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Ford WindstarIntroduced in the mid-1990s, the front-wheel-drive Ford Windstar minivan campaigned with an emphasis on, and reputation for, safety. And in the hotly contested family minivan market of the time, that was an especially solid piece of ground to be on. As long as buyers didn't need to haul adults in back on a regular basis, the Windstar served a family's needs just fine.
Ok, I have been having this problem with my drivers side power window for the last 3 months now. The window will not go down unless I bang the window or shut the door hard. I have taken off the inner door skin to expose the sliders and motor, lubed the sliders up with all purpose grease, re-installed the door skin and all was good for 1 week. Window would go down, then get stuck half way and than with a smack go down, than, it would not go down at all.
So off comes the door skin again and lithium grease this time on the sliders. All was good for two weeks and same issues reaccured.
Off came the door skin again and this time I loosened off a nut right at the motor and all seemed fine for an additional two weeks.
Here we are, still having the same problems. Every other window works, I can hear a click when the drivers side window wants to go down and I still have to slam the door shut in order to get it to work.
Any suggestions?
I am also having problems with shutting my drivers door and the rear passenger slider door will open by itself, the interior lights will flicker periodically as well. Seems to be typical problems with the freaking fords.....
Ford apparently didn't have a "better idea" with respect to window motors. When it is not work, don't smack it. Pull the door skin, and make sure that you are getting power all the way to the motor, when you push the button. If not, a short may be what you have.
If you are getting power, then it's most likely the motor, unless there are obvious mechanical problems. You can check the mechanical functions after you remove the motor. If the window slide up and down, then that is not the problem. Be sure to brace the window after the motor is removed, or it may slam down into the door.
If you have the motor out, and are ambitious, carefully take it apart. Check the brushes (those little black cubes attached to braided wire). Remove the rotor (armature) and clean it with an appropriate solvent. Be sure to clean out the grooves between the sections of the armature. If enough graphite (from the brushes) gets in there, it can cause the motor to short or "stick" in certain positions. When you hit the door, you may be jarring it loose.
These are pretty simple DC motors. Check the Web for trouble-shooting tips.
Well in my case, I would say it is not a short as the line is receiving power as tested. The relay will click when the window is not going down.
After I slam the door, the window will go down all the way with my finger holding the button, If i release, and push the button, the window still will go down fine, if the window goes all the way down, I will have to once again slam the door in order to get the window back up.
It only seems to stick when the window is either all the way up, or when the window is all the way down. I would not say this is a short.
As stated, the sliders are lubed up better than a porn star and after I remove the door skin and fool around with the motor and sliders, everything is good for a period of 1-2 weeks and then we are right back to square one.
Last edited by midnight rumbler; 08-13-2008 at 07:06 PM.
Why would the short only occur when the window is all the way up, or all the way down?
If there was a short, It would lead me to believe that it would happen when the window is either 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of the way down.....
As previously stated
"the sliders are lubed up better than a porn star and after I remove the door skin and fool around with the motor and sliders, everything is good for a period of 1-2 weeks and then we are right back to square one"
You just may be stopping on the bad part of the motor that has the short. Most people have the window open or closed so this is why your short in the motor windings or bushings may only worse in the up or down positions cause the window can rattle the motor when it is partially opened easier.
I am guessing at the travel stops of the motor assembly there may be bad internal switches.
My Window has the same issues, I fix it by slamming the door.
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Mark V
1998 Explorer 4.0 SOHC
1998 Windstar GL 3.8
2001 Corvette Coupe 6 Speed
2006 Honda Shadow Spirit 750 http://public.fotki.com/snextime/
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Power Window ~ Drivers Side 
Linear Mode
