QuestionHigh, Ben. You are very highly recommended for Toyota window problems, hope you can help this Camry problem.
We have a 1996 Camry with ~86,000 miles. It's still in excellent condition but was rarely driven in last 5-6 years.
Last year, its driverside power window started to have problems (2-3 times in all). After the window was down, it either refused to go up, or just went up 1-2 inches and then stop. But after a while (10-20 minutes?), it will work again and continue to work without any further problem. It also never showed any slowing-move when it's working. All other windows were/are working perfectly.
Today (after the car was parked for last 4 months), the problem got worse. After the driver window was down, it could go up only 1-2 inches and then stuck. Pulling up/down the switch didn't make any move on the window and no sound could be heard.
After an hour of driving and then re-operating the window switch, it still couldn't go up, but would go down. Pulling up the switch again made window up 1-2 inches and it stuck again at the same position.
After an hour's parking, we tried again and same thing happened again (The window couldn't go up but could go down, then up 1-2 inches and stuck again at where it was).
It has been suggest to us that it could be problems from power windows relay, the driverside power windows switch, frayed cable, or a weakened/wore-out motor. (The battery was fully charged and was disconnected during 4-month parking.)
Could you give us your expert diagnosis and its/their estimated "reasonable" repair costs? Our experience with the local Toyota service department has not been very pleasant due to high cost and this is a very old and rarely used car. Any suggestion for where to do the repair work would be more than welcome.
Your help will be very very much appreciated. David
P.S.: I've tried to give as much details as possible so the question is long. You're free to edit it as you wish if you think it worthwhile to post this Q&A publicly so it can help others.
AnswerHello David,
It is always difficult to determine exactly what is wrong without actually examining the vehicle, but you have given me enough information to at least be able to suggest what possible problems might exist.
1. BAD SWITCH: I doubt this is the issue. When switches begin to fail, they occasionally work intermittently, but if the "up" contact of the left front window switch was bad, the window would not go up even an inch or two.
2. BAD RELAY: All the windows use the same relay. If the other windows work the relay is okay.
3. BROKEN WIRE: A Camry this age will occasionally have a broken wire(s) in the rubber boot near the door hinges between the drivers door and the body of the car. Since the window will at least go up an inch or two, I doubt that a broken wire is the cause.
4. BAD WINDOW MOTOR: This is the most likely cause of your problem. The motor has not failed completely and has enough power to lower the window when gravity is helping to lower the window. However, when the motor tries to raise the window from the very bottom, it is overloading. To confirm this diagnosis try the following steps.
A. Raise the window up two inches.
B. Wait ten minutes.
C. Start the engine so the window motor is receiving maximum power.
D. While someone pulls the window switch "up" have someone else grab hold of the glass and pull up at the same time. (Don't use anything to grasp the glass but your hands. Plier-like tools could easily shatter the glass.)
This may not get the window all the way up before the motor overloads again, but it will confirm that the motor is the problem.
Please send me a follow up question to let me know the results. If the motor proves to be the problem, I'll give you more information about your options for replacing it.
Ben ... the power window guy
