CaptainK
CCCUK Member
So, in my defiance of dodging the rain on Saturday by taking The Rainmaker to a show on Sunday (instead of when I booked it in on Saturday), the gods punished me by breaking my power windows so I would boil inside the car on the hot sunny Sunday. (errr... take the t-tops off? Nope - no space in boot for them).
Anyway, being a complete novice to how the power windows work, but do know a little about Googling, I thought I'd have a go.
First up, check the power window circuit breaker / fuse is ok. Its in the engine bay in the driver's wing on the firewall, next to where your brake booster is, and looks exactly like the one in this shameful clicky plug for a fellow "CK" (other vendors available) from where I stole their picture:
Run a continuity check of your choice over it, I prefer using a multimeter, but you can do whatever you want. No problems with mine, but power windows still not working.
Second, check the fuse box above your left foot in the driver's footwell (errr... you just said the power window fuse is in the engine bay?). You're looking for a loose / disconnected wire from the centre of the fuse box panel that can be kicked out accidentally by big feet etc. They'll be labelled "IGN" or "ACC" or some such and are quite obvious when you look, and will look a little like this Google image that may or may not be a 1968:
Check to make sure the wires in the middle are ok. Feel free to do continuity checks on the wires, check for voltages etc, and also check any fuses as well. Handy hint when checking the fuses - don't just check continuity from the end of the fuse to the other end - check from the TABS / WINGS holding the fuse on from one end to another. The fuse might be ok, but the connection from the TAB / WING to the fuse ends might be corroded and not doing a lot.
Mine were all ok, so I moved on as the power windows were still not working.
Third, take apart the centre console. Small screws either side of the handbrake bit, and one bigger screw at the back that you have to take the middle storage box out to gain access to - unless your car has been "bubba'd" in the past and they didn't bother with that awkward rear screw, like in my car. So easy to remove now. Pull the handbrake box up a bit and then slide the trim around the handbrake forward out of the track on the handbrake console box and it should be free - unless its my car and bubba had decided to wrap some of the wires around the handbrake mechanism, because why not. Thankfully the wiring connectors on the bottom of the box just pull / slide off, so I reached in and slid them off.
I only removed the rear part, but if you pulled it all off, it'd look a bit like this Google'd image below (the red circle is the power window relay), but for my bit just look at the bit around the handbrake.... and now I have done that I can see exactly how bubba'd my wiring actually was - I have yellow and green wires spliced into my main red feed wire to the power window switches. I'll have to investigate further at a later time. The power window switches should all be POSITIVE - the main feed to them, and then POSITIVE "window up" for one output wire, and POSITIVE "window down" for the other. The motors in the doors are grounded to the door shell and then back to negative etc.
Here you can check the wiring to make sure you have voltages, and also continuity checks on switches and stuff. I did this on mine and it all checked out. Bummer thought Doogal, that means its time to pull the rest of the centre console apart to check the relay under it, or pull the door cards off to check them.
It was at this point I knocked the driver's switch and the window moved ! Long story cut short, I poked at my wires a bit more and thought there MIGHT be places where its grounding / dodgy wires / bubba'd connections etc. So I cleaned up connections for everything, insulation taped up anything that needed it, and re-did some connections that looked naff. It still works.
So in a nutshell, BOTH windows stopped working. I only played around with the DRIVERS side wiring and switch under the console, and then BOTH windows then started working. I suspect dodgy wiring / connections on the drivers side, so re-did them. As I was limited on time, and it now worked and the passenger side wiring looked ok, I called it a day. I might go back in and do some more exploration later when I get time - I've gotta investigate the issue of the decidedly awkward blower motor that works only when it wants to.
Thanks for reading my novice adventures of taking apart my car. I'm a newb to this stuff, but like to have a go. If there are any errors / better ways to do things, then yeah, there probably are
Oh and I can confirm the horn still works in my car after I gave myself two heartattacks. I was working by leaning over the drivers seat, elbows on the seat, to work on the centre console wiring, and every now and then I'd lean just a fraction too much to the left - HOOOONNNKKKK!!!
Anyway, being a complete novice to how the power windows work, but do know a little about Googling, I thought I'd have a go.
First up, check the power window circuit breaker / fuse is ok. Its in the engine bay in the driver's wing on the firewall, next to where your brake booster is, and looks exactly like the one in this shameful clicky plug for a fellow "CK" (other vendors available) from where I stole their picture:
Run a continuity check of your choice over it, I prefer using a multimeter, but you can do whatever you want. No problems with mine, but power windows still not working.
Second, check the fuse box above your left foot in the driver's footwell (errr... you just said the power window fuse is in the engine bay?). You're looking for a loose / disconnected wire from the centre of the fuse box panel that can be kicked out accidentally by big feet etc. They'll be labelled "IGN" or "ACC" or some such and are quite obvious when you look, and will look a little like this Google image that may or may not be a 1968:
Check to make sure the wires in the middle are ok. Feel free to do continuity checks on the wires, check for voltages etc, and also check any fuses as well. Handy hint when checking the fuses - don't just check continuity from the end of the fuse to the other end - check from the TABS / WINGS holding the fuse on from one end to another. The fuse might be ok, but the connection from the TAB / WING to the fuse ends might be corroded and not doing a lot.
Mine were all ok, so I moved on as the power windows were still not working.
Third, take apart the centre console. Small screws either side of the handbrake bit, and one bigger screw at the back that you have to take the middle storage box out to gain access to - unless your car has been "bubba'd" in the past and they didn't bother with that awkward rear screw, like in my car. So easy to remove now. Pull the handbrake box up a bit and then slide the trim around the handbrake forward out of the track on the handbrake console box and it should be free - unless its my car and bubba had decided to wrap some of the wires around the handbrake mechanism, because why not. Thankfully the wiring connectors on the bottom of the box just pull / slide off, so I reached in and slid them off.
I only removed the rear part, but if you pulled it all off, it'd look a bit like this Google'd image below (the red circle is the power window relay), but for my bit just look at the bit around the handbrake.... and now I have done that I can see exactly how bubba'd my wiring actually was - I have yellow and green wires spliced into my main red feed wire to the power window switches. I'll have to investigate further at a later time. The power window switches should all be POSITIVE - the main feed to them, and then POSITIVE "window up" for one output wire, and POSITIVE "window down" for the other. The motors in the doors are grounded to the door shell and then back to negative etc.
Here you can check the wiring to make sure you have voltages, and also continuity checks on switches and stuff. I did this on mine and it all checked out. Bummer thought Doogal, that means its time to pull the rest of the centre console apart to check the relay under it, or pull the door cards off to check them.
It was at this point I knocked the driver's switch and the window moved ! Long story cut short, I poked at my wires a bit more and thought there MIGHT be places where its grounding / dodgy wires / bubba'd connections etc. So I cleaned up connections for everything, insulation taped up anything that needed it, and re-did some connections that looked naff. It still works.
So in a nutshell, BOTH windows stopped working. I only played around with the DRIVERS side wiring and switch under the console, and then BOTH windows then started working. I suspect dodgy wiring / connections on the drivers side, so re-did them. As I was limited on time, and it now worked and the passenger side wiring looked ok, I called it a day. I might go back in and do some more exploration later when I get time - I've gotta investigate the issue of the decidedly awkward blower motor that works only when it wants to.
Thanks for reading my novice adventures of taking apart my car. I'm a newb to this stuff, but like to have a go. If there are any errors / better ways to do things, then yeah, there probably are
Oh and I can confirm the horn still works in my car after I gave myself two heartattacks. I was working by leaning over the drivers seat, elbows on the seat, to work on the centre console wiring, and every now and then I'd lean just a fraction too much to the left - HOOOONNNKKKK!!!
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