Power window problem (stuck)

[biged77]

The front passenger's side power window on my 2002 Buick Century suddenly stopped working while in the up position (from both the driver's side switch and passenger's side switch). I checked the voltage to the window motor by removing the switch on the passenger's side (12.5 V). The up wire to the motor read 9.5 V when the switch was up. Ditto for the down wire when the switch was down.

Thinking the glass may be stuck I tried to help the glass go down using my hands while holding the switch down. When this didn't work I removed the window motor from the gear assembly. The motor worked fine both up and down but I could not turn the gear manually to lower the window. This pointed to a stuck window problem.

I then sprayed some Rainex at the bottom outside of the window where it enters the felt seal. I was then able to turn the gear manually and lower the window. I cleaned the window thoroughly and applied Rainex to the outside. The top 1/2 inch of the inside glass had residue from a plastic seal which I also removed. I think the combination of this residue and residue in the felt seal at the bottom outside was what was keeping the window from opening.

After reassembling the window components everything worked fine. I applied Rainex to the other 3 windows after cleaning them thoroughly. The Rainex should prevent future window sticking problems.

I am posting this to maybe help someone else with a similar problem. First try to unstick the window before taking it to a mechanic. One thing I didn't try first was to put masking tape on the window glass to put more downward force on it while holding the switch in the down position. Doing this plus the Rainex is worth a try and may save you some money. Windex or even water may also work, I just happened to try Rainex.

In researching the window problem I found that the 2002 Century has a history of window motor failures. I wonder if some of these failures are actually stuck windows but the window motors got replaced anyway?

[Mr Wiggl3s]

Well thanks for the good info, im sure this would help someone, mabey some mod should move it to the Buick section?

[UncleBob]

windows don't stop working because of felt sticking to a window. They usually stop working for four reasons.....window falls out of the track, one of the switches fail (either the master switch, or the window switch, but usually the master switch) or the regulator breaks (cable systems are famous for that one, many times its accompanied by windows falling out of the tracks) or the motor craps the bed.

I have never seen a window stop working because of gunk build up on the felt.

The polarity changes to the motor depending on the direction, the positive voltage is just as important as the negative voltage. In neutral (no buttons pressed) both sides will be grounded. All grounds come from the master switch, hense, the reason they fail first

[curtis73]

I'll copy it there, but it fits here, too.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by curtis73

I'll copy it there, but it fits here, too.

Thanks Curtis. I moved the thread to the Century Forum from Buick Non-Specific. Maybe someone will benefit from the specific fix.