Hi everyone--

I have an 82 Trans Am that I just broke out of the garage for the nice weather here in Michigan. It's running great, but, of course, on a nice day, I put the windows down and now my passenger window won't go up. I'd say it had been up/down at least twice today with no issues at all (went up/down at normal speed). My driver's side window is fine and operable.

When I push the switch on the console for the passenger window (in either direction), I don't hear anything...not a click, and the motor is certainly not doing anything. My question is, how can I figure out what's going on here (i.e. if it's a bad window motor, or a bad switch)? How do I remove the switches from the center console (probably my first bet since they're looking a little old anyway and I should replace them)? It appears that some of the torx screws are real while others are fake...does this sound correct?

If a replacement switch doesn't work, how do I pull the door panel off? Where can I get some new switches? The window is currently 100% of the way down.

Anyway, just got the car out...now it's back in the garage again. Can't seem to win. Car has 32,000 miles and window motors are original but did work great.

 

man, i just got home from work 20 mins ago, and i am having the exact same problem with my 83 z28 i hope it doesnt rain tonight you press the window switch up.. and nothing, you can tell no current drain at all. with the functioning drivers window, there is a marked current drop, can see in in the voltmeter. cmon someone, anyone have experience with this?

 

That is my problem EXACTLY. Zero current draw when I push the window switch for the passenger window in either direction. Can anyone help us?

I have a feeling it's not the switch but that some connection has fallen off inside the door, of course, I don't know. But my window worked completely fine (switch and everything), then I opened and closed the door and nothing.

Luckily I have a garage, but please, someone help!

 

i mean, i know the basics of checking for power at the motor, checking the fuses, etc. but what im talking about is someone who had this problem before and knows all about it now and can say "oh yah its this" or "oh yah, its that". because the fact is the window worked fine before. probably just corrosion in a connection. do these cars have a relay like say.. a honda for instance?

 

Swap them silver colored circuit breakers in the fusebox and it should work then find out why it's tripping the circuit breaker.

 

no relay.
It's usually the switch. There's a wiring diagram, and instructions so you can bypass the switch and see if that's the problem, do a search on here for it. This is a very common problem.

If it's the motor, it's then usually just the brushes. The motor itself almost never fails. However, it's impossible to find the brushes, so most people just buy new motors. I go JY diving for brushes and use my 5 finger discount.

If you put your car info in your sidebar I could give some detailed instructions, but without that, i'll be general;
Remove the 4 T15 torx screws holding down your shifter plate (on a stickshift, not sure on an auto). Then see if you can get your hand under where the power window switches are. You pry the tabs outwards, they're on the front and back of the switch. It's tricky, and a little easier if you start by removing the entire top section of the center console. Remove the plug from the power window switch, then you can push the other clip part inwards and pop the power window switch upwards.
Hawks usually has these, probably other sources as well, ~$13 or so.

 

yah sonix im thinkin its the switch too. i went out this morning and tried it and the window went right up..leaky t tops causing a lot of dampness in the interior. im gonna pull out the switches and hit em with some deoxit. awadecki, you should give this a whirl too.

 

A quick check to see whether it's the switch or not: just swap the switches. If the problem stays on the same side, it's not the switch.

Lou

 

Thanks everyone. I'll try swapping the switches. Just haven't had a chance to pull the console off yet. So once I do that, how do I remove the switches? They're just clipped in?

 

or if you don't want to pull the switches out (since they can be fragile) you can switch the connections. Connect the pass window to the left switch and the driver window the right-side switch. If the driver window doesn't go up, its the right-side switch...

 

yah i hate taking stuff apart when im not sure if i can get it back exactly the same way it was..door panels for example. thats why when i had a brake light burn out in the back i changed all the bulbs in the back of the car, i didnt want to pull apart all the plastic stuff in the back more that i had to, took a good 2 hrs to get it back just the way it was. id especially not want to do it on such a clean original low mileage car as the 82 you have. looks tatty as heck if its not put back together right.

 

OK--

So I first took the console cover plate off, switched the connections for the switches around and I still got nothing on the passenger window. Then I popped the door panel off, and checked for voltage at the power window connector. Sure enough, I had 12V at the connector, but the window wasn't moving. Then, I started tapping on the door lightly with a hammer and, boom, the window went up!

It appears that the brushes are bad in my motor and are hanging up. What can I do? How do I go about replacing them? I'd like to keep the original motor if possible since it still works very well. Do I need to take the motor off to change them? How do I remove the motor? It appears riveted to the door?

 

Ok, i'll let you in on my top secret method here. If you tell anyone else, i'll have to kill you
You can remove the motor if you really enjoy paying $100 for a new motor when you need a $3 part. Also it's a royal PITA. Royal.
You drill out the rivets. A few aren't easily accessible, so you have to feel for them, then drill a hole through the sheet metal to get to the rivet.

So, lets call that plan Z. Because you hope there are 25 other ways to solve the problem before having to result to that.
A - Just replace the brushes. So the plastic cap on the bottom of your motor is where those are. There are two metal tangs bent over holding it in. Find your shortest flat blade screwdriver, and wiggle it under the motor so you can pry those metal tangs outwards. Then pull the cap downwards, you'll notice pieces (the brushes and springs) will probably fly out. Find them.

Then you need replacement brushes. I have yet to find a source that actually sells power window motor brushes. I found an alternator/starter rebuilding shop in town that sold me some carbon brushes that when stacked in pairs fit that groove perfectly. I think they were from a ford alternator or something, they had copper wire coming out of the backside. OR go to the JY, rip the door panel off one of the REAR doors of a Caprice or something (where the rear windows were used about 12 times over the life of the vehicle), and steal those brushes. Then go home and toss 'em in. Aside from gas to get to the JY, and entry fee, it's a free fix. Mine are still going strong.

Do a few searches on power window brushes, someone posted some good high res pictures of the process of taking it apart and replacing the brushes. Nice to see it first hand. Also keep in mind there's a little plastic cup thingy that sits in the end cap. When you put the brushes back in, the spring will want to push them inwards, so use that little cup to keep them "outwards", so that you can reinstall the power window cap without driving yourself insane.

 

Anyone have any pics of the process? The link to Vader's file is dead.

 

OK--

So I went to the local junkyard and picked up an entire power window motor assembly out of an olds Pontiac Parisienne with only 80,000 miles (and I got the right rear door motor). It was only $10, so I figured I'd just get the entire thing.

I pryed the end cap off (this was easy), and took it apart. The brushes look really good in this motor. However, how in the heck do I get it back together? I know how the springs and brushes are loaded, just can't figure out how to keep them from staying in place while I assemble the motor.

What is this plastic cup thingy you were talking about? I didn't see it...it looks like there is a brass end cap contained in the plastic end cap, is that it?

 

That's probably it, yes. I thought it was plastic. In the end cap, look in the round part, the deepest part. Fish out the small cap. It'll be the size of a thimble sorta thing. When you put the springs in, and the brushes, you just put that cap inbetween, that holds them outwards. Then you put it on, and the rotor pushes the plastic cap out of the way, such that the brushes would then ride on the shaft - and all is well.

 

where do i get two new power window switch from with the little logo on it need help i look at a lot of places

 

I think I got mine from Hawks. $15 each IIRC. I remember it was one of the board sponsors, and to me it was CHEAP. It's a hard to find part, so that's nothing for a brand new one!
See if you can find it there, if you're still stuck i'll help you look.

 

I lied, they are out of stock.
I think you'll have a tough time finding new ones.
Classic industries maybe?
I think your best bet is evilbay, and most likely used