I know situations LIKE this have been covered.

Here's my situation. Obviously its the rear window on a 2nd gen 4runner, but How the hell do I fix it? So far, I've pulled the rear cargo interior panels, and the tailgate panels off. both the relay, window motor, regulator and latch assembly is in plain view. but how do I figure out what is or isn't working? Here's the "symptoms" of the rear window

Interior switch symptoms:

The window will not roll up with the interior switch, but after clicking it rapidly a couple hundred times the window will eventually "budge" ( it'll go down a little bit and i'll hear a faint noise, like when you push a power window button switch and stop, and the window goes down, duh ) at that point, the window will roll ALL the way down, with no hesitation. recently though, the window hesitated to go down... it stopped midway, pushed the down button again, went a little further, and this repeated until it was all the way down.

Tailgate keyhole symptoms:

the window will NOT roll down this way ( it probably would if i sat outside the car like an idiot and twisted the key, but I no longer have the patience to stand outside the car and do this a couple hundred times, its just alot easier to drive around, click the button and not think about it ) but It rolls UP every single time. it doesn't hesitate. turn the key and bam, goes up...

So my real question is, why in the blazes wont the damn thing go down? does the motor need to be replaced? or is it the relay? I highly doubt its a switch or wiring. I checked all the plugs and everything looks clean and what not. Could this be as simple as replacing a fuse? or am I gonna have to fork out 357.99 towards an OEM replacement relay or 100 towards an OEM replacement motor at autozone? I really would like to not have to touch any wiring. I'm not an electrical nut, and I tend to stay away from it as much as possible.

Here's some pictures of what im looking at. for those who don't know, the relay is the GRAY box in the panel and the motor is the little black thing located to the left of the latch assembly.

 

take the switch apart and clean the contacts. be-careful of the tiny springs that may go flying when you take the switch apart. also, be sure to look at the way it all sits inside.

 

everyone is telling me to do that, but its not the switch. why would the tailgate roll down with the switch and up with the tailgate and vice versa? the tailgate keyhole wont roll the window down, but it'll roll it up, the interior switch will roll it down, but not up...

 

So, lemme see if I follow what you said.

the rear window switch inside the truck rolls the the rear window down, but not up and the tailgate key switch rolls up, but not down?

 

its because they are two different switches, the keyhole does not activate the interior switch, sounds like bad contacts on the switch in the front and the same for the rear, if it was a fuse it wouldnt work at all, cleaning a switch is free. I had a similar problem with my driver side windowe switch and lock button, had to hammer them repeatedly to get them to work, i took them apart and used a spark plug file and cleaned them up and they now work great. i would try that first and at worst case scenario you break the switch and your out 5 bucks and a trip to the yard

 

exactly... lol. very complicated process... I checked all the wiring as well.. nothing appears wrong with it.

 

old toyota switches are notoriously bad for collecting corrosion on the brass contacts inside. i have fixed many quirky problems by taking apart the switches and cleaning the contacts.

 

See below:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...leshootingTips

Basically, check for the up/down switch contact closures at the relay box connector and see if they are making it there. Basically there are two different switches with two different sets of up/down contacts and two different wiring connections involved. And the outside switch works with the key off inside and the inside switch needs the key on. So they are not identical/parallel circuits.

 

i've read that guide over and over again, yet dont understand it. how do i measure if its getting power to the relay and from the relay to the motor? I know the switches are on different circuits, but this is what i've discovered and what i know works ( sometimes ). I just would like a straight answer on how to fix the damn thing...

So to break it all down

How would I measure if i'm getting power to the relay and from the relay to the motor so i can find out what needs to be replaced?

 

i'd bet ya $$ its a corrosion problem!!

 

what would you suggest I clean the switch with then?

 

get some contact cleaner and take apart the switch and clean the contacts with some 600 grit sand paper. I bet they are covered in green corrosion.

 

Well, since the motor works up and down (albeit with different switches) then power is getting from the relay to the motor. Only two wires between the relay and motor, put 12v/gnd on them and the motor turns one way, put gnd/12v and it turns the other way.

Use an ohm meter or test light at the relay connector and see if each up/down switch is doing what it is supposed to. Measuring power likely will not work as many of those switches are connections to ground (i.e. 0 volts), and if so, you'll never measure any power (voltage).

 

I'll try cleaning the switches. where would you suggest getting an ohm meter / test light? autozone? I refuse to touch anything electrical, never liked it much, and never really understood it.

so basically unplug the relay and test it with a test light?

 

want me to pull the switches and see if there's green corrosion? I see that as a viable "you were right"

 

If you have a Harbor Freight store nearby:
- http://www.harborfreight.com/7-funct...ter-90899.html
or
- http://www.harborfreight.com/circuit-tester-30779.html

And yes, you find out which pin of the relay box connector the switch you want to test is connected to and then put one probe there. Or since you have one switch that works in one direction but not the other, you can compare what is different between the working switch and non-working one. So with the working up-switch, see what signals you get at the relays then compare that to what the non-working up-switch does.

 

k so i went to kragen and grabbed a multimeter, contact cleaner and 600 grit sand paper...

now how do I test the relay with the multimeter?

 

Some tips below:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...oUseAnOhmMeter

 

Take a week of vay-cay and come enjoy the Yosemite area. I'll help ya with it.

 

You can rebuild the rear window relay control board, there is a thread here some were on how to do it. I rebuilt the relay board on my 86 4Runner and it cost me less than 20.00 dollars. You can also use a power window motor from a mid 80`s camry (has to be from the driver side, front or rear for it to mount properly) Do a search, matt16 has covered all of this and how to fix it.