97 Cabrio power window problem

Check the wiring harness first, as well as the connector being properly plugged into the A-pillar. The motors seldom go bad. They do, just not often.

Mark '95 Jetta GLS

Mark,

Thanks for the tip. I tried wiggling the wires where they plug-in on the 'a-pillar' to no avail. I'm inclined to think it's a dirty relay because when it does start to work again it's usually while raising the windows with the key (while locking the doors). I think that procedure 'kicks' all of the relays in the control unit. Do you know where the control module is located?

Thanks, Marc

IIRC, and if it's the same on the '95's, the switches would be in the door latch and the control electronics (if any) in the motor assembly. It's pretty simple. If it is the latch, I don't remember what's on the fronts. Just had the back one out.

Pull back the rubber boot that covers the wiring harness and check the wires where they bend going through the hinge area. Look for broken, kinked or stretched wires. If you don't see any, feel 'em. You may have one that's stretched and broken internally, but still making an intermittent connection. Especially true if the working seems to after opening and closing the door (like when you'd get out and run 'em up using the key outside).

Mark '95 Jetta GLS

Start with the cheap simple fix first, a window switch. But yes it could be the window motor/module.

In case it is not an electrical problem, but rather is a stuck "regulator", here is what I would try. Turn off the engine, but leave the ignition switch on. Turn on the interior light, or, better yet, hook a voltmeter across the battery. When you tell the window to go, does the voltage drop as indicated by the slight dimming of the light or the dropping of the meter? If so, I suspect a mechanical problem rather than electrical.

I am not saying the problem is not electrical. I am saying it is worth checking the other possibility.