Diagnosing inoperative power window

The right front window on my 1998 Stratus no longer works.

Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if it
still works?

Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or
would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor?

Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe
way to free it.

If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail
first, as it gets the most use.

Thanks,

Kirk Matheson

 

Yes - demate the connector at the motor itself. Two contacts on the
motor's connector. Apply ground and +12V. One polarity moves window
up; reverse the wires, and it moves down.

Depends on how much the particular motor requires to start moving
("stiction") and what the current limit on the charger is by comparison.
I was troubleshooting a similar problem on an LH car - had a spare
motor that I installed. The particular charger I tried to use was
limited to 10 amps. The motor would not start moving on that. I
jumpered +12V from the car's battery power system, and it worked fine.
Left that motor in and it has worked fine for over a year. So - best to
jumper from the vehicle's power system fused circuit (in case you
accidentally short the wires).

LH cars have the problem of sticking windows (in the up position).
Problem is usually fixed by replacing the motor. It is probably safe to
assume that the Stratus window motor is either identical to or a
slightly scaled down version of the LH motor (i.e., with same design and
weaknesses). I disassembled the bad motor from my LH car. Here's what
I observed:
There is a barrier between the motor section and the gear section (the
shaft passes thru a hole in the barrier). The motor brushes are
immediately adjacent to the barrier. Grease in the gear section had
worked its way thru the shaft pass-thru hole in the barrier and grossly
contaminated the brushes/commutator. My hypothesis is that the stuck
window/weak motor/failed motor problems are related to the
grease-in-the-brushes thing.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Kirk, try this, turn the key to the run position but don't start the
vehicle, while trying to close the window pay close attention to the dome
lite to see if it dims slightly. If it does, start the engine up and at the
same time you are holding the switch in the down position slam the door hard
to see if it frees itself.(you may have to do this several times) If the
dome lite does not dim this wont work. You will need to pull the door panel
off and see if you have 12 volts at the motor when the switch is pressed.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Hey! That's a neat trick. The left side rear seat window on my 99 Intrepid
never "worked". Didn't worry about. Just tried your trick. After the third
"slam", I "hit" the glass with the heel of my hand and the window lowered.
Thanks, Glenn!

Larry

:
: : > The right front window on my 1998 Stratus no longer works.
: >
: > Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if it
: > still works?
: >
: > Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or
: > would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor?
: >
: > Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe
: > way to free it.
: >
: > If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail
: > first, as it gets the most use.
: >
: > Thanks,
: >
: > Kirk Matheson
: >
: Kirk, try this, turn the key to the run position but don't start the
: vehicle, while trying to close the window pay close attention to the dome
: lite to see if it dims slightly. If it does, start the engine up and at
the
: same time you are holding the switch in the down position slam the door
hard
: to see if it frees itself.(you may have to do this several times) If the
: dome lite does not dim this wont work. You will need to pull the door
panel
: off and see if you have 12 volts at the motor when the switch is pressed.
:
: Glenn Beasley
: Chrysler Tech
:
:

 

Not really a trick, A piss poor design weather strip/window motor brush
assemblies. The most common problem is the glass sticks in the weather strip
and holds the window from coming down, Periodically clean the build up on
the glass and weather strip to prevent this from happening. glad to see it
freed up

Glenn

 

if you have a test lite unplug the motor connector and stick each end of
the lite on each wire of the harness side of the motor connector and then
run the switch up and down
if the lite lites up on both throws of the switch then the rest of the
circuit is good and there is a good chance the motor is bad

 

I'll give it a try. Looks like it worked for another person.

-Kirk

 

Partly true but you still need a ground. Normally when a switch goes out the
ground is lost. So you will still have 12volts on both up and down circuits

Glenn

 

The dome light does not dim when attempting to lower the window. Does
that mean a bad motor, or a faulty connection?

Guess it's time to see if I have power at the motor connections.

Thanks,

Kirk M.

 

I'm the one that tried Glenn's "trick" on my Intrepid. I didn't see my
overhead/reading/dome light dim on a working window, either. So, I went for
sound. When trying to raise an already closed window, I could hear a "click"
sound in the door I was trying. There was a "click" sound from the door with
the window that didn't work, so I figured it was stuck, which it was. See if
you can hear something, trying all windows, too.

Larry

: >
: > : >
: >
: >
: > > if you have a test lite unplug the motor connector and stick each end
of
: > > the lite on each wire of the harness side of the motor connector and
then
: > > run the switch up and down
: > > if the lite lites up on both throws of the switch then the rest of
the
: > > circuit is good and there is a good chance the motor is bad
: >
: > > wrote:
: >
: > > > The right front window on my 1998 Stratus no longer works.
: >
: > > > Is there a way to apply power directly to the motor to determine if
it
: > > > still works?
: >
: > > > Would a battery charger provide enough current to run the motor, or
: > > > would I need an automobile battery to connect to the motor?
: >
: > > > Also, if it is a problem with the glass being stuck, is there a safe
: > > > way to free it.
: >
: > > > If it is the motor, I would think that the driver's side would fail
: > > > first, as it gets the most use.
: >
: > > > Thanks,
: >
: > > > Kirk Matheson
: >
: > Partly true but you still need a ground. Normally when a switch goes out
the
: > ground is lost. So you will still have 12volts on both up and down
circuits
: >
: > Glenn- Hide quoted text -
: >
: > - Show quoted text -
:
: The dome light does not dim when attempting to lower the window. Does
: that mean a bad motor, or a faulty connection?
:
: Guess it's time to see if I have power at the motor connections.
:
: Thanks,
:
: Kirk M.
:

 

I believe he's talking about using the test light to replace the motor
in the circuit. In this case, if the light illuminates with the switch
in both the up and down position, you have verified a functioning
circuit.

 

You have to look really close to the dome lite, it doesn't really mater. try
to slam it at the same time holding down the switch with the key on. If it
doesn't free up then yes you will have to remove the door panel to check for
12volts and ground. Normally the regulator assembly is at fault.

Glenn

 

That works *IF* the problem is not a relatively high resistance contact
in the connectors or switches - IOW a slightly high resistance in the
circuit may light the test light yet provide diminished power to the
motor to the point that the motor can't overcome the stiction that an
otherwise good circuit and motor could overcome and operate normally.

But probably a weak motor (due to the conatminated brush scenario I
described would be more likely).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

it's a reverse polarity circuit meaning the ground in the circuit flips when the
switch is operated in either direction so you tested the whole circuit in a
matter of seconds and the only exception to that is p.w.m

 

if it is the test lite will have a glow instead of a lite a noticeable
voltage drop

 

I submit that the load presented by the test lite is small enough that
you may not notice the decreased brightness by a slight resistance in
the system, yet, by ohm's law, that same slight resistance in that
system may cause a significant voltage drop when the much larger load of
the motor is put on it - i.e,. brightness loss of the test lite will be
unniticeable, but the motor torque loss will be enough to prevent it
from overcoming normal stiction (again - due to the much higher load
represented by the motor vs. the test lite).

 

I was referring to the dome lite in the vehicle, The LH has had problems for
many years with the weather strips causing the glass to stick and not
allowing the window to lower. There has been a TSB out to install new
updated weather strips to prevent this from happening or some year vehicles
OR simply keep the glass top edge cleaned. Normally if the dome lite dims
when the window is trying to open it normally means the glass is stuck at
the top and slamming the door as the switch is in the open position will
cause the glass to lower. Then clean the top of the door glass.

Glenn

 

Makes sense. I have read on the 300M forums of that problem being
resolved by replacing the widow motor where cleaning the molding and
glass did not solve it. So on a given car, it could be a combination of
sticking molding with a weak motor or just one or the other.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Hi...

Add to that the fact that for those of us who live in the
terrible terrible cold winters (Winnipeg in my case) that little
door slamming while holding the button trick releases them when
they're frozen shut

Take care.

Ken

 

In my opinion the window motors have been built very cheap since 1996. I
have replaced some weather strips that did not fix the problem and then had
to go back and replace the regulator assemblies.

Glenn