Power Window Buttons not working

[Andy Aloia]

I lifted the driver seat, and there was a decent amount of dust and debris. 

Also, it seemed like there was some electrical tape on the wires running to the drivers seat.

 

Removed the tape to see if there was any major damage or what was the cause of the splice.

 

Upon further inspection of the smaller wires. It seems like there has been some damage due to rubbing or catching. There was only two damaged wires. Perhaps if they were to ground out, it would prevent the windows from functioning. It is unknown at this point. It is important to note that the tape wrapping did not cover the exposed section of wire.

 

Additional note, it seems like there was also some grounding wires that got a treatment as well. It has a Porsche tag on the new grounding wire on the right side of the image.

 

My guess is that someone forcibly put the seat forward/back and then it cut the wires. This prompted the fix.

 

I have sprayed contact cleaner on the connector and on the M535 unit. I am waiting an extra 5 minutes before vacuuming and putting it all back together. The M535 unit and harnesses looked acceptable. I did not see any evidence of wire exposure.

[Ahsai]

Good detective work! Someone bad has been there before...

[wvicary]

If it happens again slightly turn the ignition switch, they can fail intermittently and cause many odd issues.

[Andy Aloia]

If it happens again slightly turn the ignition switch, they can fail intermittently and cause many odd issues.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

As an update, my previous wire patch-up did not solve the problem. The Windows still fail intermittently. Next time that happens I will try wiggling/slightly turning the key and see if that helps. 

 

I got my Durametric in today. There were only error codes in the Alarm system. Code 49,10,23,and 33. However, being that the codes may have arisen at anytime in the past, I cleared them. I turned the car on let sit for 5 minutes, turned off. Locked the door, then unlocked and checked for any new codes. No codes popped up.  

 

I will check over the next few days for any new error codes. As Wvicary mentioned, the problem may simply be the ignition switch.

[Hilux2400]

It still seems to me that there is an intermittent connection failure.  This may have been cause by the seat moving and pulling the loom apart somewhere.  I would be tempted to track back a distance and see if the wires have severed. 

 

I had a similar problem with a multiplug some year back (different vehicle) where one of the wires had come a drift from the female connector within the housing, but it was generally being held in place by the loom.  Sometimes it would connect and sometimes it wouldn't.  The failure was within the insulation near the plug. 

 

I solved the problem by remaking the failed wire.  It took me ages to find the fault as from a first visual inspection everything looked OK.

 

Happy hunting

 

H

[Andy Aloia]

Hello All,

I know I am reviving an old thread, but it always helps to hear a solution to the problem.

 

On a recent escapade to fix the sun roof switch I took off the ceiling control cluster. Inside there was looped wiring tied in to a power and ground connection that ran towards the drivers side. Very odd indeed. I removed the interior windshield column and lo and behold there was my problem. A previous owner installed a radar or laser detector in the left corner of the dash. It was removed at some point and the wires were only snipped and left in place. Over time the wire shielding degraded due to heat and other elements and allowed the power and ground connections to intermittently short out.

I removed all of the wiring, taped up the wiring tie-ins...BAM Problem solved!

Edited April 2, 2015 by Andy Aloia