troubleshooting window motor/wiring

[paul]

Hey all,

Finally have time to check up on if my driver's side window motor is shot, or just the toggle switch is broken...

I have a multimeter, & the door panel off/unhooked but I'm not familiar with the wiring, and what to test to pinpoint what the problem is.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Hauntd ca3]

if you have a wee 12v batt,eg a motor bike batt
pull the plug that goes too the window motor, it should be a 2 pin jobbie.
then hook up a cople bits of wire to the batt and put one on each of the wires that go to the motor.it will either go up or down.
if it goes down, reverse the polarity to put it back up or vise versa.
if the motor works, the switch is prob the culprit

[Dr_Snooz]

The manual has a lot of really good troubleshooting procedures. It's available for download here: Honda manual (http://honda.roadpwnage.com/manuals/pages/usdm-accord-1989-full.php)

Troubleshooting for the windows starts on p. 25-52. Give it a shot and come back if you continue to have trouble.

[paul]

Awesome! much thanks guys... I'll check things out this weekend.

[Keachman1]

Did it quit working at once or did it gradually quit working? Do the other windows work?

My drivers side window stopped working suddenly and I found the window controller was bad. You could hear the relay clicking when you pushed the switch. but the window wouldn't move. The other windows worked fine.

I checked the window controller by removing the door panel on the drivers side and taking the controller apart. It's a black plastic box about 3/4 of the way up the door and is recessed into the door frame. It's about 3" X 4". Two bolts hold it in. It's very easy to get to after the door panel is off. Remove it and pry the bottom off the controller and look at the solder joints. Mine had one melted joint. I resoldered the joint and hooked it back up. The window works fine now. The controller has relays in it that run the window motors. That's why I could hear the clicking noise but the window wouldn't move. The output from the relay to the window was melted. I guess you could test your switches by listening for the relay noise also and that would tell you if they were working.

I would check that and the switches first since the window motor is a bitch to get out.

[paul]

I bought the car with it broken, only the driver's front doesn't work, and it does make that "click" sounds when I try the toggle/switch... I'll definitely check out that controller.

Thanks!

[ianjk46conv]

good info! I have the same problem. Passenger window works, drivers side doesn't. I also hear the contacts in the relay when I toggle the drivers window switch. I had to solder the main relay a couple months ago, hopefully that is the case with this "controller." Nice.
:slap:

[ianjk46conv]

turns out it was a poor connection in the window controller. soldered the connection and she works!! I can go through the drive-thru, not have to get out of my car to get the mail, smoke (cigs ofcourse..), and give the guy who cut me off the finger! sweet, thanks again for the advice, easy fix!
:cheers:

[Keachman1]

Glad to hear this fix worked for you too. I've solved a bunch of problems from info I've found on this forum and gotten some great ideas too. Anytime I figure something out on my 3rd gen, I will post it so someone else can benefit from info here like I have.

One of the moderators may want to make a sticky on this fix as I suspect alot of people have this problem.

[w261w261]

That controller is for the "auto drop" feature, only the driver's door has it of course. When you're in the JY, it's easy to get to, so liberate one or two and keep them around. You're sure to need them. I don't like to redo work, so I bought a new one from Uncle Honda. I think it was over $100.

Edit later:
Here's a thread with more than you probably want to know about the driver's window:
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56144&highlight=window+relay

[russiankid]

I had the same issue today. Control module took a crap. Luckily I had a spare so swapped that in and cleaned the tracks.