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85 245 GL Passed E-test !! (but window switch problems)

I'm in Ottawa Ontario Canada and we are required to take our vehicles in for emissions testing once every two years.

Incredibly, old Olaf (a 1985 245 GL) passed the test. Not a conditional pass. A real "pass" pass.

Since the vehicle will be 20 years old next year, this was the last E-test that Olaf will ever have to do for the rest of it's life , which should be another 10-15 years or more, easily.

On the way home, my dog who was in the back with her head hanging out the window, was barking up a storm at a couple of Golden Retrievers who were out for a walk with their humans, so I started to close the rear window a bit so as to give the dogwalkers some sort of comfort in knowing that the "ferocious beast" in the back wouldn't jump out the window and maul them to death. (The truth is she's all bark, no bite. A 65 lb Heinz 57 Shepherd/hound mix. She might lick them to death but that's about it.)

The window stopped responding about half way up. Trying the other window switches, I found that none of the switches were working.

"No problem" I thought to myself smugly. "Just a fuse" I thought to myself smugly.

I get home, check the fuse and... the fuse is good.

"Hmmm" I think to myself. "Maybe the contacts are a bit corroded ?"

Unfortunately, they're clean but I sand them anyway, install a new fuse ... and still nothing.

"Oh oh!" I think to myself as I look at the darkening sky and hear a weather report of rain for the next few days until Monday at least.

Any clues or tips on what the problem might be would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, how hard would it be to convert the power windows to manually-cranked windows ? (He thinks, only half in jest.)

Just think, no more scraping of the terminal posts and reassembling those fiddly little wing and ball-bearing things. Ever.

Reply to
garazgos
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Reply to
torpainter

My friends 1984 Monte Carlo doesn't have to go for any more tests... Thats what the emissions place told him.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Torpainter:

From the Drive Clean website:

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"Drive clean regulations require testing every two years for vehicles beginning in the third calendar year after their model year, up to and including the 19th calendar year after their model year."

Now that we've cleared that up, any suggestions on how to fix the window switch thing ?

Reply to
Eunoia Eigensinn

In article , garazgos wrote: [ ... ]

[ ... ]

Have you verified that the fuse is getting power?

If it is, then the wire running to the drivers' door switch cluster would be the next suspect, followed by the switch assembly.

You can pull the door panel and use a battery charger directly to the motor terminals (unplug from the rest of the system first) to get the windows up.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Heston

I had this happen to me. The wiring between the chassis and the door - - where the wiring flexes each time the door is opened/closed - - had broken. I soldered and taped the wires, and voila!

cds

Reply to
Calvin D. Smith

That battery charger idea is a great one in a pinch.

Do you have overdrive and, if so, does it work? It shares the fuse with the windows.

From my experience I can suggest two things:

  1. Fuses that look good are often still bad or corroded on the ends. Take the fuse out and sand the ends a bit and then replace.

  1. Another place to check is under the center dash console (the part with the environmental controls). For a long time my windows were intermittent (with the OD) and the only way to get them working again was to push hard on the plastic just above the 3 buttons (floor, defrost, recirc). Sometimes a push would do, sometimes push and hold. It wasn't until I took that centre piece off much later that I found that several wires all ground to a screw under the top right corner of this console cover. The screw was loose. Since I tightened it I have had no more intermittent windows AND they are moving about 50% faster! You may be able to remove the two screws and two clips and just pry the plastic back far enough to see the screw and tighten it.

And you're right about the e-test... my 83 240 Turbo is free and clear! If you get someone to bore-out your catalytic converter you'll get a nice power boost too. Not that I would ever do that. ;-)

Good luck, blurp

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 04:19:55 -0000, the illustrious snipped-for-privacy@hiwaay.net (Gary Heston) favored us with the following prose:

Reply to
blurp

In addition to the other suggestions...

There are 2 fuses for power windows - one for the relay, one for the motors.

The relay is mounted just to the left of the glovebox (remove 7 screws and glovebox). Also there is a matching pair for the power locks, and a bigger one for the overdrive.

Reply to
Mike F

Thanks Gary. It's night time here now but I will try your suggestions in the daytime. Sometime. Soon.

Last week, in the absence of responses here on this group, and not having a clue (ie clue-less) I made an appointment at a reliable Volvo service garage in town, 30 kms away. They were booked solid but said they'd have a quick look if I didn't mind waiting until one of the mechanics was finishing up a job and not yet starting the next one.

Halfway there, I tried the window switch just for the heck of it (although it wasn't working when I started the car) and the dang thing did its job.

So I'm at the service garage asking the fellows to fix a problem that they couldn't diagnose because the switches were working, something they were reluctant to do because they didn't want to sell me replacement parts I didn't need. They did try to get the switches to crap out but no luck.

It worked fine for a few more days until tonite. Crapped out again. Again while my dog was in the back, hanging her head out to bark at other dogs in passing.

I noticed in another response where a poster mentioned that the motors (?) shared something with the overdrive switch and it occurred to me [light bulb flashing on in head] that I did use the overdrive today.

I'll have to check that one out too. (And thanks for that suggestion, Other Poster).

Reply to
garazgos

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