Driver Power Window Stuck Down

Hey all, looking for some advice or knowledge on an issue. I have a 02 Tacoma Prerunner double cab. My driver power window rolls down fine, but it only rolls up in very small increments, and I have to wait about 5 minutes between each increment. So basically if I roll my window down halfway, it takes 2 days to roll back up. I am guessing since the window rolls down fine, that the problem is not the window motor. I am no electrician by any means, but if it's a fairly easy fix, I may be able to do it. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

A guy at my work has the exact same issue...... 01-04 Double cab, driver's side window rolls down, but up only in small increments. He hasn't taken it apart to look around yet. Since you are fighting gravity when trying to put the window up, it seems like it could be the motor or something binding/slipping. If you want to eliminate the up switch, you could figure out what contacts are being closed on the switch when pressed and then try jumpering (shorting) those contacts out. If the window goes up fine, then the problem is likely the switch. If no change then you have eliminated the switch as the problem.

It isn't too hard to get the door panel off so you can eyeball the problem in action and look for binding/slipping.

Matt

 

Maybe related, probably not. But it's not uncommon for the brushes in some motors to start wearing and sometimes not making contact. Quick 'test', hold the button and slam the door. If the window works better it's probably an issue.

 

In the past two weeks my driver's window got stuck in the down position twice. In these two instances the window rolled down just fine, but when I pulled up on the switch to close the window nothing happened. After a few seconds of messing with the switch the window came up an inch or two and stopped. I then grabbed the glass with my hands and gave it a tug upward and the glass moved up another 0.5-1.0 inch or so (I felt a bit of vertical play/slop in the glass). After this upward tug, the window fully closed by normal use of the switch and then it continued to operate normally - both up and down - for about a week until it got stuck in the down position again.

While trouble shooting during these two episodes I noticed that if I pushed the glass down after initially giving it the upward tug mentioned above, the widow motor began to "labor" and sounded like it was struggling - almost like something was binding. Another quick tug upward shifted the glass and the window closed normally and without any "laboring" sounds from the motor. So, as long I keep the glass in the upper portion of it's vertical slop/play it sounds and operates okay.

Do my symptoms point to stripped gears (I think I remember reading about plastic gears in the motor) or a bad regulator? Or is my glass coming out of track?

I've never fixed an auto window so I'm flying blind here. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

having the same driver-side window issue as above.several suggestions above are a good place to start,but i have come to this conclusion: it is not a contact problem, in the switch or anywhere else. it is a thermal overload problem. the hotter the ambient temperature, the more acute the problem. the cooler the day, the less the problem. below mid 60s, no problem at all. the symptoms are very consistent. it`s worth noting here that thermal protectors in general don`t necessarily fail totally, but sometimes become increasingly hypersensative , as do 120v g.f.i.s. but whereas i`m 99 % sure an overload is switching off( then quickly cooling down) this doesn`t necessasarily mean the overload is overly sensitive . there may be a real restriction in the "up" direction. since there is no manual crank, there is no easy, quick way to determine this. however, even if i find the problem is mechanical restriction, over tlme this problem has slowly extended into cooler and cooler days. i think the device is steadily deteriorating. many such devices use a coiled strip, one metal on one side, a different metal ( with different expansion & contraction rates) on other side, causing the coil to wind or unwind with changing temperatures, and actuate a switch. much like household thermostats. as the metals corrode in time the coil behaves differently. so... before i go into the door, does anybody know just where in the motor the thermal overload is located? is it accessable ?

 

7 year old thread!

If these window motors have overloads I have never seen them even taking motors apart.

Some people never lubricate any of the window linkage

Window motors get old and tired have you checked the voltage under load ??

 

The motors don’t, but upstream is sometimes a TOL device. I imagine if you have a binding, it would activate early. Similar to the auto up/down circuit where it has a Hall effect sensor to monitor motor current and cut off when it senses enough current to assume it’s at the end stop.

 

It would have to be in the Master Switch yet it is not shown on the EWD`s on all that I have looked at.

 

the fellow who posted up has an 03 in his info, not sure if that’s any different. But yes I agree the only window on 2nd gen that have an overload is the driver switch and that only comes into play during the auto up/down function.

 

I have an 01 prerunner did this same thing. Finally got around to taking the door panel off and all the moving points were all sticky and gummed up. I cleaned everything up good and greased all the points and have not had it happen again.

 

Yes it's an old post but will be relevant for many years the way these trucks last!
Yes, absolutely there is a thermal overload inside the motor on my 01 OEM actuator. I had the exact same symptoms and would have saved about 4hrs of trouble shooting if I found this post before I determined it was my problem. Bypassed it. BUT it's there to protect the motor from burning up if the window controller fails to shutdown at the end of travel. If smart one should install a 10amp circuit breaker when bypassing the Thermal.

 

Maybe explain just how you bypassed your thermal overload for those like me that are completely clueless about DC motors . Do you need to take the motor apart? just what wires need jumped?

Can the overload be replaced ? Does the whole motor need replaced?

Do you have the circuit diagrams ??

Any help would be great . Thanks for sharing

 

I was cruising the technical forum and I came upon this thread and I was wondering if you ever received any info or a fix for this problem other than replace assembly. I have not pulled the door apart to tackle yet.

My passenger window started doing this 2 weeks ago. Now does it consistently. Thanks