OT: automotive electrical connector loose, power window

[FromTheRafters]

So they can canvas the neighborhood.

[TimR]

None of the switches are marked. How would he know which is which? Maybe Volvo made them that way in 1991.

Anyway, it's a thought, if the car is still running next year. I've passed this year, had it working long enough to make it through.

[DerbyDad03]

Well, if I got into a vehicle with a window switch bank that was unmarked, I'd take a wild ass guess and try the front left for the driver's window, the front right for the front passenger window, etc.

I don't recall ever being in a vehicle where the windows were randomly assigned to the switches, but maybe that's just me.

Good for you!

Just curious: How inconvenient is it to not have a working window? I know I use mine quite often.

[clare]

Think a little more. What makes the connection "tight" It is not the block. It is the spring tension of the connectors on the pins. The connectors MUST be loose in the block to allow them to move and align to the pins. You need to understand how those connections work. I do. Which is why I have been giving you accurate advice on how to fix the problem. Either replace the connections ot solder them.. Go to an auto wreckers - there is sure to be a "pick-a-part" type place near you - and getr the connectors from the latest model vehicle you can find that uses the same switch. That will take a bit of research - but Google is your friend on that count. Take the plugs, with as much wire as you can get (6 inches or more) then cut the old plug off and solder the new one on. Get the switch too, for good measure -.

[clare]

Do it once. Do it right.

[clare]

Which is why they TINT their windows. A TENT is something totally different!!

[trader_4]

rote:

y that upward

h a kluge arrangement of rubber bands and toothpicks. As predicted, it did not work reliably, although it did occasionally.

d and the mechanic showed me the same problem on a different connector bloc k so I'm pretty sure I finally know the real diagnosis.

connector block (part of the wiring harness in the door) are hollow, femal e.

ve. But the female pins on the connector block are loose and they slide ba ck when the connector is pushed on. The mechanic had trouble getting the t urn signals to function after the headlight replacement and he showed me. He ended up pushing the pins forward out of the connector and connecting it manually, then adding the connector block next. I didn't know pins would come out forward, but he said on old worn cars it isn't uncommon for these to be loose. There's a special half moon tool for depressing the tab and g etting them out backwards for replacement.

tool, true. But I don't think the pins are the problem. I think the pins are fine, but they're loose in the block, because the block itself is worn (or maybe even damaged by overheating.) I think new pins will just slide back in the block, failing to make contact, like the old ones do.

nector block, if they are available. Second is just to switch the wires to one of the switches that works. I can't switch the connectors because all four are unique, but I could cut the wires to two switches and swap them.

IDK where Tim is located, but here, in the Peoples Republic of NJ, they never cared about window switches to pass inspection, even back in the day when they cared about things like windshield wipers and headlight aiming. Now they just connect to the OBD to check for pollution monitors. I don't think they even check brakes anymore.

[RonNNN]

No shit Sherlock! Derby already pointed out my incorrect spelling. BTW, speel chunkers dusn't no it wuz speeled rong.

[dpb]

On 10/03/2016 4:32 PM, [e-mail] wrote: ...

Right! Trade the vehicle and be done with it...

[TimR]

ply that upward

y to know how

ith a kluge arrangement of rubber bands and toothpicks. As predicted, it d id not work reliably, although it did occasionally.

ced and the mechanic showed me the same problem on a different connector bl ock so I'm pretty sure I finally know the real diagnosis.

he connector block (part of the wiring harness in the door) are hollow, fem ale.

move. But the female pins on the connector block are loose and they slide back when the connector is pushed on. The mechanic had trouble getting the turn signals to function after the headlight replacement and he showed me. He ended up pushing the pins forward out of the connector and connecting it manually, then adding the connector block next. I didn't know pins woul d come out forward, but he said on old worn cars it isn't uncommon for thes e to be loose. There's a special half moon tool for depressing the tab and getting them out backwards for replacement.

al tool, true. But I don't think the pins are the problem. I think the pi ns are fine, but they're loose in the block, because the block itself is wo rn (or maybe even damaged by overheating.) I think new pins will just slid e back in the block, failing to make contact, like the old ones do.

onnector block, if they are available. Second is just to switch the wires to one of the switches that works. I can't switch the connectors because a ll four are unique, but I could cut the wires to two switches and swap them .

No, in Virginia you must have an operable driver's window, though none of t he others have to work.

I use it every morning when I pass the security guard at work and have to s how my ID.

I did enough messing with it that lifting the switch assembly with my index finger is making contact. I know that's temporary; I've spotted another V olvo at the local recycle yard and hope to get a switch off that this weeke nd.

[TimR]

I never did update this thread, kind of forgot about it, but here it is.

I did go to the auto salvage yard, found a Volvo with a similar switch, and cut the wiring harness.

I removed the connector block with the female pins from the salvage switch.

I cut off the old connector block and spliced in the "new" one. I wasn't 1

00% sure of the best way to do that, but the guy in the auto parts store sa id he used male and female bullet connectors, and I did that. I did not us e the cheap crimping tool they wanted to sell me, I had an actual quality c rimper from some previous project I disremember. I also taped over the joi nts.

So all four windows are still working fine. If I fail inspection next mont h it will be for something else.

[Wade Garrett]

You must live in some kind of overly intrusive jurisdiction if windows are part of a car inspection!

[TimR]

I can see the driver's window being needed though.

What if you have to use a hand signal? They're still legal, right?

What if you're stopped by police? Opening your door to talk to them can be a bad idea. Not talking to them is even worse.

[Wade Garrett]

Car inspections were originally instituted to check for emission compliance, period.

Back in the days of carburetors, retarded spark, and those new-fangled catalytic converters, all of which achieved emission standards at the cost of degraded performance, guys removed the converters and jacked carburetor settings and ignition timing to restore performance. Annual inspections prevented them from doing that.

But nanny-state politicians broadened the scope of inspections as a form of control and raised the inspection fee to take more revenue from folks.

If your effin' driver's window doesn't work, that's your business....and inconvenience, as you can't easily use the drive-thru window at McDonald's;-)

[clare]

Ever try to go through a toll booth, or go through customs at the border, with a window that won't open???

[clare]

No, safety inspections existed LONG before emission controls were implemented, and much longer before emission testing was thought of.

And before that, people drove unsafe clunkers that were involved in too many accidents. I was a mechanic way back when safety inspections were started in Ontario back in the early seventies or late sixties. I know Pensylvania had safety inspections before Ontario did.

Conspiracy theorists everywhere - - - -

Safety inspections are MUCH more important than emission tests. The emission tests are FREE in Ontario now.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not a problem. The woman in front of me on the Garden State Parkway had a system. Pull up to the exact change basket, put car in park, slid over and get out on passenger side, run around to drop the money in the basket, run back, etc.

[Ed Pawlowski]

In states with no safety inspection the accident rates are no higher than stated with them. When lived in PA, inspection was a joke. Many shops were either incompetent, or ripped people off claiming they needed expensive work. I had cars that would not legally pass but always had a sticker.

I don't know of any state where you don't pay for emissions testing. We don't need it tested for five years here.

[clare]

Having done safety checks for something like 20-22 years, you wouldn't believe what came through (and what was occaisionally passed by another shop, then ended up in mine for repairs) I also did safety checks for the Canadian Street Rod Association at Natiomnals and Regionals - and again you'd be SHOCKED at some of what came through the lanes. We took a few rods off the street and I'm sure we saved a few lives. We sent a TERRIBLE Henry J from New York back to the US border on a flat-bed. How he got back home I don't know (or IF he did - it was that bad) Our provincial safety checks are only at time of sale, unless pulled over on a roadside check and obvious shortfalls are found. Some insurance companies will require a DOT check if a vehicle is over a certain age - particularly on "new business".

It's suspension and steering, bodywork and exhaust, brakes and chassis, and lights and glazing.

It prevents (or at least reduces) sale of vehicles that are deathtraps as driveable vehicles. Things like carbon monoxide poisoning from seriously leaking bodywork and exhaust, brake failure from bad lines, hoses, oversized drums or thin rotors etc, loss of control from failed suspension/steering/chassis parts.

The Henry J had a Pontiac 428HO, and the steering linkage was cheap hardware store 3/8" drive socket extentions and "U" joints - flopping all over the place. All-thread was used to hold suspension together instead of proper hardened bolts.

I've seen some just as bad in DOT inspections - repairs that made "bush league" look good -unibodies patched with nothing but roofing cement and tar paper - and perhaps a license plate or two in the footwell areas. Headlights pointed every direction except straight - and even installed sideways or upside-down, and switches hanging out of the instrument panel, with headlights rewired with plastic coated clothes-line cable - and that's just for starters.

[trader_4]

IDK where you are, but NJ, NY, PA, had inspections long before there was any emissions testing.

M