2000 chevy malibu. while driving down the road with my windows down it started to rain, so i tried putting them up and not a one would move. Needless to say i had to drive in the pouring rain. I mad it to a friend two days later, who jumped my windows from a battery and rolled them up. Aswell as replace the circuit breaker, and do a voltage meter test. After coming to a stand still i made an appointment with a mechanic who has had the car for almost a week. I got a call tonight saying that he could not figure out what was causing all four not to work. I then triend looking up any info online and after six hours of looking at every possible site without a single answer, i thought i might try this last one befor giving up for the day
You came to Car Talk as a last resort?! Wow!
Unfortunately, this kind of problem isn’t one that can be fixed by symptoms, alone. So, we (I) don’t have THE answer.
The first mechanic wasn’t able to fix it. A mechanic who can do electrical troubleshooting is who you want. The solution lies in using the wiring diagrams, an electrical test meter (“voltmeter”), and being a capable mechanic.
ADDED at a later time:
When you find a repairer who can, and will, use the wiring diagram and a multimeter on this problem. Here is the wiring diagram (Diagram 13) at Auto Zone.com. Go to www.autozone.com and register. Come back here and click on this link to the wiring diagram (number 13) for the power windows. > http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?chapterTitle=Wiring+Diagrams&partName=Chassis+Electrical&pageId=0900c15280269171&partId=0900c15280269096
I would suspect two areas could be causing the trouble. First choice is the lock out switch of course. I would assume the tech has checked that out already. I think the switch may control the ground return for the window motor circuit but I can’t say that for certain. Just a guess. The other suspect is the power lead to the window switches. There may be a break in the wiring harness located in the door jam.
thanks to everyone for their insight. I found someone else to take a look and after 5 hours of running down every wire and circuit we found a wire that was grounding in the driverside back door. So we put all the switches back on and now they are working great, THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE