Power window switches keep failing, why?

[destrux]

I keep having to pull the power window switches apart to clean the black oxidation off the contacts. It keeps coming back though every few months (and the windows quit working then). I tried silicone grease and it didn't seem to help, and I tried white lithium and no help there either. I have some silver contact paste I plan to try, but I didn't get to pull them apart again.

Is there some other problem I should be looking for that would cause this?

I know new switches would probably fix it for a longer amount of time, but I don't want to spend $320 on new ones and then have those fail after a year or something too if I have another problem I should be finding/fixing first.

I've cleaned switches on other cars and have had them last for years (VW/Audi's and old Fords are known for this and I've repaired dozens of those and never had one come back), I just don't understand why it's not working with this car.

 

[Maple191]

your supposed to put a Di-electric grease. Its non conductive, it stays inplace it helps prevent return of corrosion and it keeps water out.

 

[RazoE]

Do you have a leaky targa? Water might be getting in as well..

 

[Another MkIII]

your supposed to put a Di-electric grease. Its non conductive, it stays inplace it helps prevent return of corrosion and it keeps water out.

Which is a form of silicone grease.
-AM3

 

[bioskyline]

maybe the connector is problem? if the window was down in the rain might have burnt the connection in the plug itself? id try a pick and scrape inside the connector and see what comes out.

 

[te72]

I would be looking at the wiring, from what I understand, if you have a short anywhere in the line, it will cause havoc throughout the circuit.

Then again, I probably know more about polar bears than I do about wiring troubleshooting, so... take that last bit of advice with a grain of salt.

 

[Poodles]

High load from slow windows...

 

[destrux]

I'll have to get the amp probe on them and see what amperage they're drawing. They don't move very slow, but I don't really know how fast they moved when they were new. I have the usual rattling/loose windows, but I did grease the tracks and rollers really well when I put the motors in 2 years ago.

No corrosion in the wiring/plugs that I've seen yet, but I haven't followed it past the door jamb into the car. I do still have the water barriers in the doors, and my car is a hardtop (so all the leaks were in the hatch area).

I found a technical paper on contact fretting (the proper term for this, I think) and I'm wondering if it keeps happening because the plating is worn off the brass (copper?) contacts. I don't know if they were ever plated though. Some metals fret faster than others and, according to the paper, silver and gold plated contacts last forever compared to bare copper or brass. Maybe some silver solder on them will help.

 

[Poodles]

Yep, depends how you're cleaning them as well...

 

[tyang82]

I wanna know how the solder goes. Mine its the same, tired of cleaning it.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Having had similar issues, I forsee some plumbing flux, solder and a torch in my window switches' futures.

 

[destrux]

I've been using a points file to clean the whole top of the contact to a clean, shiny, slightly domed (like stock) surface.

I was just reading that the 89+ window switches are different. Is that just a cosmetic change, or did they redesign the internals to be more reliable?

 

[Poodles]

Cosmetic change.

Also, you shouldn't use a file to clean contacts. It will remove the coating on them and leave the surface rough causing more damage.

Know what works best? A pencil eraser.

 

[destrux]

Tried the pencil eraser thing, much smoother, thanks. I used 150wt PAG oil to lube the contacts this time. Another research paper I found said that silicone oils are bad for contacts and cause a non-conductive crystalline structure to form (which may be what the black stuff was I had to scrape off) and that full synthetic oil was best, and PAG 150 was the heaviest weight full synthetic oil I had here. I was careful to use contact cleaner to get rid of all the remaining silicone lube that I could see, because it's known to creep back where it shouldn't be if any is left at all.

So they work again, we'll see how long they last this time.

 

[te72]

Interesting symptom I noticed the other day, my passenger window sometimes comes up about 2-3", then stops. Window switch issue, or do I just need to pull the panel off and look for another culprit?

 

[destrux]

That seems like its probably a worn regulator. You can buy the pieces to fix them separately from the dealer.

Sent from my Huawei-U8652 using Tapatalk

 

[3p141592654]

The original plating is probably gone, resulting in corrosion. If you have access to a plating facility, a nickel/hard-gold plate would solve your problem.

 

[te72]

Appreciate it guys. 3p, we are dry as a bone in this area, so I would be surprised if anything in my car was corroded. I'll remove the panel and see if I notice anything that isn't as it should be.

It does go up eventually, have just had to lower it back down and start again. Struck me as odd, that's all.

 

[3p141592654]

My comment was more targeted to Destrux. For you, I would pull out the regulator and check for damaged teeth and dried out 20+ year old lube.

 

[Poodles]

Would electroless nickel plating work? Not hard to get the stuff to do that...