The driver side power window in my 1980 has been getting rather sluggish over the past few years. I mean, the thing is 40 years old, right?
So I figured it was time for a new motor, cleaning out the tracks, cleaning and lubing everything up. Just before I ordered the new motor,
it suddenly stopped working altogether. I have no power to the motor. I've traced the wire from the motor back and it's in very good condition.
No bends, no breaks, no wear and tear. I traded to the passenger side switch to test that. The switch is fine. Why am I not getting power?
I hate electrical problems and I don't mind admitting my own ignorance about automotive electronics. Suggestions? Anyone ?!
I'll be eternally grateful to anyone with a clue to what my problem is.

 

The first thing I'd check is the ground to the motor.

 

Have you checked fuse? The contacts if glass fuses that they plug into get corroded and quit working. Where did you trace the wire back to?

 

I would say 95% of the time it's the switch, the motor brushes, or both.

 

I'd thought of that and I saw one post on line that showed a ground wire from the motor to the metal in the door, but my 1980 doesn't have one like that.
I believe that was done that way in the mid "70's models.

 

They're the newer type of fuses and that's the first step I did. As a matter of fact I checked them multiple times. Since the passenger side window works fine it wouldn't be that anyhow. I traced the wire from the plug all the way back to the switch. I put a meter on the connectors in the plug for the motor. It's getting no power.

 

I tested the switch and it's fine. Even though my old motor still worked I have a pretty, shiny new one waiting to be installed. I'm getting no power through the wiring.

 

how does this motor work? usually they switch pos and neg to reverse motor direction. there ain't no ground to speak of. you should have 2 wires from the switch to the motor. so it is a double pole switch. especially if you see no motor ground to door frame.

 

Right. It has one blue and one brown wire. Basically one wire for up, one wire for down. Compared to some door motor wiring I've seen during my research, it's stupidly simple. Just like me when it comes to automotive electrical repair. Thank Derek !

 

The ground is the motor case when mounted on your door.
The two-prong plug on the motor sends 12 volts to one terminal for UP and 12 volts to the other terminal for DOWN.

Check that the PINK-BLACK

is plugged into the fuse box.

 

Excellent information. Great diagram. It's dumbed down so even I can understand it. This gives me a lot more info to go on. Thanks lots !

 

run 12v directly to each motor to rule out ground or motor issues. My bet is on the relay being faulty, mine had me stumped for ages.

 

Once you have the problem figured out, I would rebuild and keep the old motor. The new motors are from overseas and are garbage. Jerry

 

It's always a good idea to keep original Corvette parts. If it's in very good condition I've always kept, cleaned and reused any hardware I've taken off while doing repairs.
I also have quite a collection of parts I've taken off and not reused.

 

replaced the motor about 6 months ago .. today it stopped working. Pulled the door card off, couple of light taps with a hammer on the motor and bingo. All good!
Seems like it seized up .. Chinese replacement!

 

I wouldn't let anything Chinese get within 50 feet of my car. Well, Chinese food, maybe, but . . .

 

That '74 wiring diagram does not what was used in '80 !!

Yours does not use a relay. It has a circuit breaker (small oblong aluminum "box") in the fuse box with (PWR ACC) written below it. They are thermal and supposed to reset but they go bad sometimes. Remove the breaker and check it for continuity.

 

I did see that and I knew the "80 didn't use a relay. Since the 2 or 3 breakers that are in the fuse box have been there for at least the 13 years I've
had the car, I was going to purchase new ones and replace them anyhow. Thanks for the info.

 

Hitting the window motor with a hammer is like an urban legend... but it works... and my motors are original. Haven't had to do that for several years now.

 

Thanks to everyones help and suggestions, this problem has been resolved. My new motor is raising this window again like a brand new car. It did need the new motor and It needed to be installed to complete the ground. A simple solution for a simple mind. Thanks everyone.