aaarrrggg!

[koda2000]

so i just repaired the driver's side front window in my daughter's 2000 Mountaineer (the glass had pulled out of the regulator and the channel/track). it's been working great for almost a week now, so i decided to re-install the weather barrier and interior door panel. i get all done, put away my tools and decide to test it one more time and at first only the other 3 windows work and then it blows the 30A fuse in the power dist box.

so i figure i must have shorted a wire somehow. pull it apart again and unwrap the wiring harness, but everything looks good. tried unplugging the window motor and hitting the down button and the fuse still blows. wiggle all the wires around and the fuse doesn't blow at first, but blows soon after.

in looking at the wiring diagram, i believe the problem is with the red wire that comes from the dash, through the door and connects directly to the motor. this wire comes from the AUTO DOWN relay, GEM and ACC delay relay (very complicated diagram).

so now i'm thinking that there's a short in the door wiring cylinder thingy. why it has picked now to act up i don't know, i never touched this wire during my repairs (coincidence... ?). it's too cold and wet to mess with today, but any opinions are welcome. i think i'll probably end up having to remove the door to work in there and i'm not looking forward to it.

 

[koda2000]

For anyone who cares:
okay, i "think" i fixed it. i ended up removing the driver's door, then i pulled back the rubber boot on the wiring harness. found no broken wires, but one wire that looked a little toasty (blue w/black tracer). according to the wiring diagram it has something to do with the AUTO DOWN feature. as the insulation was still intact and it wasn't showing continuity to ground, even when twisted around, i turned my attention to the door. there i saw the same color wire had a bare spot and it had welded itself to an a joining wire. i separated the two wires, taped a bare spot on one and replaced a 4" section of the blu/blk wire (BTW getting the black plastic wiring thingy inside the door so you can work on it is a PITA). checked the blu/blk wire for grounding and didn't find any in the door. put the door back on, checked to ground continuity at the 30A fuse holder and found none. put in another $4 fuse and tested the windows. so far so good, but i'm gonna give it a week before putting the trim panel back on. i'm keeping my finger's crossed this fix holds, or i gotta keep back tracking that wire into the dash.

conclusions:
as near as i can figure, the previous owner installed a pair of tweeter speakers in the front doors. these speakers had a large black box on their wiring harness and these boxes have just been hanging in the front of the doors, right in the area of where all the wires enter the driver's door. when the window glass came out of its track and channel i guess it got tangled up in the wiring and caused a short. toasting the wire was my fault (got tired of blowing $4 fuses and used a jumper during some testing).