Delta88Royale

I've been looking around the sites and I'm waiting on my tech books be delivered. But, in curious if there is a way to get my '71's window up even thought it doesn't appear to be getting any power to the switch?

I have ordered another breaker and applied direct power to the motor and got nothing. I just want to close the window before the rain

MDchanic

Answered here.

- Eric

joe_padavano

Assuming the window motor is still good, the easiest way to raise the window is to pull the inner door panel off and connect power directly to the window motor terminals. The terminals get + and - 12V, the power is just reversed to change direction. If the window doesn't go up with the wires connected, swap them. Just watch your fingers as the mechanism starts moving.

J-(Chicago)

A cordless drill battery works best for a portable lightweight 12 v source.

joe_padavano

Assuming you have a 12V cordless drill...

(Mine are 18.8V)

oldcutlass

Just on the off chance it's the motor, you can just disconnect the linkage and wedge a well placed 2x4 in there and prop it up.

MDchanic

Even so, you should have no problem using the 18.8v briefly in the window motors, which are designed to take 15v with no problem, especially considering that the current draw from the motor will probably pull the voltage down a bit.

- Eric

Delta88Royale

Yeah I have 3 drills and batteries

MDchanic

Oh, by the way, Joe and I told you two different things about the window motors.

Joe said to make one wire Positive and one wire Negative, while I said to put +12V on one or the other, and that the circuit would be completed through ground.

Joe has a tendency to be right, and I will admit that I have never done this myself, as in every GM car with power windows that I have had, the widows worked perfectly, but if you read the FBM, it does say what I said (which surprised me when I read it, as I had expected it to be as Joe said).

Personally, I think that when you get power to the right feed wire, they'll all work fine.

- Eric

Delta88Royale

I've never tried to do either way, but I will see what I can so when I get my FBM. Kinda wish there was a video for the battery/drill idea

MDchanic

Just use your voltmeter to determine + and -, then clip or wedge your leads to the battery, then touch them to the terminals.

- Eric

Delta88Royale

Step 2, buy voltmeter haha

joe_padavano

Could you mention that to my ex-wives...

Seriously, the GM power window motors have two wires, one +12v, one negative. The motor direction is reversed by swapping these wires, which is what the PW switch does. The motor case is not ground.

MDchanic

Thanks, Joe. As I mentioned, this is the system I have seen before elsewhere, and I was surprised to read the FBM seeming to say otherwise.

Just so you know (in case you need to correct anyone in the future who has gotten misinformation from the manual), the 1973 FBM, page 10-8, says:

"Checking Window Motor

1. [check for mechanical binding]
2. Check attachment of window motor to insure an effective ground.
3. Connect one end of a No. 12 gauge jumper wire to the power source and the other end to one of the terminals on the window motor.
4. Check the other motor terminal in the same manner. If the motor fails to operate with a jumper wire, the motor is defective..."

- Eric

joe_padavano

Eric,

Interesting. Apparently GM changed the motor wiring design somewhere in the 1970s. All the 1980s CSMs show the wiring as I described (power and ground are reversed at the switch to reverse the motor). Sorry for the mis-information.

MDchanic

Hey, like I said, I've never had to troubleshoot an older GM power window system, because the darned things have always worked perfectly, and the other cars that I have had to troubleshoot were all as you described, so I can't speak from experience here.

I assumed that you were right anyway, but if you agree with me on what the manual says (I freely admit to being capable of misreading it), then it looks like, as you say, they changed it.

I've got a power window system for my '73 in a box out in the barn, so at some point I guess I'll have to go out there and test it out for myself.

Just a good thing for everyone out there in TV Land to remember: Always check the manual.

- Eric

Delta88Royale

Tried doing things myself with all the help from everyone here and the books I also picked up, yet I was still unable to get the power windows and top working so I have dropped my 88 to a classic car mechanic, hopefully it will be fixed by the weekend to get the top dropped here soon

oldsguybry

I'm glad I read this thread . My window has been part way down in my Buick and will not go back up . The motor is still good and I'm pretty sure it's the switch on that door . I will try some of these methods mentioned here . Thanks

Delta88Royale

That's what these forums are for, helping each other out. Hopefully you have better luck then I did.