2001 Sable p/window switch

[DynoDon]

The driver's door power window has been operating off and on for quite some time, so I finally took the panel off, AND took the switch assembly with its' 4 window up and down switches and window lock out of the panel, AND even separated the switch. I'm now looking at the inside of the switchbox, at the circuitboard and long connection tabs.

I read somewhere once that guys clean the corrosion off the switch prongs, but man everything looks shiny. I'll try buffing them with some sandpaper...

What else? Using an ohmmeter is just confusing me because I'm getting 'connection readings' even when I don't push a button.

The pair of male prongs up front nearest the driver's window button don't show anything when I put the ohmmeter to them.

Sometimes when the driver's window isn't working I hear a clicking down at the solenoid when I hit the switch, sometimes not. No real pattern to solenoid clicking and window working/not working that I'm aware of. I replaced driver's window solenoid once and the window worked okay for a few weeks, then back to the same routine of not working/working very good for weeks/months at a time, then back to not working everyday at some point.

Should I spray contact cleaner up inside past the circuitboard? Can I disassemble the switch past the circuitboard easily to inspect things further?

Can I jump across some of the wires I took off the switch and see if bypassing the switch temporarily cures the problem?

SOS

[DynoDon]

Well, yesterday I hooked a couple of wires to the input side of the window motor, and let them hang out the top of the door panel after everything on the door was back in place. Just a few minutes ago the window wasn't functioning, so I put my test meter probes to those wires and NO POWER was going to the window motor when I hit the window down switch and the window wasn't moving.
Meaning the motor isn't the problem.

Since I hear the solenoid clicking when the window isn't working, that would seem to rule out the window switch being the problem wouldn't it?
If the window switch somehow wasn't working now and then, the solenoid wouldn't be clicking if the switch wasn't sending it some juice.

Unless the switch was somehow not allowing enough voltage to the solenoid...

I'm going to hook up a couple wires to be able to bypass the switch. Next time the window doesn't work, I'll connect those wires (or otherwise simulate the switches action) and see if going around the window switch gets the window working right away.

[65comet]

If the other windows work, try swapping the wires from another switch. If the other window that did work doesn't now, and the one that didn't does, then your switches are ok. You probably then have a wire with a break in it or maybe a bad relay. At certain positions and temperates a broken wire makes contact in the break, and at others the wire has a gap and the electricity doesn't flow. Most public libraries have copies of Mitchell's manuals. You can go there and use the copy machine to get a wiring diagram and find out which wires to test for conductivity.

[DynoDon]

I've been doing some testing. When the window doesn't work, there's no power at the motor connection, and also no power at the feed wire exiting the switch for the driver's door. But oddly enough there's negative 12 volts or more when I push the switch to UP, even though there's no attempt of the window to go up. All of this when the window isn't working.
I had a wire in place to bypass the switch. When the window stopped working earlier today, bypassing the switch didn't allow the window to work. The problem isn't the switch then.

I replaced the relay once last year and it worked for a few days, but then it was right back to the same old thing.

Today the window wasn't working and I took the motor connector plug off the window motor. When I put it back on the window was working..!

Hmmm so I've cleaned the connector with a small file and some alcohol. Leaving the connector a bit wet with the alcohol, I reconnected it a few times to try and clean the motor end of the connection.

I have a Haynes manual from the library. I wish it'd show something about taking out the window motor. As it is, you can't see anything in there, so it's tough to know what holds it in, and how complicated it is to remove from the window mechanism AND get back in place correctly..

Of course I could probably get it out, but getting it back in could be a challenge.

Maybe cleaning the motor contacts has done something. So far it's been working all day.

Previously the window stops working even if the drivers's door hasn't been opened. You can be driving down the road and one minute it works, then you try it again 5 minutes later and nothing. Not up, not down.

LIke I said, when the window isn't working there's a clicking sound from the relay. That means the relay is getting juice elminating the switch and wiring to the relay pretty much. Unless there's not enough juice going to the relay for some reason...

[DynoDon]

Well I noticed that wiggling the driver's window solenoid under the dash allows the window to work. So I took out the solenoid and squirted some alcohol into the female side of the solenoid connection, then quickly replaced the solenoid. It's been working great fore 3 days now.

Maybe that's been it all along..