Power window malfunctioning

[aldive]

I am having an intermitent power window ( mostly driver's ) malfunction.

Sometimes just opening ther door and closing it will it the window working.

I remember reading a thread about the wiring being an issue but cannot find it.

HELP, please.

 

[dogfriend]

I'm not sure about the thread, but if it is related to the position of the door, then I would look for wiring damage near where the wiring goes from the door sill into the door.

 

[budwich]

Your problem description is a little "vague" (ie. "mostly driver's) ... but your likely candidate wire is the LB/BK which carries the power into the windows controls.

 

[aldive]

bump

 

[CDW6212R]

Your problem description is a little "vague" (ie. "mostly driver's) ... but your likely candidate wire is the LB/BK which carries the power into the windows controls.

Ditto, if it's intermittent electrical, that points to the main power wire in the door jamb boot. Others have mentioned breaks in several places, but the section which twists when the door is opened is the common location to find it. I didn't know it was an issue when I built my truck, or I would have inspected those wires when I had them out. Don't worry about the wires elsewhere, they can't be a problem unless someone did something to them.

 

[aldive]

I took the door panel off today and checked the voltage at the switch ( using the black ground wire at the switch as ground ).

I was able to get 12 v whne working the switch ( but the windows [ bothe front ones ] will not function. The rear 2 work perfectly.

Any suggestions?

 

[CDW6212R]

Start with the blue/black wire, it powers all four windows with the LF switch panel. The red/blue wire comes from the blue/black through the main rear switch, to power the other three from those other door switches.

If the main wire has power, then the individual switches decide the path of grounds and power for each window. With no switch pushed, all eight window wires will show ground, at all points. Everything is grounded besides the main power, until a switch opens and closes two circuits at the same time.

 

[aldive]

The back two windows work perfectly.

 

[CDW6212R]

It sounds like the LF main switch, which I gather is brand new. Which windows work right from those other three doors?

If you have power at the blue/black wire, then the power is directly in the LF four switches. That would mean that only each of those switches is affecting the power flow. You can push any of the switches while testing for voltage at a window wire. If you have power going to a window motor, then the issue would have to be the motor or gearing itself.

 

[aldive]

The RF window will not work from either the mail or its door switch.

I seriously doubt that two motors went bad at exactly the same time.

This one has me puzzled.......

 

[aldive]

I have another master switch. I may try it later.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, that sounds odd. Only knowing how the system works can figure some of this stuff out, without swapping parts.

 

[aldive]

On a trip to the drug store last night, the RF window mysteriously started working. Noi joy with the LF though.

 

[Turdle]

OK
I just repaired my son Matt's mountaineer over the weekend.

It had the "possesed window" problem.

What I found, was, the light blue with black stripe wire broken inside the rubber boot area in the wire bundle going from the door bulkhead connector thru the door jamb area.Remove the bulkhead bolt, unplug the connector, then, cut the zip tie, pull the boot back and there you will see it. It was broken about 3" from the connector.

When it was acting up, no windows would work from the driver control.

 

[NJMike]

Haunted Power Windows

Al;

I have been to he11 and back with power window problems when I first bought my Mounty three years ago. I finally bought the Ford workshop manual on CD which has detailed wiring diagrams.

When the problem occurs, if the window will NOT function from either the master switch OR the switch on the door in question, it is almost ALWAYS a break in the ground loop. The fact that the problem comes and goes is indicative of a break in the wiring that makes intermittent connection based upon hitting a bump in the road, whether or not it is raining, or how hard you close a door. There are two places where the wiring typically breaks. It is the connector behind the driver side kick plate and the neoprene weather boot in the driver's door jamb. Far down on the list is the boot on the other three doors simply because they aren't opened and closed as often as the driver door and they are less crowded with cabling. so there is less friction on the insulation.

Since you said it sometimes corrects itself when you open and close the driver's side door, it is a 99.998% probability that you have a broken wire in the boot. I had exactly the same symptom. If the passenger window wasn't working, I'd open and close the driver's door and it would work for several days. It almost always seemed to work when it was raining.

I made a 15 foot cable out of 12 gauge twin conductor speaker wire (it was what I had on hand at the time) with battery clamps on one end and electronic equipment alligator clips (the kind where you can insert a probe in the ends) on the other. After removing the door panels, this allowed me to supply 12V and ground to any portion of the circuit to check the operation of the switches, motors and cabling. When I connected the ground to the master switch, the passenger window would work with fail.

If I remember correctly, this was the green/black wire on the master switch. I pulled the boot in the drivers door by cutting the plastic security tie on the bottom of the boot and sliding it up as far as it would telescope.

I found the wire and gave it a little tug and it pulled right out. Luckily, I could grab the end going into the foot well and pull it out about half an inch. I scraped off a quarter inch of insulation and soldered in a one inch piece of wire to jump the break. The other end of the one inch piece, I soldered to the end of the wire coming out of the door after sliding a length of shrink tubing on it. I slid the shrink tubing over the solder joints and shrank it with my wife's hair dryer.

I did this sometime early last spring and I haven't had a problem since.

Start simple. The door switches almost never break and when they do, they just stop working. The problem will not come and go.

That being said, if I'm wrong, (and I have been known to be wrong at times. Just ask my wife!) I have a working master power window switch in my workshop that came out of a 97 Thunderbird that you can have for free. Believe it or not, the Thunderbird power window switches are identical to the Explorer/Mountaineer power window switches right down to the part numbers.

NJMike

 

[CDW6212R]

The ground for all of the power windows is just like the power, it goes through one wire of the LF door. The power is blue/black, the ground is the biggest black wire in the LF door. If you disconnect either of those two, or they have a break in them, none of the windows will work.

Al, since you have the two back windows working, it cannot be one of those main wires.

 

[aldive]

Al, since you have the two back windows working, it cannot be one of those main wires.

And the RF window works as well.

You don't appreciate windows until you roll one down or up.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, my LF has been sticking about 3" from the top, almost constantly now. I think the window channel down below the sill have corroded and narrowed the path for the glass. I have a new window and the channel part to change, but that's a bigger job I don't have time for now.

Have you had time to swap the master switch yet? I have a spare around somewhere.

 

[aldive]

Yes, the switch is fine.

 

[CDW6212R]

If you have the one LF window not working with two swapped switches, they are both the same, and it could still be in the wiring to the motor or the motor.