Electric window motor
Discussion
Imagine my dismay - left car in garage for a week after perfectly dry and incident free trip abroad and found nearside window winder refused to budge. It was stuck in the "up" position, which at least was a little bonus I guess.
Naturally I consulted as many threads on PH and the TVRCC as I could and tried all the usual fixes which include but are not limited to the following:
1. Give the door a sharp thump. Nothing....
2. Give the glass a helping hand (push down while operating the switch). Nothing...
3. Take out speaker and really clean the black plug which provides power to the motor. In my case the terminals were a little corroded and really came up well with a nail file and some WD40. Still nothing...
4. Using a multimeter check correct operation of switch. Results OK. Nothing...
5. Using multimeter check power reaching black plug which fits on to motor. Results OK. Nothing...
Nothing worked so I decided to remove the door card (see separate topic) and, if necessary, strip the motor and its gearbox. However, I realise I am often too quick to take the complex route. I once nearly did a full top end stripdown on a Transit van because the AA man told me I had burned out a valve out - and the socket spanners were actually in my hand before I had the wit to do a compression test which came up 100% on all four cylinders - the problem was a worn out injector. I therefore concluded I'd give the motor one final chance to work.
Easiest way to do this was to remove the black plug and substitite with two fly leads fitted with spade terminals. These are pink and red in the pic:
I used a set of jump leads to connect the battery from another car to these fly leads as I couldnt be arsed to delve around the footwell to access the TVR battery.
Guess what? The motor roared into life and the window zoomed up and down like new. This meant that somewhere between the fuse and the motor something was introducing resistance into the circuit to the degree that there was not enough current reaching the motor. To cut a long story short the weak link in the entire system was the little 8 ins section of cable which carries power to the black terminal, see below:
On inspection I found the corrosion to be in the internal bullet connections built into the white connecter at the loom end of the motor cable. The trouble with bullet connectors is that internal corrosion gradually forces the connecting surfaces apart and introduces resistance to the circuit - anybody who has worked on British cars of the 60's will know whatI mean!!
A good clean up later and the problem has been solved to the degree that I may even enter the window movement Grand Prix which Gaffer and others have mooted!!
The key learning point here is that BOTH the white and black connectors are easily checked & cleaned by simply removing the door speaker. I recommend anyone suffering slow window movement or a "failed" motor to first check the motor with a good battery then work back along the wiring before you attempt to remove the door card or remove the winding mechanism and its motor.
Hope this helps.
Postscript - only a decent battery will give enough power to work the motor. My 4 Amp battery charger had no effect (tried this first).
Naturally I consulted as many threads on PH and the TVRCC as I could and tried all the usual fixes which include but are not limited to the following:
1. Give the door a sharp thump. Nothing....
2. Give the glass a helping hand (push down while operating the switch). Nothing...
3. Take out speaker and really clean the black plug which provides power to the motor. In my case the terminals were a little corroded and really came up well with a nail file and some WD40. Still nothing...
4. Using a multimeter check correct operation of switch. Results OK. Nothing...
5. Using multimeter check power reaching black plug which fits on to motor. Results OK. Nothing...
Nothing worked so I decided to remove the door card (see separate topic) and, if necessary, strip the motor and its gearbox. However, I realise I am often too quick to take the complex route. I once nearly did a full top end stripdown on a Transit van because the AA man told me I had burned out a valve out - and the socket spanners were actually in my hand before I had the wit to do a compression test which came up 100% on all four cylinders - the problem was a worn out injector. I therefore concluded I'd give the motor one final chance to work.
Easiest way to do this was to remove the black plug and substitite with two fly leads fitted with spade terminals. These are pink and red in the pic:
I used a set of jump leads to connect the battery from another car to these fly leads as I couldnt be arsed to delve around the footwell to access the TVR battery.
Guess what? The motor roared into life and the window zoomed up and down like new. This meant that somewhere between the fuse and the motor something was introducing resistance into the circuit to the degree that there was not enough current reaching the motor. To cut a long story short the weak link in the entire system was the little 8 ins section of cable which carries power to the black terminal, see below:
On inspection I found the corrosion to be in the internal bullet connections built into the white connecter at the loom end of the motor cable. The trouble with bullet connectors is that internal corrosion gradually forces the connecting surfaces apart and introduces resistance to the circuit - anybody who has worked on British cars of the 60's will know whatI mean!!
A good clean up later and the problem has been solved to the degree that I may even enter the window movement Grand Prix which Gaffer and others have mooted!!
The key learning point here is that BOTH the white and black connectors are easily checked & cleaned by simply removing the door speaker. I recommend anyone suffering slow window movement or a "failed" motor to first check the motor with a good battery then work back along the wiring before you attempt to remove the door card or remove the winding mechanism and its motor.
Hope this helps.
Postscript - only a decent battery will give enough power to work the motor. My 4 Amp battery charger had no effect (tried this first).
Edited by fenderbender on Thursday 31st August 17:43
. i have a snail-paced
driver side window. I will try your suggestions this weekend.
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff