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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / December 2005Do I need to replace my power window relay?
Hi, I have a 97 Ford Taurus. For the past year or so the drivers side window intermittently wont go down when I press the button -usually once I pull up to a toll booth! Sometimes it goes down (50% of the time) when I press the down button. Sometimes it only goes down if I try it a half a dozen times during the journey (25%) and sometimes it won't go down no matter howmany times I press that button (25%). In everycase, whenever I can get it to go down, never has it refused to go back up when I want it to, and usually once it cooperates it keeps working for the rest of the day. So, I've had a look at the fuse box and there is a DRIVERS SIDE RELAY which I have taken out. Can anyone tell me what a relay does as opposed to a fuse? I have removed it and have it in my hand so is there a way I can test it to see if it has gone bad? If I take it to an auto parts store can they test it (its ford part FOA 14B192-AA and has 5 metal terminals on the underside each with numbers printed on them)? How much do they cost? Am I barking up the wrong tree and should be focusing on the switch on the door instead? The relay just changes a low power signal from a switch to a high power line to a motor or light. If the numbers on the bottom are 30, 85, 86, 87, 87 it would be a common 'bosch' style relay. They are inexpensive. You can use any other relay in the panel with the 'same numbers on the pins in the same place' as a swap to test it or open it up and have a look. The cover pops off and inside you will find a set of points and a coil. You can carefully pry open the points to look for burn or arc marks. If the points are nice and shiny, then your troubles are likely elsewhere. I usually see bad switches. Leave the window open a bit in the rain and the switch can fill up with water. Second is a bad ground on the circuit and third is a loose track. If the track gets a loose bolt it can bind up the window. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2120343242 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page) > Hi, I have a 97 Ford Taurus. For the past year or so the drivers side window > intermittently wont go down when I press the button -usually once I pull up [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > printed on them)? How much do they cost? Am I barking up the wrong tree and > should be focusing on the switch on the door instead? Origional Poster Here... As per your suggestion, I swapped out the relay with the one that runs the passanger side windows and nothing changed, so I guess I can assume the relay's not at fault. ie drivers side window doesn't work but passanger's does. OK, so how do I check the switch in the door and the power window motor? I figure there must be a way to take the door apart? I can't seem to find anything to unscrew to get access to whats inside the door (not that I really know what to do once I get in there other than to jioggle some wires and put my multimeter on the motor inputs. Any suggestions? > Hi, I have a 97 Ford Taurus. For the past year or so the drivers side > window intermittently wont go down when I press the button -usually once I [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > numbers printed on them)? How much do they cost? Am I barking up the wrong > tree and should be focusing on the switch on the door instead? 'Most' of the window switches I see can be accessed from the top or outside. They are press fit. I am not familiar with yours. I always recommend a cheap maintenance manual like the Haynes for simple repairs. It will tell you how to open the door and better how to pop the switch in and out. The switch does send power or a ground tag (the Haynes book should show which) to the relay which feeds power back to the motor so if you put the meter in the relay's socket hole and to ground, you should see if the switch is working consistently. It should show either power on pin 86 or a ground completed on pin 85. I guess you could also just hold your hand on the relay while someone toggles the switch. If the switch is working, the relay will click every time the switch is moved. If the relay always clicks, then I would suspect the ground connection on the motor. I don't know the location of that on a Ford. It might not be inside the door. If the relay always clicks, you can put your meter on the battery terminals. If the motor is trying to work, the meter will show a volt drop across the battery posts when the switch is used. If it shows a draw, then I would suspect the track is loose. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2120343242 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page) > Origional Poster Here... > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > numbers printed on them)? How much do they cost? Am I barking up the wrong > > tree and should be focusing on the switch on the door instead? |
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