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window only works sometimes?

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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 11:21 AM
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Default window only works sometimes?

The other day I tried to roll down the right rear window on my '92 SSE */c and nothing happened. Neither the switch on the driver'* door nor the switch on the right rear door was working. The window was already all the way up but wouldn't come down.

I turned off the ignition, opened and closed the right rear door, and then turned on the ignition again and tried both window switches again...nothing. I even hit the inside door panel a few times with the palm of my hand and tried the switches again...nothing.

So I thought the problem was permanent. Right? Wrong.
The next day I tried the window again, and amazingly it worked just fine.
This happened again one time since then - didn't work one day, but worked the next day.

Has anyone else seen this happen?
It can't be a problem with a switch because when the window isn't working neither switch works. I rarely use the rear windows, so I'd be surprised if a motor was on it'* way out.
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 01:50 PM
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Mine did that too. Give it enough time, they'll quit completely. I haven't fixed mine yet.
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Old Jun 18, 2004 | 09:27 PM
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I have one that does that. The key is to have the car on, hold the window switch down, and at the same time, hit the panel below the armrest.
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Old Jun 18, 2004 | 11:31 PM
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Hrm.... sounds like my drivers window.
Sometimes it just doesn't respond.... at all.
But if you wait a while it will work perfect.

Is it typically the motor that wears out, or the switch?
When the motor died in my 91, it would groan & moan, you knew it was dying. My 97 just doesn't repsond... which makes me think it might just be the switch.
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Old Jun 19, 2004 | 12:17 AM
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right rear in my 95 se is doin the same, hit the down switch, moves maybe 1/2" down and freezes..... hit the switch up and it goes up a tiny bit..... input?
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Old Jun 19, 2004 | 07:17 PM
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i had the same problem you're all describing (except matt), put in a new motor, and voila! no more problem. electric motors can get "dead spots" in them where they won't start if the motor stops in the dead spot. solution? never stop the motor in the dead spot--all the way rolled up. hmm....maybe that'* not a good idea....

matt, it sounds like you've got the problem panda described--the window track has gotten stiff and the motor takes too much power to move it, so the breaker shuts it off, thinking that the window is already all the way down or up. that happened to my first power antenna.
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