, I bought an electric motor for the rear door window of a Dakota for $130, IIRC, from a salvage yard. It was a snap to install; the hardest part is taking off the door panel, IMHO.
Tell me why they stopped working, and what your capabilities are, and I can answer your questions. 
Seriously, though, it’s too broad a question with too little info. For a start, I’d like to know did the whole system fail at once, or did different parts stop working at different times?
If it was all at once, then main power to the master (driver’s) switch is the first thing to check. My info shows it going through a circuit breaker rather than a fuse. A good place to start is finding and testing the circuit breaker.
A fairly common problem is breakage of the wires going to and from the master switch at the driver’s door hinge. Sometimes this can be verified (and things made to operate briefly) by moving the driver’s door back and forth through the center half of its range of motion. Do this with the key on and one of the switches depressed to see if something works for an instant when the broken wire makes momentary contact. If this happens to be the problem, the fix involves accessing and repairing the broken wire(s). Typically there’s one or two broken through, and another half dozen or so cracking but not yet split in two.
Good working (and testing, if the moving-the-door trick doesn’t work) access to those wires involves opening and moving the rubber boot through the door hinge area. Often it’s necessary to remove the inner door panel and/or unplug the harness inside the cab. While one, or maybe two broken wires could be spliced at the break, there are potential problems with the bulk of the splice(s) and the stiffness/brittleness of the wires. Repairing multiple wires really requires splicing in several inches of fresh wire to each broken wire, staggering the splice points so they don’t all bulge in the same place.
They stopped working at different times. First the left side windows stopped, then the right rear went down (when I tested to see if it would) but would not go back up, and then the right front went down an inch when I bumped the switch, and slid all the way down on its own over the next 10 minutes.
I took off the fuse panel yesterday and switched the circuit breaker for this with the one for the rear defroster (I’m in the Phoenix area, so no loss there!). The left side windows are still completely dead; on the other side, I can hear the motors turning, but the windows aren’t moving. Hopefully, I didn’t break the glass of the front passenger window doing this yesterday.
Is there any chance that a weak battery could be causing this? I just remembered that the oil-change place (don’t judge me! I had a coupon to get the service for free!) recommended a new battery last time I was in. I haven’t replaced it yet because the motor still turns over just fine.
Finally, I don’t see screws holding the inner door panel in place. Does it just pry off?
Thanks, everyone.
Ouch! You have multiple problems. There may be broken wires as described above, but the left side may also have faults in the motors or switches, and it sounds like the right side has faulty regulators.
If the car starts, the battery is not causing a problem here.
The inner door panel is held mainly with push-in clips spaced along its perimeter. These are pried out of their sockets by working around the edge of the panel and inserting a lever between the panel and the door. A screwdriver can work, but there are special tools that work better. First carefully look for any screws anywhere (e.g., through the armrest) and any trim pieces that pop off, which may reveal hidden screws.
Electrical testing will be necessary to identify the fault(s) on the left side. Power and ground to the switches, switch operation, power and ground to the motors, and motor operation may all need to be tested.
Regulator replacement is not very complicated, but may be non-intuitive in some respects.
It could easily cost hundreds of dollars just for the parts, depending on just what is needed. Having it done professionally may get into hundreds for testing and repair labor. It will be necessary to have all relevant testing done first in order to compile an accurate price quote.
First the problems have to be diagnosed, which will entail some disassembly. Then the needed parts have to be obtained, and of course replaced. Getting this done in a weekend is possible, but not a sure bet. If you’re not familiar with doing this type of work, I’d gauge it unlikely.
I would do a quick search online to see if you can find an online service manual for your car. That will show how to get the door panel off, give you part numbers, etc.
You might also find a message board devoted to Olds owners who have advice specific to your car, good sources for parts, etc. I’ve joined forums for both my cars and the info I’ve learned has been really helpful.
Thanks, everyone, but especially Gary T, for the advice. I’m going to buy a panel-removal tool after work today and take apart the passenger side doors. I’m just going to rig up a way to get the windows to stay up. The a/c works, so as long as I don’t fart in the car, I don’t need the windows to go down.
I certainly can’t afford hundreds of dollars right now, especially since it seems like it may be close to $1,000.
Any suggestions on how I can get the window to hold in place without damaging the outer door panel? I’m thinking of just putting a strong magnet at the bottom of the window.
A magnet won’t do it - even if you can get one in the right place, road bumps and vibration will bring the window down. Once the door panel is off, you may be able to simply lift the glass up into place; if not, you should be able to coax it up while operating the motor. Once it’s up, you can jam some sort of wedge between the glass and the top inside of the door to hold it while you fabricate some way to keep it up permanently. You’ll just have to look at the mechanism and figure something out. Whatever you come up with, make sure it’s rigid and solidly mounted, as the aforementioned vibrations (and gravity) will constantly tend to drive the window down.