Hello all,

My drivers window stopped operating yesterday. Its a 1997 with automatic windows. About four months ago all the windows were working intermittently from the drivers switch, so I replaced the entire switch assembly with a new one and it fixed the issue completely. Currently, all the lights on the switch are still illuminated and the drivers side switch still rolls the other windows up and down, so I don't think its a power to the switch issue. I can't really obviously hear the motor trying to work when I push the drivers window button down. Anybody have any suggestions on how to narrow down the problem? Its HOT in Florida right now, so I need to be able to roll that window down. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

 

It may be the regulator/motor needs replacing had to do both of my front windows.

 

Had similar problem with my WJ. Does the window work when the door is open or partially opened? Was a wire break between the door and body for me. Don't recall if the switches lit up though, that suggests that they are getting power so maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in.
Good luck.

 

Probably the regulator. This is why I prefer manual windows. Power is nice until they stop working lol. Shouldn't be more than $100 to have something like that fixed for ya.

 

The driver's window in my '00 XJ was very intermittent and eventually stopped working altogether.
I dismantled, degreased and cleaned the motor and regulator then lightly lubricated and reassembled them.
I also gave the window glass a good polish and cleaned out and lightly lubricated the channels the glass runs through.
The window now works perfectly, at the moment.

I had bought one of these...
http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav=item.view&id=231395027655&alt=web
to replace the plastic bit that apparently broke on a lot of regulators, but discovered that either the previous owner beat me to it or Jeep improved the design on the late XJs.

 

How tough a job was it? Are there any good DIYs floating around?

 

Replacing the window motors is pretty easy. Just take off the door panel, you'll see 3 threaded studs with nuts on the end that hold the motor in. Unplug, unbolt, and install the new. Just make sure the gears on the end are the same, if they aren't the gears can be popped out and swapped with the assistance of a small flathead screwdriver. Motor should run around 40-50 bucks.

 

Remove the motor and regulator assembly, apply 12 volts and test the motor for operation for both directions. It's a reversible motor switching pos+ and neg- should reverse the motor's direction.

* The slide need to be inspected, cleaned-up and re-lubed. I prefer to use silicon spray as it's lighter, easy to apply and less likely to gumm up. Some people use a light grease such as a lithium grease, which may last longer before requiring re-lubrication.

When not removing the slides from the door to clean and lubricate. I sometimes use a silicon spray to wash them down. Otherwise you may need to remove the slides depending on their condition.

Another problem with driver side window switch is 1. the driver's toggle switch becomes bad and 2. the switch assembly circuit board solder traces that go the driver and possibly other switches cracks.

There's are several youtube videos that explain how to fix door switches, replace motors, etc. and some to how to re-solder the switch assembly traces.


It helps to lubricate the insulation around the window glass so the glass slides more easily.

It's important the slide used for each window is clean and lubricated. The slide is made from metal, however some of the parts such as gears, etc. used to roll up and down the windows are made from plastic and can break if not lubricated.

http://www.steigerperformance.com/dif.cgi?SP12001

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Front-Window-Regulator-Repair-Metal-Replacement-Kit-97-01-Jeep-Cherokee-/231395027655?fits=Model%3ACherokee&hash=item35e037eac7&vxp=mtr

 

The window regulator I just installed on the front passenger side was a Dorman product (bought from NAPA). It was made in South Korea and the motor had a sticker on it that said "Vietnam".


The problem I had installing it was the Dorman electrical connector. The Dorman connector would not lock into place to the body harness connector because the primary locking mound (for the lack of a better term) was too far forward so it wouldn't latch. I had to remove a small bit of the leading edge of the mound in order for it to latch. The secondary red latch worked okay. The Christmas tree device to hold the connector to the door was too big for the hole in the door. I was too lazy to enlarge the hole so I just duct taped the connector to the door.


The window seemed to run a tad slower than the driver's side but that doesn't bother me. The window was inop for five years so a working window is fine with me - slow or not.


My driver's side regulator needs to be changed. It chatters when it hits the bottom during auto down.

 

Thanks for all the info everyone. To further complicate the situation after I bought a new AC Delco motor/regulator last night, I got in my car this afternoon and now the window is working flawlessly (did not work this morning). I can't replicate the issue. Is it possible that the regulator/motor is still going bad and could benefit from replacement or do I have electrical gremlins that I need to work out?

 

If everything is cleaned and lubricated you shouldn't. If mechanically sound any failures of power windows are usually related to the electronic door switch. The motor or regulator may wear out if the slide isn't cleaned and lubricated.

If the slide and glass insulation is ok, I wouldn't worry about the regulator, unless you're actually having problems.

The door interior is prone to rust as there's very little ventilation. What happens is rust builds up from condensation along with moisture from outside. Rust and corrosion effects the doors, door locks and door window mechanisms. What I do sometimes is clean out and sand the inside of the doors and repaint.

 

That makes sense. It rained the day it stopped working. So the rain got in there somehow and the moisture did some temporary damage and now multiple days of 95 degree heat has fixed whatever the issue was? When it started working again today it went up and down quickly and the motor seemed strong. I guess theres nothing to do but take it apart and see if I can clean it up. I am hesitant to do that though with everything working now.

 

Use some silicon paste on both the driver side and passanger side switch connectors after spraying them out with some contact cleaner (the silicon paste will seal out the moisture). I had the same issue with my driver side window working one day and not working the next, then suddenly a couple of days later it would work again. Doing the spray cleaner and silicon on both sides fixed it for me (I hope... been 5 months without an issue so far lol). I did the driver side first and i still had the issue but it fixed it when i did the passanger side switch.

Reason you need to do both sides is if yours is like mine than the wiring runs through both doors to both switches. Aka in my 2001 if you disconnect the passanger side switch the entire circuit will not work even with the driver side switch plugged in it won't let you roll down any window or lock unlock if the passanger side is disconnected and I have the same pin count on both the passanger and driver side switch eventhough the passanger side doesn't have any of the extra switches...

 

Well the problem is back again, so I think I'm going to give your advice a whirl. Just to be clear, you're talking about packing silicone into the connector then reconnecting it?

 

Use dielectric grease rather than silicone so it will come apart easily in the future if necessary.