Power Windows

[f_399]

The power windows just stopped working... all 4 doors!

 

I tested the fuse and it was ok.

 

The power door locks work.

 

Whats wrong?

[buckethead]

you check all the switches, or just the ones on the driver's door?

[f_399]

all dont work

[buckethead]

time to get out your multimeter and start checking all the wire leads. My guess is you got a harness that's loose or disconnected

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Check the wires in the door by the hinges to make sure non of the wires were rubbing or crossed... we had a short in the ground on our van causing both front windows to stop working.

[cutlass1991]

FYI The power supplied to the other 3 windows is routed through the drivers control, so if the control is bad, the other door's switches won't work either. The easiest thing to do would be get another drivers door switch, unplug the old one and put in the new one and see if it works.

 

Also if someone ever ran a power wire for an amp in your car, it could be in the door hinge. Like C-Bad said, check the wiring in the door hinge. Sometimes people like to run the power wire into the car that way and it could have pulled part of the protective boot off exposing the wires.

[stockgp]

sounds like the master switch to me.

 

cutlass1991, why in the world would anyone run power wire for an amp into a door? not being a dick, just never heard of anyone doing that

[f_399]

FYI The power supplied to the other 3 windows is routed through the drivers control, so if the control is bad, the other door's switches won't work either. The easiest thing to do would be get another drivers door switch, unplug the old one and put in the new one and see if it works.

 

that was what i was thinking, so if i took the whole drivers side control, all other windows will not work

 

where can i get this part?

 

no one touched the car when it broke, went to a friends house(on the way there it was wokring) and stayed there for 5 minutes, when i got back to the car it quit working

[cutlass1991]

cutlass1991, why in the world would anyone run power wire for an amp into a door? not being a dick, just never heard of anyone doing that

 

Haha... Yeah that would be weird. What I meant is that I have seen some people run power wire from the battery, up along where the fender meets the hood, under that black thing the wipers sit on(forget what it is called) and then down behind the fender where the fender and door meet, and finally into the car by pushing the rubber boot aside to gain access to the hole where the power window and lock wires are ran. Sorry for the confusion

 

 

so if i took the whole drivers side control, all other windows will not work

Correct :!:

 

where can i get this part?

 

I converted my 4 door from manual to power everything and I found most of the stuff on Ebay. Junkyards carry these things all the time too. I would check those two places before going to a dealership because chances are it will be well over $100 versus maybe $20-$35 elseware.

[cutlass1991]

here is a few links i found on ebay that should work with the 97 lumina LTZ

 

 

$80 new

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy-Lumina-96-01-4-Door-NEW-POWER-WINDOW-SWITCH_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50459QQitemZ8011608033QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

 

 

$40 used

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-Lumina-4-door-Drivers-Power-Window-Switch_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33696QQitemZ8010346812QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

[pwmin]

you should be able to test the switch with an ohm meter and the wiring at the switch to see if the switch is good before just throwing one at it.

[f_399]

alright thanks guys!

 

how do i test the switch again? i have a voltmeter, when it worked the volts would drop a little everytime i press the button now it doesnt

 

i dont see how anything else is broken besides the switch control... could the wires be bad?

[manitcor]

http://mymonte.net/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=LUMIWINSWITCH&Category_Code=SALINTERIOR

[jeremy]

bad master switch.....the link from Manitcor is a pretty good price too...

[f_399]

ok... when i got in the car this moring and tried it, it worked again!

 

then i activated and deactivated the "lock" button just to check and it didnt work again! so i was just messing with the lock button pressing it a couple of times.... it worked again!

 

so i am guessing its the master control thats broken huh?

 

well now its working, i will not press the lock button again hopefully it will last a while

 

thanks guys!

[stockgp]

but aren't the lock and window switches 2 different entities?

[jeremy]

I assumed that he was talking about the window lock switch. Anyway it sounds like the switch may have gotten wet at some point in time. Normally if/when that happens they will work for a while, then randomly stop working, then start up again, and so on.....just hope it doesn't stop working when your windows are down.

[f_399]

yeah, i wont put my windows that often

 

it better not stop working when they are down

[1990lumina]

If it happens again...punch the door panel by the switches...this ALWAYS works in my dad's Taurus...I discovered this method works when my buddy rolled down the window in the back and it wouldn't go back up. Anyway it was around midnight, I was tired and pissed off so I just punched the damn thing and low and behold it worked lol