Driver side window switch
08-24-06, 03:45 PM
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Driver side window switch
My driver side window switch works, but I have to pull up on it really hard to get it to work. I was just wandering if anyone else has this problem??????
08-25-06, 04:19 AM
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does the window it tilt to a side when your half way up? it could be that your rails are old, or your motor has gone bad. i had the same thing happen to my old car, it was a rail issue, and all i did was just put lubircation on the rail. It work fine after that. I just got a leather cleaning product like F-21 and sprayed it down the rail!!!
hehehe........ hope this helps, and i hope im addressing to this problem correctly!!!
hehehe........ hope this helps, and i hope im addressing to this problem correctly!!!
08-30-06, 01:38 PM
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lol..lol..Its so hard to pull up, that the other day my wife tried to let the window up. She came inside and said it wont go up no matter how hard I pull up....lol..I guess I must be used to it now, or my finger muscles have grown!!!
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09-22-06, 01:16 PM
#8
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I have the same gatdamn issue. What a PITA 
Last night I removed the switch and took it apart as best as I could (removed a total of 7 screws) and exposed the window buttons. I was able to remove the passenger side button but not the driver's side button, I was scared of cracking the thin plastic that it's made of. I bought a can of that compressed air that they sell at computer stores and I plan to take the switch apart again tonite and blast as much gunk as I can out of it's travel pattern, hopefully that will free up the contacts and the damn button will work properly again. We'll see.
I also heard you can take sandpaper and scrud the contact points lightly to refresh them and remove any corrosion. Problem is, I wasn't able to expose the contacts on that driver's side window button!! I'll give it another crack tonite and see what happens, hopefully I don't break anything, lol...
Last night I removed the switch and took it apart as best as I could (removed a total of 7 screws) and exposed the window buttons. I was able to remove the passenger side button but not the driver's side button, I was scared of cracking the thin plastic that it's made of. I bought a can of that compressed air that they sell at computer stores and I plan to take the switch apart again tonite and blast as much gunk as I can out of it's travel pattern, hopefully that will free up the contacts and the damn button will work properly again. We'll see.
I also heard you can take sandpaper and scrud the contact points lightly to refresh them and remove any corrosion. Problem is, I wasn't able to expose the contacts on that driver's side window button!! I'll give it another crack tonite and see what happens, hopefully I don't break anything, lol...
09-22-06, 07:18 PM
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Mike,
The advice to refinish the contacts with sandpaper is bogus. The contacts are gold plated. That gunk inside is silicone grease. Way back when they discovered that the super insulator, silicone, would actually improve contacts where there was metal to metal contact. It also serves to stop the corrosion and inhibit the spark at the breaker point of the contacts. In short, re-grease the contacts with the spark plug boot lube you get at the auto supermarket. Clean the contacts off with carb spray....rub the contacts with a pencil eraser until they shine...reapply the silicone. All done! use one of those digital meters on its lowest scale and you should see less than a tenth of an ohm when you are done.
NO SANDPAPER unless you only want it to work for a couple of weeks.
Hope this helps.
John
The advice to refinish the contacts with sandpaper is bogus. The contacts are gold plated. That gunk inside is silicone grease. Way back when they discovered that the super insulator, silicone, would actually improve contacts where there was metal to metal contact. It also serves to stop the corrosion and inhibit the spark at the breaker point of the contacts. In short, re-grease the contacts with the spark plug boot lube you get at the auto supermarket. Clean the contacts off with carb spray....rub the contacts with a pencil eraser until they shine...reapply the silicone. All done! use one of those digital meters on its lowest scale and you should see less than a tenth of an ohm when you are done.
NO SANDPAPER unless you only want it to work for a couple of weeks.
Hope this helps.
John
09-25-06, 11:08 AM
#10
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John,
Thanks for the advice...always good to get a different perspective on things. And yes, cleaning the contacts seems pointless as I did discover why some of us have this window switch issue. I'll try to explain and this ONLY pertains to those who have to pull up HARD on the switch to get the window to raise. This is what I discovered:
When I took apart the switch and finally got up the courage to pop off the buttons from their little hinges I discovered that each of the window up/down buttons is also secured in place via pegs on the underside of those buttons. The passenger side button has a single peg while the driver's side button has dual pegs. These pegs go into small holes and helps to keep the proper levering angle that indicates whether or not the driver is requesting the windows go up or down. In my case, the 2 pegs on the underside of the driver's side window button had broken off and were stuck in the tiny holes. Only the little hinge held the button in place, so with those pegs being broken the proper levering angle couldn't be achieved which is why I had to pull up so hard to get the button to work.
There is NO fix for this other than replacing the button or the switch entirely as the pegs are so small and thin they can't be glued back on or drilled and filled with a thin metal pin for added strength. Once the pegs break, the button is just sitting on the hinge with nothing to guide the activation angle which makes the windows come up with a light touch.
I basically destroyed my switch investigating this issue as the plastic around the buttons is so brittle that you can't really manipulate it at all. I guess I'll be buying a new switch this week, hope this helps someone else who may be experiencing the same issue.
(Yay for me! I've managed to destroy something else!
)
Thanks for the advice...always good to get a different perspective on things. And yes, cleaning the contacts seems pointless as I did discover why some of us have this window switch issue. I'll try to explain and this ONLY pertains to those who have to pull up HARD on the switch to get the window to raise. This is what I discovered:
When I took apart the switch and finally got up the courage to pop off the buttons from their little hinges I discovered that each of the window up/down buttons is also secured in place via pegs on the underside of those buttons. The passenger side button has a single peg while the driver's side button has dual pegs. These pegs go into small holes and helps to keep the proper levering angle that indicates whether or not the driver is requesting the windows go up or down. In my case, the 2 pegs on the underside of the driver's side window button had broken off and were stuck in the tiny holes. Only the little hinge held the button in place, so with those pegs being broken the proper levering angle couldn't be achieved which is why I had to pull up so hard to get the button to work.
There is NO fix for this other than replacing the button or the switch entirely as the pegs are so small and thin they can't be glued back on or drilled and filled with a thin metal pin for added strength. Once the pegs break, the button is just sitting on the hinge with nothing to guide the activation angle which makes the windows come up with a light touch.
I basically destroyed my switch investigating this issue as the plastic around the buttons is so brittle that you can't really manipulate it at all. I guess I'll be buying a new switch this week, hope this helps someone else who may be experiencing the same issue.
(Yay for me! I've managed to destroy something else!
)
05-24-07, 10:21 AM
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Well I guess I have to buy a new one!!! Well now that I think about it!!! I can think of 10 more important things that need to be fixed first..IE lower control arm bushings!!!
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