Electric window relay problem

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johnny_the_fixer@yahoo.co.uk - 26 Mar 2005 16:36 GMT

Please can anyone help with this one.

My brother's 1994 C180 has gone through four batteries, after
failing to start up.

He had the Alternator tested, and it was found to be ok.

After having the car looked at by two auto electricians, he was told
there was a problem with the relay for the electric windows.

He tried a new relay, but it was still the same.

As soon as you plug the relay in, it clicks.
( indicating a permanent connection somewhere along the line )

When he got the car, neither rear window was working, so he took
the motors apart and fixed the brushes.

All switches and motors seem to be working perfect.

To try and find the problem, he's disconnected the cables to the rear
doors (switches & motors ), but the relay is still getting power
permanently sent to it from somewhere else.

Anyone have any idea on what else to look at ?

I noticed that when he activated the windows, there was a clicking
noise from the black box at the side of the battery, but we haven't
looked at that yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

John

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Tiger - 26 Mar 2005 21:27 GMT

The purpose of the relay is so that there is no need to draw big power or
heat at the switch when in operation. So the relay always have power from
the fusebox.

Your way of diagnosing the problem is wrong. It may not even be the windows.
What you need to do is chech the voltage when enging is running.... with RPM
at about 2000 RPM, you should have 14V or slightly higher... 14.4 is the
best. At idle, you should have at least 13.5V.

If above is okay, then you need to check the draw of the battery when
ignition switch is off... disconnect the battery at negative. Use a
multimeter set to DC Amp... connect it between the negative battery and the
negative battery cable. if it is like 1 amp or lower, then it is fine. If it
is higher, then you need to go to the fusebox and take one fuse out at a
time to see if it is the culprit. If not, then put it back and go next one.

Another note, if you have aftermarket amplifier or stereo system, you need
to verify that first... Some so called pro have no idea what they are doing
and put amp on all the time. Same goes for alarm system,

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Henry Kolesnik - 26 Mar 2005 23:10 GMT

Have you tried disconnecting the console and/or door window switches to see
if one of them is stuck closed and activating the relay. It sounds like
you have 12volts going to the relay coil all the time when you want nothing.
That's what you need to traceout.

Signature

73
Hank WD5JFR

> Please can anyone help with this one.
>
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>
> John

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T.G. Lambach - 27 Mar 2005 02:30 GMT

To try and find the problem, he's disconnected the cables to the rear
doors (switches & motors ), but the relay is still getting power
permanently sent to it from somewhere else.

The "somewhere else" could be a (stuck) switch on the console between the front seats. These often get dirt (and soda) in them and stick - in this case ON.

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