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Old 05-25-2012, 07:29 AM
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Power window electrical question

Details: 1993 Toyota 4runner 3.0 V6

Problem : driver side control switch for passenger window does not roll passenger window up or down. Passenger window switch only rolls window Down, not back up.

I have a spare parts 4 runner and I switched the passenger window motor, I swapped the passenger window switch, I swapped the driver side control switches, I swapped the door control brain. I'm down to the wiring...

My question is , is there any relays I don't know about? If I sdisconnect the motor, it will roll
back up with a power probe, but not when the stock wiring is hooked up, ... This reverse polarity window set up is a little beyond me. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Old 05-25-2012, 08:51 AM
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I think I have the exact same problem. After replacing motors, door switches, etc I determined (according to the FSM) that there is an "integrated relay" that houses multiple relays in one unit. If I understand correctly it is co-located with the fuse block and other relays down on by the drivers left foot/ side kick panel.

Supposed the later 2nd gens have the "integrated relay" and older 2nd gens have individual ones... not totally sure, but FYI. I think the autozone website helped me determine that.

The part is supposedly like $400, so I am opting to simply replace the electric roll up door regulator with manual ones and a fab a handle. Manual regulators are around $30-40 ea on Rockauto.com.

Let me know if you find anything that works.
Old 05-25-2012, 09:44 AM
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So are you saying there is a relay different from the door control box?? The door control is s little blue box that had s circuit board in it and it's down by the fuse block
Old 05-25-2012, 10:19 AM
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The door control box controls the windows and locks. No other relays in mine. Had to repair a couple of solder runs on that board once.
Old 05-27-2012, 07:34 AM
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Still not having any luck, but I did find the FSM says there is some power window diode , located on the firewall ?? Anyone know anything about that?
Old 05-27-2012, 08:50 AM
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mmm... have not noticed a diode specifically in the FSM

dude, same nightmares with mine... these things are freakin' electrical monsters... backwindow stopped working on mine, pretty sure it's the relays on the board, have not gotten around to fixing it yet. I lost count of what stopped working (electrical) a while ago; love my runner but I can't wait to rewire this joker.

I usually start with devices and switches first and then move on to relays and connections then finally the wiring itself, identifying a short.

I'm curious to see what relays are in the front control box, haven't looked at it since I yoinked the 1980's alarm system out. Might be worth replacing relays, gonna have to do this in the rear control module; it runs $385 or so like said above for these things, ouch!
Old 06-05-2012, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by some drunk guy
Details: 1993 Toyota 4runner 3.0 V6

Problem : driver side control switch for passenger window does not roll passenger window up or down. Passenger window switch only rolls window Down, not back up.

I have a spare parts 4 runner and I switched the passenger window motor, I swapped the passenger window switch, I swapped the driver side control switches, I swapped the door control brain. I'm down to the wiring...

My question is , is there any relays I don't know about? If I sdisconnect the motor, it will roll
back up with a power probe, but not when the stock wiring is hooked up, ... This reverse polarity window set up is a little beyond me. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
i did some extensive work on trying to diagnose this problem so can shed some light on it.

this is what i did to try to isolate the problem:
- tried a known-good switch in the passenger side
- tried a known-good main switch in the driver side
- disassembled and cleaned all switches

still didn't work...

so i got a multimeter and tested wire continuity. low and behold i had bad wires somewhere.

what did i do to fix it?

for the drivers side...nothing. if i need to roll down that window up or down i just lean over.

passenger side fix. i basically spliced in a wire so the unit was getting power.

this is what happens when your window goes up or down.
- the window motor knows when to go up or down based on the polarity of the juice going to it (when left wire is + and right wire is -...window goes up. left wire -, right wire +...window goes down)
- moving the finger switch up or down moves a small metal tab that serves as a rocker to contact 2 metal points which carry either a ground or power
- when the rocker contacts the metal points juice is sent to the window motor (see polarity above)
- the top 2 contacts carry a charge/ground...and the bottom 2 contacts carry a ground/charge...or something like that. this is how the polarity is reversed when you move the switch and how the window motor knows to go up or down
- so when you pull the switch apart you should see 4 contact points (2 on top, 2 on bottom)
- on the top...one contact should be power, and one ground
- on the bottom...it should be reversed
- take a multi meter and make sure you have power and ground at all 4 points
- if you don't splice a wire in to get power or ground then everything should work

the only thing the relay does is send power to the main switch when the key is turned. this won't factor into your problem at all.

good luck!

Last edited by modot66; 06-05-2012 at 09:55 AM.
Old 06-05-2012, 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by aa1911
mmm... have not noticed a diode specifically in the FSM

dude, same nightmares with mine... these things are freakin' electrical monsters... backwindow stopped working on mine, pretty sure it's the relays on the board, have not gotten around to fixing it yet. I lost count of what stopped working (electrical) a while ago; love my runner but I can't wait to rewire this joker.

I usually start with devices and switches first and then move on to relays and connections then finally the wiring itself, identifying a short.

I'm curious to see what relays are in the front control box, haven't looked at it since I yoinked the 1980's alarm system out. Might be worth replacing relays, gonna have to do this in the rear control module; it runs $385 or so like said above for these things, ouch!
no diodes or relays for the driver or passenger windows. whole different story for the tailgate window!
Old 08-10-2012, 01:36 PM
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How does the little panel come off that houses the door window switches? Does the whole door panel have to come off? My passenger side is completely dead.

2000 Taco
Old 08-10-2012, 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by scoostraw
How does the little panel come off that houses the door window switches? Does the whole door panel have to come off? My passenger side is completely dead.

2000 Taco
This forum is for 86-95 trucks, but the panel may come off the same way. Here are some pictures: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...t-work-254772/
Old 08-10-2012, 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by scope103
This forum is for 86-95 trucks, but the panel may come off the same way. Here are some pictures: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...t-work-254772/
Whoops you're right. I'm in the wrong place. But the door looks the same. Thanks for the pointer.
Old 10-07-2015, 07:12 PM
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Thanx, I'm having the same problem almost but none of my windows work except the back & sunroof. I was talking to a friend that has a shop & he said it could maybe a Master Relay (He'd have to look when he got to the shop tomorrow-) I'll keep ya posted!!
Old 10-07-2015, 07:27 PM
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Hey Denver. What I found on mine was dirty switch contacts. The power for both windows goes thru the driver's side switch.

If you pull it apart, go slowly as there are some little pieces that can fall out.
Old 10-08-2015, 12:47 AM
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for the op, if you didn't want to track down the bad wire, it should be the bluw/white wire at the passenger door you would cut and ground (door side, not from the driver side) and the passenger switch should work, and the drivers side passenger should be able to roll it up, but not down.
Old 06-25-2017, 07:02 PM
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Hey wiring gurus! I need some advice. I just replaced my 1991 runner's driver side window motor. While diagnosing that it was infact the motor I cleaned out all of the switch connections within the driver side switch "mother board thingy"... After realizing that my switches were not the issue, I bought a new motor from auto zone. Installed it and then 60 or so miles down the road my switch "mother board thingy" under my left elbow starts smoking real bad. I took the door panel back off and sure enough the switches were all melted on the underside where I had cleaned. I cleaned it without water or any sort of cleaner, I only used q-tips to dust off the suit from where connections were made by the switches.

Now none of my windows work including the rear window and worst of all because it was balls hot the day of the melt down, all of my windows are stuck down. What the hell happened?!? How can I get my windows to work again? Why would a melt down on the driver door short out the tailgate window??

Please let me know how much of a moron I am, and lend me a hand.. Thank you.
Old 06-26-2017, 12:09 AM
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Red face

I would look real close at your Motor from Autozone or your wiring job.

For some reason you had a short the circuit breaker did not open things got hot till the circuit opened by its self

Could be at the ground location which might be why the Hatch window is not working

You might be able to jump the motors direct to get your windows up

Since the windows are down most likely you will need to find the plug where the harness goes in the door

Not having the 91 EWD any more would just be a guess
Old 06-26-2017, 08:12 AM
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Originally Posted by 4x4Turtle
...
Now none of my windows work including the rear window and worst of all because it was balls hot the day of the melt down, all of my windows are stuck down. What the hell happened?!? How can I get my windows to work again? Why would a melt down on the driver door short out the tailgate window??...
He who can see, hear, feel what's in front of him is in the best position to know what happened.
How did you make sure it was the motor that was bad?
Did the meltdown happen as you were operating the controls or not?
Got pics?
Got pics of your motor install?
In the process of cleaning, you could have twisted wires and caused a short.
Possible reason tailgate window does not work either is it shares same circuit breaker as the rest of the windows. The short could also have taken out the control module that supplies the power.
Need to see schematic before we could help you. I have a first-gen schematic so that would not help.
Old 06-27-2017, 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by RAD4Runner
He who can see, hear, feel what's in front of him is in the best position to know what happened.
How did you make sure it was the motor that was bad?
Did the meltdown happen as you were operating the controls or not?
Got pics?
Got pics of your motor install?
In the process of cleaning, you could have twisted wires and caused a short.
Possible reason tailgate window does not work either is it shares same circuit breaker as the rest of the windows. The short could also have taken out the control module that supplies the power.
Need to see schematic before we could help you. I have a first-gen schematic so that would not help.

So I just took apart the door and found out the motor I installed fried along with the switches. The wiring was correct, and no lines were left exposed. I soldered the motor inline with the connection that brings it to the switch. I think the switch got stuck in the down position and fried the motor. Is this possible? Or was the motor bad to begin with? (however, the motor did work for a few hours and about 60 miles of driving where I rolled it up and down a few times. If the motor went bad would it have burned out the relay?

I am going to try to return the motor... wish me luck... And bipass the relay and wire directly off the battery via the ignition switch for the doors. The problem is getting into the rear door. I cant believe that relays are 450$ What in the hell makes them that expensive? I will also check the scrap yard.
Old 06-27-2017, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 4x4Turtle
... I think the switch got stuck in the down position and fried the motor. Is this possible? ... I am going to try to return the motor... wish me luck... ...
Yup, if you keep 12v on a stalled motor it is pretty much obligated to burn out. That's not a defective motor.

I am very conflicted about your attempt to return a motor that you fried. If they give you your money back, they have to raise the prices everyone else pays to cover returns from people who just abuse the part.
Old 06-27-2017, 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by scope103
Yup, if you keep 12v on a stalled motor it is pretty much obligated to burn out. That's not a defective motor.

I am very conflicted about your attempt to return a motor that you fried. If they give you your money back, they have to raise the prices everyone else pays to cover returns from people who just abuse the part.
I hear ya, I had not thought of it that way. Thanks for realigning my ethic with auto parts.
Sounds like that's may have been what happened with the switch. But would that have fried the relay, shorting out the entire window system? Or should I focus on replacing other parts before the replacing the relay?


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