Any help appreciated. I'm no electrical guy so we can start there.

My passenger window is frozen in the up position. No click when hitting the button. Have the door panel off and I want to know which of the 6 wires going into the plug that feeds the window switch are the leads that activate the window itself and not the door lock.

The 2 wires on the plug into the window regulator motor are med blue and tan. The 6 wires on the plug that feeds the window switch are tan, orange/black, black, light blue, red/black, orange and gray.

If I knew exactly which 2 wires in the plug to the window switch ran the window motor I figure I could jumper 2 wires from those pins back to the battery and see of the window motor worked. If so then the switch is bad.

Would that be correct? That's about as far as I go electrically, and that's only if I'm correct to this point.

Somebody please save me before I type myself into oblivion.

 

Light blue is window-up. Tan is window-down. Black is ground. Short one of these two colored ones at at time to the black, and you'll bypass and emulate the switch. If the window works, as you say, then the switch is indeed broken.

 

Thanks for the info, tuscan. Geez, embarrassing as this is to write, I'm not sure how you mean to short the wires.

Don't I just run a wire from the black to the neg batt terminal and a wire to the pos terminal to make it go down and switch the colored wire at the plug to make it go up?

 

Oh, wait, I already have power at the plug so you mean jumper from both the colored wire to the black ground in the plug and the motor will be energized.

At least I think that's it. Not an electrician here.

 

Yes, that's right. The two colored wires are each "hot" (12 volts). The two positions of the window switch simply connect each color to the black (again, one at a time). You can act as a window switch by connecting a spare wire you have lying (paper clip might do in a pinch) around between tan and black on connector (the one that plugs into the window switch). Then connect light blue and black to move the window the other way. Don't leave it connected for too long, because this will run the motor but without anyplace to go. And don't connect both colors at the same time (to each other or to black).

 

Ok, jumpered and got nothin. So I have a bad module or a bad motor, correct? Os there an easy way to diagnose which to save the trouble of pulling the window regulator if it's a bad module?

 

I can't be 100% sure, but in my experience, if you short those connections and can hear a very faint click in the door module, then the problem is likely with the regulator/motor. If you can't hear that click (it's a relay making contact), then the problem is likely with the door module.

To be sure, though, I recommend doing another shorting test at the motor itself. If it works, then the motor/regulator (it's a combo unit, kind of) is good. If it doesn't, then the motor/regulator needs replacing.

The way the motor works, mounted well inside the door, there are just two wires. When energized, one is 12 volts and the other is ground. Reversing which is 12V and which is ground will reverse the motor's direction. Normally, neither has power, though, which means you'll need to find 12V from elsewhere (e.g., straight from the battery's red terminal). Ground you can find on most any metal body part or ground lug nearby. You should do this test with the motor unplugged, so as to not mess with any other components adversely. This is tricky, because the pins in the motor connector are recessed and difficult to reach even when the motor is completely removed from the door. When in its installed location, you may need to be a bit of a contortionist to fit your shorting wires onto the pins.

From what I've read and from my own experience, the odds are very, very good that you've got a bad motor/regulator. This is a common failure, because GM uses cheap parts here (in all its vehicles). These are about $200, if I recall, and challenging to get aligned just right. You'll need lots of patience and trial-and-error (and mark your existing mounting locations before removing to help you install the new one).

 

Yeah, I hear the faint click from the relay. I was looking at testing the motor from the pins in the motor connector when I started this before the far simpler method of jumpering at the plug occurred to me but that seems like mission impossible.

The problem now is how do I remove the glass if I can't get the window down to access the bolts that hold the window to the frame?

 

Come to think of it I did try powering the motor directly at the motor itself. I used pins to slip into the blue and tan wires that lead into the motor and ran wires from the pins to the battery neg and positive. i just got sparks so maybe I should not have run one of the wires to the neg terminal?
Don't see why it matters if the wire goes to a ground on the chassis or the ground terminal on the battery but perhaps you can tell me why that's a terrible idea.

 

Yeah, sounds like a good door module and bad motor.

You can unbolt the glass from the regulator cabling through some access holes in the door panel. You may need to remove some of the waterproofing patches. Careful; they're sticky, but save them because they can be put back into place with no problem.

The window is held in place between two metal plates that are squeezed together by a bolt through them (and through a notch in the glass). You just need to undo these bolts, then wiggle the plates free from the regulator cabling. Be careful, because once free, the glass can theoretically drop--you don't want it to drop and break. Once free, you can lift the glass out the top of the door.

 

Ground wasn't the problem. By default, both those wires into the motor are connected to ground. The sparks were likely from connecting 12V to one of those wires, since that would have made a direct short between 12V and ground (i.e., bad). That why I recommend unplugging the motor before testing it.

 

Ok, got the window loose but can't get it clear to come out of the door. The metal plates that are on the back side of the glass that are part of the 2 plates that hold it when it is bolted in are pretty well glued on and I'm afraid to break the glass trying to get them off.

Any special way to remove them or just the usual monkey around until you succeed?

 

Yeah, they can be really sticky. As far as I know, there's actually nothing holding them but years of compression. No glue or anything like that. I don't have much wisdom to offer about getting them off. They're a pain. Usually, one side will come off before the other, and you can often get the glass out of the door with just one side of each clamp hanging on.

I don't exactly recall, but it might help if you can move the regulator cabling and whatnot out of the way. This might make more room to move the glass around at out the top. You'll know better than I since you're looking right at it, though.

I'm sorry I can't offer much help here.

 

Well you've offered a ton of help and I really appreciate all your input. You've been great.

I'll slide some floss or similar thin strip between the glass and the rubber surface in the morning and get it loose. I'm just not looking forward to wrangling with getting the glass lined up when it goes back in but I always worry about things that aren't made any easier by worrying.

I'll ding this thread as I go if you are interested to see my tribulations and thanks so much for your patience.

 

I'm glad I was able to help. CF has been such a great help to me, so it's nice to be able to contribute. I'll watch this thread; if you need more help, just holler. And, yes, do let me know how you manage. Success stories are great!

 

There are threads that help with this problem, which is very common, by hitting the door panel to free up the window. This can be done with a rubber hammer or with your fist.
I know, most corvette owners would balk about this - but it really works. Check it out on previous forum inputs. Doesn't cost anything and takes about one minute. It really does work.