Broken power window switch? I have a solution!

[Russell]

Hey all!

I found myself a new double power window switch at the wreckers yesterday, and to my dismay, when I put it in, it had the same problem, but rather than not being able to put the window up, it couldn't put it down!

So I got fed up, and decided to figure out how it worked inside. Upon opening them I noticed that there are four little contacts inside, each with a little contact pad. For both switches -- One of the little contact pads were missing, the window up contact on the one, and the window down contact on the other. Solution? Take a small peice of soldering wire, put it through, then squash it with some pliers to make a new one! I put it back together and used a dull chisel to knock the little tabs that hold the switch together, threw it into my truck, and bingo! I have total control over both windows!

Same goes for single window switches, or power lock switches!

Hope I can save a couple of you guys a couple of bucks by telling you that you can fix them!

[plumbcut]

How long is that solder going to last?

[MylilBowTie]

Not to knock it but thats what I was thinking.

[Russell]

We'll see... If it has to be replaced once every summer, its better to spent 5 minutes fixing it every couple of months than spending 120 bucks on a new one!

[76HighSierra]

You could always have the "pad" built up with silver solder, which is much harder and undoubtedly would last longer. Good going, Russell.

[383drvr]

At Autozone you can get a new double switch for $29.

[Russell]

Hmm, thats interesting, cheapest I could find up here was 120 after tax for the 81-87 style, I couldn't even find a 73-80 style!

One thing that I was thinking about as far as using the "silver solder (never heard of it...)" is that you don't wanna get the thing too hot or it is gonna warp like something nasty... I'm gonna try one more thing this afternoon with my old switch -- See if I'm any good with the MiG welder and file...

[apstguy]

DO NOT GET AUTOZONE SWITCHES! They royally suck. They barly last a year. Do yourself a favor and just get a GM switch.

[383drvr]

You may be right, but I've run my autozone switch since I got my truck over two years ago. So far so good

[Russell]

Ok, I was scrounging around and I found a small chunk of silver sitting beside a bunch of other little specialty metals, I cut a small sliver off and did the same thing to it as I did with the solder, and made another little contact point -- No more smoke when the window gets to the top as the solder used to melt :P

Seems to be holding up really good, I'll keep you guys posted...