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  • diagnosing + fixing power electric window problem - complete walkthrough

    *** IF ANYONE IS HAVING AN ISSUE WITH THEIR POWER WINDOWS YOU NEED TO READ THIS! ITS A COMPLETE WALK THROUGH OF DIAGNOSING + FIXING THE PROBLEM***


    about 2 months ago, the passenger side electric window switch stopped working... the thing would only respond to putting the window up! and refused to put the window down, but i could still control it from the drivers side main switch.

    also at the same time the drivers side main switch was becoming fussy about the electric mirrors.

    anyways 2 nights ago i was driving home from work and i noticed the electric windows suddenly stopped working, ALL of them! wouldnt go up and they were stuck in the down position!!

    along with that the central locking no longer worked as well.

    so i drove home a little upset and parked in the garage then scoured the internet for any idea of what was going on. and heres the conclusion AND solution i arrived at.

    - pretty much every nissan on the V, S, RB, and VQ chassis has issues with faulty electric windows!


    1) listen! when you click the switch for window up and down what do you hear?
    - grinding and whirring = broken gear on power window motor
    - clicking or no clicking = the relay for the power windows... clicking = its still good.
    - if you hear NO clicking and NO whirring (my situation) then you're not getting power to the system.
    LOOK!
    - are you're locks working or no? (if yes then its not the circuit system at fault, and its an isolated issue with the window alone)
    - is it BOTH windows or just one? (if its both windows then its a circuit related problem, if its just one then its a relay or motor)

    *DONT JUST BANG ON THE DOOR AND HOPE THAT MAKES IT WORK... if electricals are not working.. there is a REASON why they`re not working*

    2) check the fuses.... theres the power window fuse in the engine bay. its a 25A strange little brown fuse (i found my replacement from my local auto parts store)




    ***THIS IS WHAT A BURNT FUSE LOOKS LIKE.. THE COPPER CONNECTION WILL HAVE MELTED IN THE MIDDLE!!**



    3) if your fuse is good... then your problem lies in either the relay, or the motor itself.

    NEXT... you must remove the door panel, its really easy... 3 screws along the bottom, one screw in the handle under a plastic cap, and once you pull out the switch assemby theres a screw under there.. lift up and outwards on the door panel and it should all come off..

    then you should see a little black box in the bottom right corner... thats the relay.

    also you will see the power window motor.

    use a multi-meter/volt meter to verify if the relay is good... if its bad, remove it... open it... and first try re-soldering all those connections as they sometimes come loose. if not a new relay from nissan is about $60 i believe.

    then if the relay is good... grab a car battery hook up 2 wires to it.. put one wire to the positive of the power window motor and the other to the negative (make sure your car battery is disconnected BEFORE you do this or you risk blowing all your fuses). if the motor responds and makes the window move up and down as you reverse the polarity of the connections, then your motor is fine.

    if its making a grinding noise then the most common problem is the plastic gear, probably has come off, or broken..

    if there is no response from the motor... then you have to buy a whole new assembly (about $300 from nissan dealership.. OUCH!) but if its broken anyways, take it out of the door, and try your best to repair it... probably one of the brushes has come off or something.


    so that covers relay, fuse, and motor.. the only other component which can fail is the switch assembly... be weary. the switch assembly causes almost every problem! what happens is the contacts INSIDE get carbon build it and they stop conducting properly.. leading to excessive heat production in the switch and a breakdown of components.

    SO! i asked myself.. why did my fuse blow!? and the only thing i could think of .. was due to the resistance being created by moldy contacts inside the switch...

    so here is a detailed procedure for how to clean and re-assemble the switches... and just so u all know.. once i put it all back together.. EVERYTHING WORKED 100% PERFECTLY including the passenger window switch which was fishy before and the electric mirror switch!


    1) remove the switch assemblys from both sides. and unplug the 2 plugs from the drivers side



    2) crack open the passenger side first as there is no plug to remove it... and just BE CAREFULE not to lose the 2 copper pieces which go flying once you open it.



    3) you can see right away what the problem is... see that black garbage on the ends!?? thats whats making things not work properly!!!



    4) use automotive electrical contact cleaner, and some sand paper to clean those suckers until they look like this:


    5) put the passenger side swithc back together and plug it back into the door hole.. and your good to go on that side.

    6) remove the 4 screws that hold the window switch to the surround and theres 4 clips to remove the power mirror switch assembly


    7) crack open the power mirror assembly and you can again see right away what the issue is!
    Clean off all that black garbage spray some contact cleaner and apply di-electric grease if you have it


    8) then you can snap that all back together and now you open up the power window part... first remove the white plastic covering, i used an exacto knife to pry apart the sides.



    9) there theres this strange little brown and blue thing... turn it 90 degrees and pull it out.. it should come out super easy.


    10) STOP! dont try to pry apart the circuit board any further.. as you will break it.. if you look at this picture you can see that due to this whole assembly being screwed down THEN soldered in the nissan factory.. its not possible to remove this, so i just sprayed the cleaner as much as possible inside and re-assembeled everything, i suppose if it got really broken in there you could cut the circuit board to remove those 2 tiny little screws you see in the pic and get in there... because a new switch form nissan is quite costly... so do what you can.



    anyways, this all fixed my problems and i hope this helps everyone else too...
    The SkyLife Community & News Website --> http://www.skylife4ever.com

  • #2
    this should be moved and kept in the DIY section i think... good write up though
    '91 Black GTS-T

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks Alot.
      I thought i needed a new switch but then came across your thread. Took my Pass switch apart and it works great now. Once again Thanks.
      I agree, This should be stickied as I'm sure that we all have that same gunk on the contacts.

      Comment


      • #4
        haha no problem!! i will actually be adding more as i have discovered ONE more thing that causes the issues with the windows! and it`ll be just as comprehensive.
        The SkyLife Community & News Website --> http://www.skylife4ever.com

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        • #5
          My little rocker contacts got gunk on them already????? I had used some Di-electric grease, I think thats where it came from.
          I cleaned them again with plenty of Mass air sensor cleaner and without ElectroLube. Working minty again hopefully forever.

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          • #6
            Brilliant post. Well done with good clear pics and well worded instructions. Moving and stickying (I'm doing this this weekend).
            -Josh

            1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
            1990 Skyline GTS-R

            Comment


            • #7
              awesome ive always wanted to be stickied!! that was my goal when writing this.

              i intend to add more actually when winter comes ill open the door panel and re-do all the wiring again.
              The SkyLife Community & News Website --> http://www.skylife4ever.com

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              • #8
                That little blue and brown thingy is actually the light that illuminates the power window switch. There is a whole section on how to replace those little light bulbs.

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