Power Window Gremlins?

[mikespar]

I have a 4 door 1995 Ford Explorer. I have been having trouble with the driver's side power window for a few months now. Here's the low-down and hopefully someone can help me:
The driver's side power window would start to "bump" down on me after the car had not been started for awhile. (ovenight or after several days).
I would fight it with the one-touch down switch and then it would go back up and stay good for a while. It would sometimes be worse than others. I could hear the one touch down relay under the dash start to click when this was happening, so I changed that out. While I was down there I also changed out the accessory delay relay, even though I don't think it was that related. The problem still continued. Not real bad, but just enough to be an annoyance.
The next big event with this problem happened a week ago. The car was left unstarted in a parking lot for 6 weeks, while I was gone away at work. When I started it up, it started going down and kept trying to go down even though it was already down (I could hear the relay clicking under the dash). I disconnected the battery and pulled the one touch down relay as it was so bad I thought it was going to burn something up.
The next thing I did was I got a new driver's side power window switch from the dealer and replaced it. The older switch definitely had some age on it, as it ohmed out pretty crappy compared to the new one. All the windows worked fine, so problem solved, I thought. However this morning (one day after changing out the switch yesterday) it bumped down once again, so I know that the switch isn't the answer.
I originally didn't think the not being started thing was not something related to all of it, but after I did not start the car for 6 weeks the problem definitely showed itself to worsen. I'm wondering if this is a GEM (Generic Electronic Module)problem, because I seen no problems with the wiring, and have now replaced the one touch down relay, the accessory relay, and the power window switch.
I have a power window wiring diagram from a 96 Ford Explorer to give an idea of what to look at, but I noticed the wire colors on the 95 are different than a 96 while I was replacing the driver's side switch. Does anyone have a diagram of a 95, 4 door power window circuit they can share? And does anyone have any ideas on this one? It's a head scratcher...

 

[J_C]

Where did you check the wiring? A common fault is that the wires between the door and the front quarter panel, in the hinge area under a rubber boot, flex every time the door is open and shut. They fray and break. If the wrong one were to fray and short out on another or the chassis...

I don't know enough about the GEM to rule it out 100% but it seems very unlikely, more like something a dishonest mechanic would claim because it's expensive and low labor while the real problem is just something like a bad wire.

 

[mikespar]

Yeah, I guess I need to break down and look in there. I looked at the wiring from the switch back into the door and the wiring under the dash from the GEM and Relay panel, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary. However, I never ohmed/rang out any wires... Thanks for the input. How much of a pain is it to access that rubber boot area for the door wiring?

 

[J_C]

It's a lot easier than most types of car repairs where you're working in tight spaces, but it'll also depend on (if there is one) where the break in the wire is, which end you need to get slack from to pull it out enough to solder back together and wrap insulation around (ideally heatshrink tubing instead) if that's what it needs.

Open the door all the way and you can pry back the boot some. It might help if you have the harness disconnected from the switches so there is some slack to pull a loop of wire out the gap between the boot and the door, I don't know how much it helps since I already had that much disassembled before I pulled the boot back. The harness might have a clip or something on it to fix it in place within the door, if so you'd need to pop the clip off too.

I don't remember if there is wrap around the bundle of wires that you'd need to undo to see them.

Some people would just strip the insulation off the two broken ends of wire, but it would be better to get a new ~ 1' long piece of wire and solder it inbetween the two ends and slip the soldered portions back into the door and forward into the quarter panel so you have a new, as of yet unstressed piece of wire in there bending a lot instead of a rigid solder joint. High strand count wire would work best, if not some specifically rated for high flex situations.

 

[showmeaudio71]

It's a lot easier than most types of car repairs where you're working in tight spaces, but it'll also depend on (if there is one) where the break in the wire is, which end you need to get slack from to pull it out enough to solder back together and wrap insulation around (ideally heatshrink tubing instead) if that's what it needs.

Open the door all the way and you can pry back the boot some. It might help if you have the harness disconnected from the switches so there is some slack to pull a loop of wire out the gap between the boot and the door, I don't know how much it helps since I already had that much disassembled before I pulled the boot back. The harness might have a clip or something on it to fix it in place within the door, if so you'd need to pop the clip off too.

I don't remember if there is wrap around the bundle of wires that you'd need to undo to see them.

Some people would just strip the insulation off the two broken ends of wire, but it would be better to get a new ~ 1' long piece of wire and solder it inbetween the two ends and slip the soldered portions back into the door and forward into the quarter panel so you have a new, as of yet unstressed piece of wire in there bending a lot instead of a rigid solder joint. High strand count wire would work best, if not some specifically rated for high flex situations.

Check the fuse box under the hood, play with the wires going in 2 it, that was what was wrong with mine.I'm replacing the fuse box under the hood monday.