Window motor acting strange

[twisted lizard]

I've searched this site (and others) about issues with the power side windows not operating correctly and I haven't come across the scenario/question I've run into.

The morning I brought my car out of winter storage (stored in my garage), I opened my door and the driver's window lowered slightly as designed. After I started the car up, I rolled the window down a few inches more using the switch. I then begin to gather cleaning supplies and such as I'm letting the car warm up and come up to temp. So maybe 10-15 minutes later I go to pull it all the way out of the garage and attempt to roll the driver's window the rest of the way down. Won't move. Lower passenger's window down fine. Try again. Nothing. Roll window up. Goes up until its fully up. Try down again. Nothing. (I can hear it trying)

So I hop on the wonderful RennTech.org and check around. Most posts detailing window operation problems end up calling out for motor or regulator replacement. I can hear the motor trying so at this point, I'm assuming its the cable regulator. So I've opened up my door where I can pull out my motor only (disconnecting it from the regulator and leaving the window and regulator still in place). I hooked the motor back up to the harness and reconnect my car battery. I "lower" the motor using my switch. Nothing. I "raise" the motor using my switch. It rotates great. Repeat as desired.

My next thought is to check the voltage coming from the end the harness. I bust out my volt meter and Bentley Manual and run my test. I get the proper 12V on the correct pins when I use the switch in both directions. So I think I can rule out the switch or wiring going to the harness connection.

So my final thought is that I have a bad motor. But has anyone had any experience with an electric motor failing in one direction but not the other?? I have not pulled the motor assembly apart to see if I have a wiring issue from the male pins of the harness connection to the actual motor proper. Thats for tomorrow I guess...

Thanks for any tips or ideas.

[Chris_in_NH]

swap the window motors (driver's to passenger's/passenger's to driver's) and see what happens. :)

if the problem follows the motor, you know it's the motor. if not, you know it's the regulator.

Edited April 11, 2008 by Chris_in_NH

[juniinc]

There is a long thread regards to this window problem, I was also involved in it trouble shooting . If you can search that topic it will be helpful for u to follow the steps!. motor rarely go out in one way, I would check the door pins first to see if they are corroded.

[twisted lizard]

I haven't updated my issue in a while because I've been using the time to enjoy driving the car in the sometimes rare nice Michigan weather.

I did not want to pull the passenger door apart just to test the other motor, especially since with the tester, I knew I was getting the proper voltage to the driver's side. So was pretty confident the other motor would work. And for me, less demolition is better. A few days later I powered the motor up again (still free from the regulator) and it still would only turn one direction. So I pulled the motor apart to see if any of the internal gearing was bound. I also pulled the silver cover off of the motor and inspected the windings. Kind of wiggled things around, but found nothing. So I plugged the motor back (cover plate off) into the harness and tried again. Rotated like a champ both ways! Being totally confused at this point. I slowly put the motor back and began to put the car back together, testing the motor for a few minutes after each step. Still continued to work. Even left a couple of the trim pieces off for a week or two, waiting for the motor to fail and for me to have to pull the door apart again. But as of this writing, it still works great. So either the motor was bound up, or when i pulled the silver cover off the motor, messing with the windings/brushes helped.

Thanks for the suggestions.

So until it fails again, I'll continue to try to enjoy the Michigan spring.