Power Windows

'96 Lumina



Sometime last fall my window was open during a rainstorm which presumably damaged the driver’s side control box as it never worked properly after that day. Now it doesn’t work at all so my windows don’t come down and it’s mid-June.



First, none of the other individual window controls work either. It is not the fuse. Does the driver’s side control box need to work for the other window controls to work?



Is the driver’s side window control box the first thing I should replace? Or do you guys know something I don’t?

…and is there a way to test the box to see if it works with my multimeter?

FIRST, buy a can of “Electrical Contact Cleaner” and spray the switches. If the drivers side has a “Window lock” feature, that would explain why the other switches don’t work…

Does the cig. lighter work? This is just a long shot. We may be dealing with coincidence or a combo motor and switch failure.

The tool that helped me most in my GM power window work (and I have done a heap of it) is a test light that shows both power and ground (what ever is present) You could say GM power windows work on a reversing polarity technique. Both terminals on the motor sit at ground (this is where the test light that shows ground comes in handy) and power is applied to one terminal at the motor to make the window go.

Pop the switch out and check what signals you have just sitting still (you should have two grounds,then move the switch one wire should go postive.

If you do get the door panel off give the mototr a wack and see if it runs temporairly at least

These master switches fail even without water intrusion so I don’t think your problem is water related.

Do the rocker switches “feel” normal Do they make a little click in both directions and have equal resistance to movement.