Power Window Switch Repair - How To
08-12-2013, 09:27 PM
#1
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Power Window Switch Repair - How To
Power window switch quit working a little over a month ago, so I bought a new one from Corvette America. It lasted about a month, took it apart and this is what I found:
Contact had burned into the plastic. So, grabbed my old one out of my parts bin and did a resistance test:
This side looked good.
Here is the culprit.
If I pressed firmly I could reduce the resistance.
Took it apart by gently bending two of the four tabs back using a hammer and screwdriver. You need to reuse these, so take it easy.
After 40 years of use the contacts looked corroded, so I cleaned them up with a scotch brite pad.
Then I placed a dab of dielectric grease on each contact.
Because applying pressure reduced resistance I made a spacer out of a gerber baby food plastic container.
Put it back together and got .4 ohms resistance on both terminals
Rebuild your old one, the new ones are crap. Corvette America did send me another one free of charge, but I'll keep it as a one month spare.
Contact had burned into the plastic. So, grabbed my old one out of my parts bin and did a resistance test:
This side looked good.
Here is the culprit.
If I pressed firmly I could reduce the resistance.
Took it apart by gently bending two of the four tabs back using a hammer and screwdriver. You need to reuse these, so take it easy.
After 40 years of use the contacts looked corroded, so I cleaned them up with a scotch brite pad.
Then I placed a dab of dielectric grease on each contact.
Because applying pressure reduced resistance I made a spacer out of a gerber baby food plastic container.
Put it back together and got .4 ohms resistance on both terminals
Rebuild your old one, the new ones are crap. Corvette America did send me another one free of charge, but I'll keep it as a one month spare.
08-13-2013, 02:55 AM
#2
Melting Slicks
this was my attempt a couple years ago
this is how i fixed mine
pulled them apart and you can see where the plastic has melted from the current draw, filled in with epoxy
peened the rivets smooth so it wont rub on the plastic/epoxy
talking to a sparky at work, and he said that all the current draw goes thru the copper and therefor gets hot
so he suggested using relays - the switch handles low current and turns the relay on to handle the high current
perfect place to mount them, used 4x 12V-40A units
this is how i wired them up
didnt have a any new switch plugs lying around so attached with terminal strip cut up to individual pieces
(just visible on the back of the switches)
then the wires from the relays just plug back into the existing sockets, then taped up for safety
the only down side is you can hear the relays clicking
but with the padded arm rest its not too bad
beats buying new switches all the time at 80$ each here downunder
pulled them apart and you can see where the plastic has melted from the current draw, filled in with epoxy
peened the rivets smooth so it wont rub on the plastic/epoxy
talking to a sparky at work, and he said that all the current draw goes thru the copper and therefor gets hot
so he suggested using relays - the switch handles low current and turns the relay on to handle the high current
perfect place to mount them, used 4x 12V-40A units
this is how i wired them up
didnt have a any new switch plugs lying around so attached with terminal strip cut up to individual pieces
(just visible on the back of the switches)
then the wires from the relays just plug back into the existing sockets, then taped up for safety
the only down side is you can hear the relays clicking
but with the padded arm rest its not too bad
beats buying new switches all the time at 80$ each here downunder
08-13-2013, 07:54 AM
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Thanks for reposting, now people can see two options for repair
What's interesting is my 40 year old switch did not melt, but my new one melted in one month. The original switches had a piece of white plastic between the black rocker and the contacts, the reproduction switches do not.
Steve
What's interesting is my 40 year old switch did not melt, but my new one melted in one month. The original switches had a piece of white plastic between the black rocker and the contacts, the reproduction switches do not.
Steve
08-13-2013, 09:39 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
