stuck window

Hi!

I got great help here last time (seatbelt light: thanks,
hyundaitech!).

So now I have another small challenge. The driver's window won't go up
on my wife's 2003 Tibby GT. I've got the door panel off, and my
question is .. what next?

For example, could it just be the switch? How do I test that? Is
there anything else I should test?

If it's the motor that's the problem, then it appears that I can detach
the window (by unbolting it from the carriage) and pull it up through
the slot, and then unbolt the motor from where it's mounted to the
interior door frame, and then slide that contraption .. ?down and
through the frame holes? .. or ?up through the window slot?

How much should I expect to pay for a used window motor? New ones
appear to be around $80.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

I'm presuming the regulator isn't the problem since you've got the door
panel off and you make no mention of the window attempting to raise when
you activate the switch.

Plug your switch back in and try to raise the window. It still won't
move, right? While holding the switch in the up position, give the motor
a good whack with a wrench. If the window begins to go up, then there's a
problem in the motor.

If nothing happens, then you're back to doing electrical testing.
Usually, the issue is indeed the motor. So, I'd recommend unplugging the
motor and putting a test light between the terminals in the harness
connector. Then move the switch to the up and down positions. If the
lamp lights in each position, the switch is good and you have a bad motor.
If the lamp only lights in the down position, you have a bad switch. If
the lamp lights in neither position, you'll need to check the wiring to
the switch.

 

It worked!

I took a long flat file and beat the crap out of that motor, and the
window went up, all the way. Cool .. now she won't have to worry about
rain, and I have time to get a replacement motor.

Thanks again!

 

That reminds me why I don't like power windows.
Are they really worth the trouble?

 

In my opinion they are. I've had them for decades in cars and have had
scant few problems with them. If one were to base a preference on failures
that rank in the infrequent category, one certainly would never consider a
car in the first place. Lord knows - the whole car suffers more than just
an occasional need for attention.

 

Exactly.

Power windows have cost me $9 and 30 of my own labor minutes above the
initial purchase expense. They usually increase resale value on a
vehicle. I've broken manual window handles (and getting good exact
replacements isn't always easy/cheap) and torn clothes on them.

If you're mechanically/electrically clueless and plan to keep the car
'forever' I can see the manual window option being smart. If you have
any troubleshooting and repair skills power windows are *very* simple to
maintain and shouldn't add a significant amount of extra hassles to any
vehicle purchase.

Now if you've got annoying kids/people that like to play with the window
buttons theres no way to get around that. The same applies to manual
windows - theres usually some weak plastic part involved in the window
mechanism - almost like a "mechanical fuse" to keep from putting too
much pressure on the glass.

But, hey, who needs power windows when theres air conditioning?

JS

 

One bit of advice: use all the power windows from time to time even if
you don't need them or never carry passengers or whatever. Give each
window a workout once or twice a month or even weekly, all year round.

My last used car had power windows. The back ones apparently went
without use for years and years; perhaps three owners, and nobody used
the windows. By the time I bought the car at age six years, the back
windows no longer worked properly because of the lack of use. One
motor had seized solid. The other one was so weak, the window had to
pushed up by hand.

The front windows work perfectly because they got used.

 

A lot of folks also let their window seals fail, exposing the power
window works to a lot more water than they're designed to see. They're
usually not prohibitively expensive to replace on cars reaching the age
that they're failing...

JS

 

I had the same problem with my '03GT Tiburon. The driver's side
window would start to go up and then slow right down and then stop at
any point. Unless you are out of warranty I would take it to the
Dealer. It turned out mine was the motor that had given up but it was
due to a faulty switch. When I brought it in they also told me the
Passenger side window wasn't working! Which was news to me.
Anyway I only had 35k on the car so it was all under warranty motor,
switch, and labor. Just for fun I asked the Service Mgr. how much if
it wasn't under warranty and he told me $428 for everything. They
said the motor was $118. Good luck!