91 Volvo power window switch

Yes, because that's the one you have to open to talk to the police officer. If the window doesn't open, you'd have to get out of the car and the police don't like that.

So, crimp the connector socket contacts slightly with needle-nose pliers, and clean with DeOxit or some other slightly reducing contact cleaner.

You should also be able to buy replacement contacts from the dealer or from a good auto parts store.

--scott

Any idea how those connectors attach? There are four socket contacts burie d in a piece of plastic, and almost no slack in the wiring harness. If I h ave to cut wire to remove I'm pretty much screwed, but if I can crimp socke ts back on to the same wire maybe it can be done. Or are they soldered?

The sockets will pop out of the plastic body if you put a feeler pick into the right place to open the latch on the socket. But I'd first use the pick just to retension them and see if that will work.

--scott

You can buy or make pin removal tools. I usually make my own. Search on Google for "Contact Insertion/Extraction Tools". Often I use the Scott Dorsey feeler pick method.

hough none of the others have to work.

ng, cleaning, and polishing, I got it to work intermittently. Swapping wit h a known good switch I finally found the real problem: the connector does n't stay on the pins tightly. Slight finger pressure will make good contac t and the window works fine, but otherwise not. It's a 1991 Volvo if that makes any difference.

, there are four sockets in the connector and four fat pins on the switch. I'd swap with one of the other three, but the four switch connectors are a ll shaped uniquely and can't be repositioned.

After watching the mechanic struggle to make some lights work, I think I no w know the cause.

The male pins on the switch itself are solidly molded and can't move.

The female pins on the connector block (on the wiring harness) are loose in the plastic.

When the connection is pushed together the female pins slide back in the bl ock.

I'm not sure crimping new pins will help in a worn block.

This is good.

This is good too, they should be able to wiggle back and forth.

They have a little barb on the side of them to prevent them from sliding back and coming out. If that barb is damaged, this can happen, and you can pull the contact out, bend the barb out properly, and slide it back in.

However, this is not something that gets damaged on its own, it's something that gets damaged when people manhandle it. So I would wonder how it got that way if that is really what is happening.

--scott

Ah ha! I've seen that happen. There is a "tab" on the female part that will lock into place in the connector. It could be bent or broken or the connector lockin places is worn out... but those things would only happen after considerable movement. Take the female parts out of the connector, rebend the tab, and slightly crimp the female parts, too. That's what I would do, anyways.