power windows issue 1996 jeep grand cherokee
 

Hello everyone,

I have
1996 jeep grand Cherokee limited
automatic trans
2 wd
2.0l 6 cylinder engine


I am having issues with the power windows. its had issues off and one since i bought it but after about a year they finally went out, now once in a great while i can get them to work.

here's the issue:
the drivers side window works all the time never a problem
the passenger side windows do not work at all, but as mentioned once in a great while i can roll them up or down but if i roll them down there is no guarantee they will roll up, in fact right now they are half way down.


i've heard over and over its likely a broken wire in the door harness area but i have seen videos that say it might not be that and those look easier to do first and cheap.

in the videos i guess its the window lock is malfunctioning causing the issue and you can purchase a splicer and inside the jeep there's a spot with a wire connection (black, yellow, and tan wire) and you splice the yellow and tan wire together and i guess that bypass's the window lock (i have no real use for it).

if that solves the problem great as i need to save a much money for other repairs so need to do as much as i can for a cheap as i can (got to keep the kia my most reliable and newest vehicle on the road).

but and i know this might be premature assuming that's not the issue its likely a broken wire in the door harness's but i have some question and the better explained and with pictures the better, electrical work bothers me (rip to my 1976 duster for my youth and not disconnecting the battery before working under the dash).

how can you get the boot off, i see it pulls off from the drivers door but it don't remove from the vehicle to have easy access to the wires,
how do you remove it
can you cut it off and if so does it have to be put back on
how wires are the most suspect to breaking or which ones operate the other windows.


this may or may not have any bearing on this but the power doors do not work for any door
this just might need to be lubed or something as they sound like they lock but they don't (sometimes the rear hatch will lock and unlock), even when you hit like 15 mph and the auto lock happens you hear it but nothing actually locks
this don't seem like a wire issue since the noises of the door locks are there, of course who knows which ones i am able to hear maybe its just one or so but they are loud so i can't tell.

also if someone has a picture of the auto delay relay under the dash i would greatly appreciate it, i guess my relay is bad, i have to disconnect the battery or every so often the headlights turn on for about 30 seconds or so then turn off and will repeat this over and over no real set time for them to turn on could be within a minute could take hours. i heard when you can hear it clicking that means its bad and should be replaced or if you don't care for the delay removed. i have the dash apart but i can't tell where its at and for me to be under the dash is a very hard and awkward position for my large butt.

any help would be appreciated.

ryan

This topic shows my door jamb wiring repair.

Pull the boot(s) back and start w/ a visual inspection.

When I did mine, everything remained in-place.

thanks for the reply. i was not able to really pull the boot back that was my problem it just don't go that far back, i was hoping there was some way to remove it completely. but from what i could see none of the wires looked broken, but i could only see like 2 inchs of wires.

If I recall correctly, the boot pulls back from the door side and that boot slips over a lip on the frame side. The boot is slipped off that lip and pushed into the frame.

There is not a lot of room, but enough to inspect / repair all the wires.

well from what i could see from moving the boot my wires look good. not showed that they was broken and all appeared tight when i lightly pulled on them.

but i've seen some other videos which appears there is a known issue with windows lock button on the master switch (a switch i can't seem to find online, autozone has one i think for like 250 bucks) and when i found them they don't look like mine. but if its just that button i don't care if it works or not. what i don't understand from the videos is why this works or bypass's the window lock function. you'd think just unplugging it would do the same thing but maybe someone can explain it.

also in the first video he uses these quick splices which i bought at autozone for like 4 bucks, but then he had to drill a hole in one end to get the wire to go all the way threw, i don't understand this other than there is no other way to get the wire in there, is it possible he didn't need to connect the one wire instead of splicing it then putting it in the quick splice.

my only issue here is if i do what these videos say then if its the master switch after all i've basically crippled it from a new switch, although i guess tech you could just replace each wire back to each other, but i am concerned about splicing them together, electrical in vehicles bothers me as i don't know as much as i need to know, well same for houses.

but these are the cheapest and easiest solution if it works, not sure what the connections are called for the second video but i recall seeing them and i think you just use pliers to crimp them.

here is the link to that video:

here's another one that does the same thing but uses a different connection

and this video he solders the wires

My link shows the window master lock switch disassembled, inspected, cleaned, lubricated and tested.

yes but it looked more complicated that i know what to do with, these are quick and easy the less i have to deal with electrical wires the better i feel, although i still have to look into the over head console for a short too, moving it can kill all the dash gauges.

i'll relook at your link but these looked easier than removing the door panel and everything. with all i got to try to do, quicker and easier is better, the more i can get done the less i have to pay the shop to do, i'd really like them to concentrate on items i don't want to do because either they are a pain or probably will take me too long or don't know how to do.

have to get the windows working, currently using a kia soul to do some extra work on the weekends and they want me to do more but i can't do more with the space in the soul. i just don't have lots of spare money hence the reason for the extra work, at my age i am tired of working long hours, multiple jobs, etc not that i am old, but i have heavy which don't help out.

ryan

alright a small update.

went to try to do that hack in the videos i posted. seems my year of grand cherokee is the odd ball year.

at the foot panel i have no plugs what so ever like in the videos. i looked at plugs that was higher up and i had none that plugged into anything that had a yellow brown and black wire.

i should have figured something was off when i did not have the trim piece like in the video's.

i tried looking at the wires again but i just can't get but to see an inch of them. does appear now i can pull it out from the vehicle frame, it appears its just got a lip and fits in there, but unless i can get the other side off it don't do me any good.

i did take the door panel off, it had been off before which didn't surprise me considering they had replaced the speakers and had wired it up so it was not with the rest of the wires.

although it did look like i could unclip the wires from the door i could not get it unclipped. on the inside of the door i was able to press or push the locking clip i just couldn't get the plug unplugged. if i could have i think the boot would slide right off and expose all the wires.

i did see some wires that looked odd, they was a purple and white one it appears it had been spliced together before.

when putting the door panel back on i firmly pressed the stuff back into the switch, the one felt kinda loose to begin with when taking it apart.

when i put everything back together and gave up for the day i turned on the jeep and low and behold the windows are working from both the master switch and the door switches too.

now if the problem is fixed or not only time will tell cause once in a while they'd work before but i am hopeful.