QuestionQUESTION: I bought a 99 suburban recently and I lowered the passenger window from that side. It went down but won't go up,it's not all the way down.It still goes down if I push the button.I tried slamming the door while holding the button to go up and nothing.It doesn't work going up or down from the drivers side. Is this a common symptom for a either a bad motor or switch.
Thanks-Lou
ANSWER: Hi Lou,
The symptoms you describe are not typical. Let me give you a little more information that may help you narrow down the possibilities.
The most common problem in this vintage of Suburban is a faulty window motor. I doubt the motor is your problem because it works fine going down. And, if the motor was the problem, I would expect it to go up at least an inch or two before it overloaded and stalled.
The fact that you get no response from the "up" side of your single window switch and that you get no response from either the "up" or "down" side of your master switch has me thinking that you have one or more broken wires. Typically, these wires break inside the rubber boot between the driver's door and the body of the truck. Since I don't know your skill level or what tools you might have at your disposal, I won't offer any diagnosis or repair suggestions at this time.
If you decide not to tackle the problem yourself, be sure to take it to a mechanic with a reasonable degree of electrical trouble shooting experience. You don't what to pay someone an hourly labor rate unless he has a good idea of how to diagnose this problem. Since both switches are accessible without taking off the door panels, it shouldn't take more than 20 or 30 minutes to determine exactly what the problem is.
Let me know if I can help in any other way.
Ben ... the power window guy.
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QUESTION: Hi Ben,
Thanks for the info. I did take the switch apart and had figured out which wires belonged to the down part of the switch. So the idea is ID them in the boots and look for a break in each door. My son is an electrician and can test for continuity.The driver's door will be first because of the more usage. Does this sound like the way to try on my own. If there is something else I should do let me know.
Thanks Lou
ANSWER: Hi Lou,
Sounds like you have a good approach so far. There is just one thing you might want to do just to be 100% sure you don't have a motor problem:
1. Disconnect the wiring harness connected to the passenger door switch.
2. Hook up two wires to the dk blue and dk brown wires on the wiring harness. These two wires lead to the window motor: dk blue is "up" %26 dk brown is "down."
3. Attach the two wires to a 12 volt battery. It should power your window up or down depending on the polarity. Reversing the wires should reverse the direction the window moves.
Good Luck, Ben .... the power window guy
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Ben,
I connected two 6v lantern batteries to the wires and the window made an effort to go up. I then assisted the window and I got it up. It was a little hesitant. Would that mean that maybe I didn't have enough juice in the batteries,they where in lanterns.Is either the motor or switch bad or going bad. At least for now the glass is up and I thank you for that.
Thanks Again Lou
AnswerHi Lou,
Glad to hear you got the window up.
My guess is the motor is okay. I suspect the batteries just didn't have enough power to get the window up easily.
I am still favoring the "broken wire" scenario. Your son should be able to confirm or rule out that situation pretty quickly.
Just send another follow up if you need more help.
Ben .... the power window guy.
