I need some guidance. I have a Honda civic 2001 that the front passenger side power window stopped working. The window was actually almost fully open when it stopped working and I couldn’t get back up. When I switch the power window control on the left door the window does not move at all and there is no clicking noise as to anything trying to happen. All other windows work fine. I had read online that it could a number of things: the fuse, the motor/regulator, etc. So I started by checking the fuses (cheapest and easiest thing to do).
I took out fuse #22 from the internal box and I noticed that it was in fact blown. To test this, I took the fuse from the front driver side window (#23) and put it on the driver side window. When I turned the car on to test it, and turned on the window switch it was a bit hard for it to move at first but I was able to fully close the window and then it stopped working. I turned the car off and took the fuse off and noticed that now that fuse was blown. I went to the autoshop store and picked up a few fuses for a couple of bucks and replaced the one that I had taken from the front driver side (which now works again) and replaced the second one that had blown from #22 (front pasenger side). I turned the car on and the driver side window works as it did before but the front passenger side did not even move this time. Turned the car off took #22 out again and noticed that it was once again blown.
I did some reading online and realized that some people had had this problem and that for them the fuse got blown as soon as they turned the car on, they didnt event have to hit the window switch. So I took out my multimeter and tested for continuity on that breaker. Sure enough when I turn the car on I get a very small, numbers running through the multimeter, mostly I get shown a negative sign. When I did the same on the other working window breakers I get nothing when I turn the car on. So it seems that there may be a short somewhere. So I am stuck as to how to proceed. I figured that maybe there was a wire touching somewhere and I would be able to see that so I took that front passenger side door apart so that I could access the motor/regulator but I can not visually see anything wrong. I have disconnected some of those plugs on the door itself that go to the window switch on the door and continued testing the breaker for continuity but I still get those small/negative signs on the multimeter.
Can someone provide me with some additional troubleshooting? what is the next logical thing to test and how do I do that? Should I test the window motor or regulator? and if so, how do I do that? What is the most likely culprit in these types of situations? could the actual breaker box be the problem? isn’t that unlikely since I would be seeing that problem in other fuses? Do you think one of the wires in the actual door is touching metal? but how would that just start happening now?
I should mention that I have no experience on this at all, it has been alot of youtubing up to get to this point. So please bear with my ignorance when responding. Any help at all would be appreciated!
Hello:
Thank-you for the suggestions. I was thinking that it could be the motor/regulator but before diving in that direction without knowing for sure I figured I would test a couple of other things. I initially disconnected the power window control on the door itself. The power locks and mirrors on that door still worked just fine. Connecting the window fuse for that door still caused it to blow as soon as the car was turned on. To troubleshoot further, I unplugged the cable connections on the door itself to the mirror, locks and the windows. So in essence there was nothing connected from the internal fuse box to the door. I then put in another fuse in the fuse box and turned the car on. The fuse stil blew. To take it one step further, there is a plug just under the glove compartment that disconnects the entire wire bundle before it enters the door. I disconnected that plug, replaced the fuse, turned the car on and yet the fuse still blew out right away. Am I mistaken to think that the problem then resides between the connections under the glove compartment to the internal fuse box since I have essentially taken the entire door out of the equation? how can I troubleshoot this further? and why would it become a problem now?
Again, all other windows work fine. Could it be that the problem resides in fuse box? I was thinking, since the driver side also controls the front passenger side window, could that be a problem as well? is that likely if all the other windows are NOT having problems?
Does the front passenger window work ok if you use the switch the front passenger uses? If so the problem is somewhere between the driver’s door and the passenger’s door, most likely a driver’s door switch. That’s good news b/c the motor and window hardware are probably ok. If that’s not it …
I’d start by removing the affected door panel and seeing if anything’s wrong with the mechanisms that allow the window to move up and down. It’s not uncommon for a fastener to fall off here or there, which then misaligns window tracks. The window has to be able to move up and down freely in its tracks as number one priority, so I’d confirm that before looking for other problems. Next I’d measure the voltage at the motor as the switch is operated. It should be close to battery voltage, positive or negative depending on whether you are trying to make it go up or down. If everything above checks out, then I’d replace the motor. Optionally I might first measure the current (amps) in the motor circuit. A failing motor will often use considerably more or less current than a working one. But that’s not something I’d recommend doing unless you have some electronics experience.
If you measure low voltages at the motor, probably a defective motor, but you may also have a short circuit in the wiring harness. Check the wires carefully in the areas where the wires move from the front doors into the body of car, usually in the door hinge area. That’s where the insulation tends to chafe.