Diagnosing inoperative power window

The right front window on my 1998 Stratus no longer works.

Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if it still works?

Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor?

Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe way to free it.

If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail first, as it gets the most use.

Thanks,

Kirk Matheson

Reply to
kmath50
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Yes - demate the connector at the motor itself. Two contacts on the motor's connector. Apply ground and +12V. One polarity moves window up; reverse the wires, and it moves down.

Depends on how much the particular motor requires to start moving ("stiction") and what the current limit on the charger is by comparison. I was troubleshooting a similar problem on an LH car - had a spare motor that I installed. The particular charger I tried to use was limited to 10 amps. The motor would not start moving on that. I jumpered +12V from the car's battery power system, and it worked fine. Left that motor in and it has worked fine for over a year. So - best to jumper from the vehicle's power system fused circuit (in case you accidentally short the wires).

LH cars have the problem of sticking windows (in the up position). Problem is usually fixed by replacing the motor. It is probably safe to assume that the Stratus window motor is either identical to or a slightly scaled down version of the LH motor (i.e., with same design and weaknesses). I disassembled the bad motor from my LH car. Here's what I observed: There is a barrier between the motor section and the gear section (the shaft passes thru a hole in the barrier). The motor brushes are immediately adjacent to the barrier. Grease in the gear section had worked its way thru the shaft pass-thru hole in the barrier and grossly contaminated the brushes/commutator. My hypothesis is that the stuck window/weak motor/failed motor problems are related to the grease-in-the-brushes thing.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Kirk, try this, turn the key to the run position but don't start the vehicle, while trying to close the window pay close attention to the dome lite to see if it dims slightly. If it does, start the engine up and at the same time you are holding the switch in the down position slam the door hard to see if it frees itself.(you may have to do this several times) If the dome lite does not dim this wont work. You will need to pull the door panel off and see if you have 12 volts at the motor when the switch is pressed.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reply to
maxpower

Hey! That's a neat trick. The left side rear seat window on my 99 Intrepid never "worked". Didn't worry about. Just tried your trick. After the third "slam", I "hit" the glass with the heel of my hand and the window lowered. Thanks, Glenn!

Larry

: > Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if it : > still works? : >

: > Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or : > would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor? : >

: > Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe : > way to free it. : >

: > If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail : > first, as it gets the most use. : >

: > Thanks, : >

: > Kirk Matheson : >

: Kirk, try this, turn the key to the run position but don't start the : vehicle, while trying to close the window pay close attention to the dome : lite to see if it dims slightly. If it does, start the engine up and at the : same time you are holding the switch in the down position slam the door hard : to see if it frees itself.(you may have to do this several times) If the : dome lite does not dim this wont work. You will need to pull the door panel : off and see if you have 12 volts at the motor when the switch is pressed. : : Glenn Beasley : Chrysler Tech : :

Reply to
Larry

Not really a trick, A piss poor design weather strip/window motor brush assemblies. The most common problem is the glass sticks in the weather strip and holds the window from coming down, Periodically clean the build up on the glass and weather strip to prevent this from happening. glad to see it freed up

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

Reply to
philthy

I'll give it a try. Looks like it worked for another person.

-Kirk

Reply to
kmath50

Partly true but you still need a ground. Normally when a switch goes out the ground is lost. So you will still have 12volts on both up and down circuits

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

The dome light does not dim when attempting to lower the window. Does that mean a bad motor, or a faulty connection?

Guess it's time to see if I have power at the motor connections.

Thanks,

Kirk M.

Reply to
kmath50

I'm the one that tried Glenn's "trick" on my Intrepid. I didn't see my overhead/reading/dome light dim on a working window, either. So, I went for sound. When trying to raise an already closed window, I could hear a "click" sound in the door I was trying. There was a "click" sound from the door with the window that didn't work, so I figured it was stuck, which it was. See if you can hear something, trying all windows, too.

Larry

: >

: >

: > > if you have a test lite unplug the motor connector and stick each end of : > > the lite on each wire of the harness side of the motor connector and then : > > run the switch up and down : > > if the lite lites up on both throws of the switch then the rest of the : > > circuit is good and there is a good chance the motor is bad : >

: > > snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: : >

: > > > The right front window on my 1998 Stratus no longer works. : >

: > > > Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if it : > > > still works? : >

: > > > Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or : > > > would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor? : >

: > > > Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe : > > > way to free it. : >

: > > > If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail : > > > first, as it gets the most use. : >

: > > > Thanks, : >

: > > > Kirk Matheson : >

: > Partly true but you still need a ground. Normally when a switch goes out the : > ground is lost. So you will still have 12volts on both up and down circuits : >

: > Glenn- Hide quoted text - : >

: > - Show quoted text - : : The dome light does not dim when attempting to lower the window. Does : that mean a bad motor, or a faulty connection? : : Guess it's time to see if I have power at the motor connections. : : Thanks, : : Kirk M. :

Reply to
Larry

I believe he's talking about using the test light to replace the motor in the circuit. In this case, if the light illuminates with the switch in both the up and down position, you have verified a functioning circuit.

Reply to
bllsht

You have to look really close to the dome lite, it doesn't really mater. try to slam it at the same time holding down the switch with the key on. If it doesn't free up then yes you will have to remove the door panel to check for

12volts and ground. Normally the regulator assembly is at fault.

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

That works *IF* the problem is not a relatively high resistance contact in the connectors or switches - IOW a slightly high resistance in the circuit may light the test light yet provide diminished power to the motor to the point that the motor can't overcome the stiction that an otherwise good circuit and motor could overcome and operate normally.

But probably a weak motor (due to the conatminated brush scenario I described would be more likely).

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Reply to
philthy

Reply to
philthy

I submit that the load presented by the test lite is small enough that you may not notice the decreased brightness by a slight resistance in the system, yet, by ohm's law, that same slight resistance in that system may cause a significant voltage drop when the much larger load of the motor is put on it - i.e,. brightness loss of the test lite will be unniticeable, but the motor torque loss will be enough to prevent it from overcoming normal stiction (again - due to the much higher load represented by the motor vs. the test lite).

Reply to
Bill Putney

I was referring to the dome lite in the vehicle, The LH has had problems for many years with the weather strips causing the glass to stick and not allowing the window to lower. There has been a TSB out to install new updated weather strips to prevent this from happening or some year vehicles OR simply keep the glass top edge cleaned. Normally if the dome lite dims when the window is trying to open it normally means the glass is stuck at the top and slamming the door as the switch is in the open position will cause the glass to lower. Then clean the top of the door glass.

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

Makes sense. I have read on the 300M forums of that problem being resolved by replacing the widow motor where cleaning the molding and glass did not solve it. So on a given car, it could be a combination of sticking molding with a weak motor or just one or the other.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Hi...

Add to that the fact that for those of us who live in the terrible terrible cold winters (Winnipeg in my case) that little door slamming while holding the button trick releases them when they're frozen shut :)

Take care.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Weitzel

In my opinion the window motors have been built very cheap since 1996. I have replaced some weather strips that did not fix the problem and then had to go back and replace the regulator assemblies.

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

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