Power windows stopped working

[Lbakken85]

I have a 2003 mountaineer. One day all of the window switches stopped working. Every window and every switch. My first idea was it has to be a fuse. After reading my owners Manuel and my chilton. All the fuses were good, I then checked all the fuses with an ohm meter, again all were good. I then checked for voltage at the fuse terminals, again all were good. So it must be the switch assembly on the drivers door right? However, I checked to see that voltage was going to the drivers switch, and I find 0. So no power to the switch, but all fuses are good. Any ideas?

 

[Donystoy]

A very common problem is where the wires break in the wiring harness as it goes from the door jamb to the door. The constant flexing causes the strands of copper to eventually experience fatigue and break. A Haynes manual has decent drawings that indicate the color coding on the individual wires. I would start by finding out which is the main power wire since you say you have no power at all at the door switch. You could also massage the wiring in the door jamb while pushing on one of the window open buttons and see if it will operate. If it intermittently operates you know for sure that this is where the problem is.

 

[Mrooney322]

i believe it to be the black wire in the door jamb. happened to me over the summer, conveniently the hottest week in the summer.

 

[BigRondo]

Welcome aboard!!

I had similar electrical issues with my '02 XLT. The dome lights would stay on until the battery saver feature turned them off, the accessory delay wasn't working, the driver side puddle light didn't work, the keypad on the door would set off the alarm when I pressed it, the door ajar light would flash and beep at highway speeds, the radio would shut off as soon as I turned the key off, the alarm would beep twice when I armed it. Recently all 4 windows stopped working. Most recently the driver door lock actuator stopped working.

A lot of electrical issues can be traced back to broken/damaged wire(s) in the boot between the body and the driver's door. I found 3 broken wires and repaired them. The thin black ground wire was broken and after repairing it all was back to normal. When the windows stopped working, I repaired the thick black ground wire and the windows now work like a champ. I had to repair the pink/black wire to fix the driver door lock actuator.

Here is the thread for removing the door panel: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=303524

Here is a great thread for checking for broken/damaged wires, thanks to synyster for this awesome write-up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=270081

Unfortunately the pictures are no longer available in the above thread. IIRC, I believe I unwrapped the wires enough to gain access. When I have gone searching in there I had an idea of what wire I was looking for. I located the the wire I was looking for and gently tugged on that wire on the door side. The wire was pulled toward me and out of the harness. I then went inside the vehicle and gently tugged on the the wire I was looking for and was able to pull it inside the vehicle. I then spliced a length of wire to the 2 ends, completing the circuit. I then gently pulled the excess into the door.

Be sure to take your time when looking for broken/damaged wire(s). Check all the wires for breaks/damage. When you think you're done looking, look again, and again, and again. A bright flashlight can be very helpful.

Please keep us posted as feedback helps others reading this post looking for a fix to the same or similar issue!