Don't over complicate the diagnosis and get out of your own way. Get out of your own way and don't over complicate the diagnosis! No matter how you say it, this is great advice that I wish I'd followed. If you're having power window trouble, don't do what I did.
Here's a little ditty about when I did not follow my own advice. At the end of 2013 I purchased the car for my eldest son after he graduated from college. The car was a used 2002 BMW 325i. This was a 10-year-old car that was in great shape. I thoroughly went through the engine and chassis and made repairs to all the systems. I replaced all of the parts that are known to fail on a vehicle of its age. Everything worked on the inside of the vehicle except the two rear door power windows. They were dead. Completely dead. Both front windows worked fine but the passenger-side window was having trouble going back up.
Because both rear door windows were inoperable, I assumed that there must have been some other electrical glitch, such as a bad control module. Well, you know what they say about assuming. I did a little internet research and found that the General Module controlled the locks and windows and that sometimes, the relays go bad and need replacing. I found some relays for the General Module and ordered them for $75. They arrived a few days later.
Replacing them wasn't as easy as I thought. I had to de-solder the old relays out and solder in the new ones. It was a complete disaster and I made a royal mess of the General Module. The repair did not fix the problem. I had to send the module away to California and pay $200 to get someone to undo the mess I made. When I received the repaired General Module, I installed it in the car and the rear windows still do not work. This obviously was going to require me to step back, simplify my approach, and get back to basics.
So, I removed one of the interior rear door panels. Guess what I found. The window motor was completely unplugged from its power source. The cable on the regulator was cut and wrapped around the mechanism to lock the window in a closed position. It seemed that the window regulator had failed. Some "brilliant" automotive technician at the used car lot decided to just rig the window shut instead of replacing the regulator. When I removed the other door panel, I found the exact same thing. A wave of relief washed over me as I found the issue but I also could have smacked myself for all the money and effort I spent chasing a non-problem. I ordered 3 new regulators, one for the front passenger door, and 2 for the rear doors. I installed the regulators, re-connected the motors, and everything worked like a charm. What a goofball!
I know that ditty was a little long, but I wanted to illustrate how we can create our own problems and over-complicate things.
Finding the problem
The system that controls and runs your power windows is a really simple system. Its made up of a few on/off switches, your battery, and a 12 V motor in each door. There is also a mechanism called a regulator in each door. The regulator can either be of the rack, sector, or cable drive variety. That's about it.
First things first. Is it all of the windows or just one window that won't function? If its all the windows, make sure the main window lock isn't engaged. Next, you need to check the circuit fuse. To do that you need to find your fuse box. Your vehicle may have several fuse boxes that control all of the vehicle systems. Consult your owner's manual or vehicle service manual. Locate the fuse that controls the windows. Fuses can blow if they are old or if a faulty motor creates too much current on the circuit. Pull the fuse, check to see if it is blown.
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