power window is dead / replacing switch in console?
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,176
Likes: 88
From: State of Confusion
power window is dead / replacing switch in console?
Had my '82 at the strip last evening, trying to make the car more-consistent, and following a ruin, while putting back the return road, the driver-side window wouldn't lower, and the switch 'felt-funny', like it had very little tension/resistance:
once in the pits, I realized the passenger-side window is fine, but nothing for the driver-side.
(at-least the window died in the upright position, allowing us to continue making runs)
I also noticed that when activating the passenger-side window, the dome & under-dash lights 'dim-out' (as they always have in the 9+ years I've owned this car), but when messing with the faulty driver-side window, the lights remain bright:
therefore, I am 'guessing' that the switch in the console is bad, because it appears there is no drain on the other lights
(does this make sense, and is my reasoning correct?)
OK, so I am thinking I'll need to get a switch, then try replacing it in the console, which I've never had apart:
I took the carpet-covered cardboard off the transmission-tunnel, and can pull the plug from the bottom of the switch (3 prongs, correct?)
I have seen pictures of the switch in the CorvetteCentral catalog, and it appears that there are a pair of small screws that hold the switch to the underside of the console, from the bottom (head-down, threads-up):
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050G
please tell me that I don't have-to yank the top of the consode to replace this switch, and if I do, what is the easiest method?
Thanks-in-advance!
once in the pits, I realized the passenger-side window is fine, but nothing for the driver-side.
(at-least the window died in the upright position, allowing us to continue making runs)
I also noticed that when activating the passenger-side window, the dome & under-dash lights 'dim-out' (as they always have in the 9+ years I've owned this car), but when messing with the faulty driver-side window, the lights remain bright:
therefore, I am 'guessing' that the switch in the console is bad, because it appears there is no drain on the other lights
(does this make sense, and is my reasoning correct?)
OK, so I am thinking I'll need to get a switch, then try replacing it in the console, which I've never had apart:
I took the carpet-covered cardboard off the transmission-tunnel, and can pull the plug from the bottom of the switch (3 prongs, correct?)
I have seen pictures of the switch in the CorvetteCentral catalog, and it appears that there are a pair of small screws that hold the switch to the underside of the console, from the bottom (head-down, threads-up):
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050G
please tell me that I don't have-to yank the top of the consode to replace this switch, and if I do, what is the easiest method?
Thanks-in-advance!
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,359
Likes: 57
From: Mundelein Illinois
You do have to remove some screws on the side of the console and two by the parking brake. The black plastic housing will then lift for you to remove switch. Two phillips screws hold switch in. It's not that bad.
You can try wiggling the switch back and forth like 30 times, it may start to work again. I have done that many of times. I think it lines up the contact in the switch but it is a quick fix. Replace the switch
You can try wiggling the switch back and forth like 30 times, it may start to work again. I have done that many of times. I think it lines up the contact in the switch but it is a quick fix. Replace the switch
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 1
From: Mt. Prospect IL
Sounds like you might have it right -- Bad switch. Sometimes the plastic insides come out of the metal case for the switch. that would give you "little resistance". A switch replacement should be a very easy fix. A 1 on a scale from 1 to 5. There is a metal bracket on the underside of the console that holds the switch in. should take 15 minutes. Good luck
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 21,953
Likes: 1,445
From: Reno Nevada
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
I just did my passenger side, but I screwed up and mounted the connections backwards. Test it before you button it up. 
Now my switches are opposite for what is up and down. So i just left it.
Now my switches are opposite for what is up and down. So i just left it.
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 76,656
Likes: 1,853
From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Before you remove the switch test it at the connector. Jump the connector and see if the motor works by running a jumper from the pink to the blue wire. This should be down, and pink to tan or brown should be up. If the motor works, replace the switch, if not trouble shoot the wires.
If you do have a wiring issue, here is the wire route!
Willcox
If you do have a wiring issue, here is the wire route!
Willcox
Last edited by Willcox Corvette; Oct 9, 2009 at 01:04 PM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 16,528
Likes: 53
From: Dayton, Ohio
I've always been able to replace the switch by removing 2 screws in the carpet side and lower the carpet. Leave the wire connector attached to the switch,remove the front screw,loosen the back screw,wiggle the switch out using the wiring to hold on to. Reverse procedure to put back in using the wiring as handle to hold switch.
(I was a flat rate mechanic,can't help it.)
(I was a flat rate mechanic,can't help it.)
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Advanced
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From: Rindge NH
I had a bad switch in my '79. I'm not a master mechanic and can say that taking the console apart was no big deal. Especially if you just need to get to the window switches. My driver's side didn't work and my passenger side worked great. I used the passenger side switch to test. The driver's side worked fine with the other switch and I knew for sure the problem was the original switch. It was short money to replace.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,176
Likes: 88
From: State of Confusion
the house we bought last-year has a very narrow & small garage, also doubling as my gage & template shop.....
I will attempt to jump the wires when I get the car outside in the next few days, maybe tomorrow.
Last year, the 700-R4 needed rebuilt, and while he was doing that, Tracy Lewis at RevXtreme in Bradenton tore-off the Cross-fire Injection, replacing it with a carb/intake induction, leaving the L-83 long-block intact, producing surprising performance gains;
it's nothing earth-shattering, but great by Cross-Fire Injection standards!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...rag-strip.html
after that 1st consistent test-session, I tried bracket-racing the car a few times, and while it was quicker than before, it began running erratic times beyond 330', making it uncompetitive:
after a difficult year (death in the family, struggling at business, etc.), I haven't tried messing with the car until recently.
Lewis and I thought the lock-up TQ-converter in the 700-R4 might be causing issues, locking & unlocking at-will (and affecting consistency), so, following instructions from TCI, we installed a lock-out kit, which (unknown to us at the time) included a faulty solenoid, and the car's woes continued last month:
yesterday, we tried another solenoid, and although the 60' and 330' are fairly consistent, 'sometime' after making the 2-3 shift (it goes 1-2 automatically at a very-low RPM, but seems to do it consistently), the car begins varying it's ET drastically.
~ Last night's results at Bradenton ~
1st run: 60'- 2.024 330'- 5.877 660'- 9.132 @ 75.53 1000'- 11.926 1320'- 14.294 @ 95.89
2nd run: 2.041 5.871 9.075 @76.77 11.835 14.162 @ 94.50
3rd run: 2.039 5.886 9.142 @ 75.70 11.935 14.283 @ 93.67
4th run: 2.020 5.866 9.080 @ 76.52 11.848 14.180 @ 94.27
5th run: 2.021 5.888 9.167 @ 74.85 11.993 14.367 @ 92.79
6th run: 1.990 5.832 9.047 @ 76.44 11.817 14.148 @ 94.23
On the last run, I raised the launch RPM from 1500 to 1800 (approx), hoping to reduce my RT (to no-avail), but it appears that my 60' was quicker, producing the quikest ET of the session.
first-things-first, gotta get the window to go up/down (I roasted the good-parts off in the Staging Lanes & on the return-road last night)..... then, back to the shop & then the strip!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,006
Likes: 28
From: Lutz Florida
An OEM switch will cost you around 60 dollars, a copy will cost around half that.
There isn't much to the switch inside. I bought an OEM (thinking it was better). Couldn't tell the difference from the cheaper copy - I'm guessing they probably came from the same factory in China. It failed after six months. I put the switch in a vice and carefully tapped in the swedged corners that held the switch contacts in and disassembled the switch. Cleaned the contacts and re-bent them so they were making proper contact put the switch back together, tapped the swedged metal back to hold the contacts back in. Switch has been fine ever since.
Once I had the switch out, the repair only took about five minutes. If you try it, just be careful, the body of the switch is pot metal and the little swedged ears break easily. If they do, just swedge the other corners to reassemble.
If it works, you saved about 30 bucks you can spend on the favorite beverage of your choice.
There isn't much to the switch inside. I bought an OEM (thinking it was better). Couldn't tell the difference from the cheaper copy - I'm guessing they probably came from the same factory in China. It failed after six months. I put the switch in a vice and carefully tapped in the swedged corners that held the switch contacts in and disassembled the switch. Cleaned the contacts and re-bent them so they were making proper contact put the switch back together, tapped the swedged metal back to hold the contacts back in. Switch has been fine ever since.
Once I had the switch out, the repair only took about five minutes. If you try it, just be careful, the body of the switch is pot metal and the little swedged ears break easily. If they do, just swedge the other corners to reassemble.
If it works, you saved about 30 bucks you can spend on the favorite beverage of your choice.
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 76,656
Likes: 1,853
From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
