Drivers Window Problem

[chrism]

2003 V70 Base, 225,000 miles.

My drivers window is beginning to balk when I command it up or down. When the problem occurs, both up and down actuation are affected. Sometimes when I start the car the window will operate fine for a short time, then it will freeze. It can freeze in any position – open, closed, or mid travel. Other times, the window might not operate right from the first attempt after starting the engine.

I found that when the window won’t move, I can hold the switch on and at the same time turn the key slightly CCW and interrupt the ignition for a very split second – such a quick interruption that the engine barely stutters and doesn’t even stall – and the window will then start moving and continue to move even though the ignition is back on. I believe the window will always operate properly when the key is in position I (accessory).

Whether the drivers window is working right or not, the drivers door switches will always operate the other three windows without a hitch. Only the drivers window is affected.

Anyone got a suggestion?

[vtl]

I'd take the door apart and inspect its window regulator.

[chrism]

VTL,

I will surely try looking into the window motor, etc. But unless I find something simple like a loose connector, then I guess I'll be faced with a deeper problem. Given the circumstances under which it works/doesn't work, I don't have a real good feeling about this. Thanks.

[vtl]

Check that nothing is jamming. It could be a safe fail feature preventing further breakage when jamming is detected.

[jimmy57]

The easiest first effort is to get spray silicone lube and put the little rigid included tube on the spray nozzle and get the window down and spray the rubber the glass moves in at front and back edges of glass. Then operate the window an see what happens. If that doesn't do it then remove door panel and get spray white graese into the 3 rails. Two on glass and one is on the door. The window regulator/lift has square plasctic slide blocks that move in the three places and the grease can dry up. If these two efforts fail then the slide blocks may need to be replaced and are sold separately (on Ebay and other places). If the problem is not addressed you risk bending lift arms. Bent lift arms may already be part of the problem if the window does not close flush across full width at top.
The slide blocks are not easy to replace.

[chrism]

This is not a jamming/sticking/friction problem. If it were I would see/hear/feel it TRYING to move. It is definitely electrical in nature (deader than a door nail), given that I can hold the switch full up or full down, which ever the case may be, and the window won't move until I quickly twist the key from run to acc and back to run again. Also everything works fine with the key in position I (acc). I would suspect the ignition switch, but the problem is only the drivers window - all others work every time I command them, even if I control them from the drivers door controls. I'm wondering if there are two electrical paths through the ignition switch - one for the drivers window and one for the other three windows - I would find that hard to believe.

Even though it probably won't be the fix, I may try running the drivers window through the recalibration routine. Gotta try all the free stuff first.

[vtl]

DDM and PDM are definitely two different electronic modules.

[packetfire]

One might suspect the switch for the driver's window itself, and think about how it might have been used much more than all the others, and worn out. Not sure, but I wonder if one might use a jumper wire on the connector to the driver's door switch array, and remove the switch from the equation for test purposes.

Another approach might be to spray electronic "contact cleaner" or some Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) into that switch, work it a bit, and see if it was accumulated dirt. If the cleaning fixes your problem, then it was dirt.