Power Window Issues with PROPER fix
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 76
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From: sunny fl
Power Window Issues with PROPER fix
1st some history.
We purchased our 2002 new in June of 02. We started having issues with the passenger side power window a few months later. Window wouldn't roll down. You could hear the relay click but the window would not move.
over the course of 3 years(factory warranty) we had the car in for repair 8 times. They replaced door modules, regulators, harnesses, etc. but after several months the window would quit working again.
fast forward 3 years. car is out of warranty by 2 months and window quits working. I have had it and write GM a nasty letter. They respond with a 3/36 bumper to bumper for free. Great. take car in for repair and everything is good.
over the course of the next 3 years the window fails 3 more times.
We have it repaired the last time in 2008 and park it in the garage and purchase a new 08 wrangler for my wifes daily driver.
Several years go by and we only drive the vette ocassionally to run gas out and refill.
Now it's the winter of 2011 and I take the car for a drive and guess what. No power window!
I have given up on the $10 an hour dealership mechanics and start doing some research and trouble shooting of my own.
After pulling passenger door panel off and "relaxing" the window from it's full up position, it started working. I couldn't believe it...
So after making a slight adjustment to the limit stops the window has been working properly. It appears that it was going up to high and causing a bind which was shutting down the electric motor.
So, if anyone else is having repeated issues with power windows check the stops.
Hope this will help someone in the future.
We purchased our 2002 new in June of 02. We started having issues with the passenger side power window a few months later. Window wouldn't roll down. You could hear the relay click but the window would not move.
over the course of 3 years(factory warranty) we had the car in for repair 8 times. They replaced door modules, regulators, harnesses, etc. but after several months the window would quit working again.
fast forward 3 years. car is out of warranty by 2 months and window quits working. I have had it and write GM a nasty letter. They respond with a 3/36 bumper to bumper for free. Great. take car in for repair and everything is good.
over the course of the next 3 years the window fails 3 more times.
We have it repaired the last time in 2008 and park it in the garage and purchase a new 08 wrangler for my wifes daily driver.
Several years go by and we only drive the vette ocassionally to run gas out and refill.
Now it's the winter of 2011 and I take the car for a drive and guess what. No power window!
I have given up on the $10 an hour dealership mechanics and start doing some research and trouble shooting of my own.
After pulling passenger door panel off and "relaxing" the window from it's full up position, it started working. I couldn't believe it...
So after making a slight adjustment to the limit stops the window has been working properly. It appears that it was going up to high and causing a bind which was shutting down the electric motor.
So, if anyone else is having repeated issues with power windows check the stops.
Hope this will help someone in the future.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,847
Likes: 794
From: Longview Texas
The stops control the travel of the glass, but do not really affect the binding of the motor. Since there are no limit switches to stop the motor at the end of the travel, it just runs against the stops until it stalls and the door control module stops it.
Unless you have worn cables, the window almost always sticks in the up position because driving the motor until it stalls tends to lock the drive gears. I have had brand new regulators stick, so I started bumping the window down a fraction of an inch...just enough to relieve the force on the drive gears, and I have not had a window stick since.
If you run the window up, and then hit the down and up button quickly, the drive gears will unbind, and the glass will only drop about 1/16 of an inch. Still up enough to seal in the weatherstrip.
By the way, which stops did you adjust to unbind the gears on your car? Are you talking about the adjustment screws on the clamps that hold the glass in the window regulator assembly?
Unless you have worn cables, the window almost always sticks in the up position because driving the motor until it stalls tends to lock the drive gears. I have had brand new regulators stick, so I started bumping the window down a fraction of an inch...just enough to relieve the force on the drive gears, and I have not had a window stick since.
If you run the window up, and then hit the down and up button quickly, the drive gears will unbind, and the glass will only drop about 1/16 of an inch. Still up enough to seal in the weatherstrip.
By the way, which stops did you adjust to unbind the gears on your car? Are you talking about the adjustment screws on the clamps that hold the glass in the window regulator assembly?
Last edited by TEXHAWK0; Sep 11, 2012 at 11:45 PM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
The window may have been going up or down too high and causing it to bind up. The motor only stops when it senses that the motor has stalled and draws a specific DC current for a specific time. There are no electrical limit stops for up or down.
The service manual has a lengthy adjustment procedure in the Body Repair Section. There are several important adjustment points and they should be carried out in the sequence that the manual specifies.
The end of the motor armature can over time wear the area where end of the shaft contacts the plastic case and cause the brushes to ride on the area where the windings are soldered to the armature. This brush wear can cause the motor to function improperly.
Bill
The service manual has a lengthy adjustment procedure in the Body Repair Section. There are several important adjustment points and they should be carried out in the sequence that the manual specifies.
The end of the motor armature can over time wear the area where end of the shaft contacts the plastic case and cause the brushes to ride on the area where the windings are soldered to the armature. This brush wear can cause the motor to function improperly.
Bill
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
TEXHAWK0
Excellent explanation of the door motor function! I actually started this reply yesterday and never finished it. You knocked it out of the park for resolving the issue.
Bill
Excellent explanation of the door motor function! I actually started this reply yesterday and never finished it. You knocked it out of the park for resolving the issue.
Bill
