Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: 1997 Olds LSS Power Windows, motor brushes, fuse block

Question
Maybe its a gremlin. First, the rear passenger window would not go down (from either switch). No sooner did it start working (after a few weeks) than both front and rear driver windows stuck -- in the closed position, thankfully.

At my request, my mechanic replaced the driver's master window switch with OEM parts. The driver window balked the first time I used it, then worked fine for two weeks. It stopped again, but it was several days before I had a chance to bring it to him (I tested it several times, it didn't open once).

He called to say it worked fine the first time he tried it and he could not get it to fail. I took the car back and the window locked again (it has always been in the closed position). After another two weeks of having to open the door at drive-through windows, I took it back to him.

Now, he says he's convinced the motor brushes have gone bad, and wants nearly $200 for parts and labor. I'm doubtful, simply because the problem has jumped from window to window, and two of the three appear miraculously "fixed." That, and I don't look forward to the bill if he decides I need to replace all three.

I had him replace the master panel in the first place because I expected a piece of metal must have broken loose and was moving from one set of contacts to another. It's for sure "bad brushes" are not jumping from one motor to another.

Could he be right? Could there be some other electrical cause? I know the window is getting power, because pushing the switch causes slight dimming of interior lights and you can hear the motor groan a little. Or, perhaps that's the sound of my gremlin stuffing himself with electrical current as fuel for his next caper?

Answer
Hello Dave,
A circuit breaker is what I suspect. In the fuse block.
There is also one in each motor that will trip if there is too much resistance to movement of the window. That is what keeps something from burning up if you hold the switch after the window quits moving.
The ones in each motor are not replacable...the motor must be replaced when they go bad.
But the one in the fuse block can be replaced.


Van