lhill6139

Long story short, my 98 T4R for was doing a "phantom roll" down of the tailgate window about every two weeks or so. I decided to combat this with the window lock which worked for months. Inevitably, this also failed and I took it in to the dealer after fumbling with a motor replacement on my own. They told me it was the Power Control Module (PCM). They quoted me $536 for the part, so I naturally went to ebay. I got a used Toyota part, plugged it in, and all was good with the world for three weeks. I woke up this morning to find the window down again (no window lock this time), and when I removed everything, the motor was screaming hot (like it was initially when I was troubleshooting this problem a month ago). Is there something else driving this PCM or did I just get a bunk part that worked for a few weeks and then took a crap? P.S. I jumped the window back up, so the motor is still good.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Have you tested the window module ??

Should be pretty easy

for some reason either a switch or contacts in the module are staying closed.

it could be the switch in the hatch .

have you checked the switches??

Did you get a temperature of the motor it would not take long to get warm with a high ambient temperature

lhill6139

I'm a complete rook at all this, so I'm afraid I don't know where the window module is. Per the switches, I haven't "checked" them past taking the truck to the dealer for their diagnostic. I told them the same symptoms I listed above, and they targeted the PCM. Not sure where the switch in the hatch is located, but my hatch is hella rusty.

The motor was definitely smoking hot! Abnormally so. When I unplugged everything back there and reassembled it all, the motor was making a springing noise every 10 sec or so.

lhill6139

Alright, sorry for my ignorance. I'm tracking you now. I think you're on to something with the rear hatch switch. How do I locate and test it?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

The electrical part of the switch is attached to the key switch in the rear hatch as Toyota likes to call it.

I have seen in the past water getting in there causing problems.

quite easy to get to with the window in the up position from inside a pain to get to unless you have help.

sometimes they call it the relay other years the module go figure it is in the hatch in the 98 4Runner

lhill6139

Well the good news is that my window is in the up position. When I'm looking for this key switch, will it stem behind where I put the key in from the outside? Amidst my digging I came across this thread (post 427 and down): https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f200...1/index22.html

Would that particular switch be the reason for my troubles? Like I said, my hatch latch housing is seriously rusted and gunked up.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

That switch when the hatch is open prevents the window from going up or down.

this switch if not working will keep the window from not working.

the switch your looking for is the one attached to the key switch in the hatch water getting in there can cause things to stick that shouldn`t .

the fact your problem happens like it does is different if you have a bad switch I would think the window would go down at once or not work at all.

Only the switch in the hatch is powered without the ignition switch turned on so I would look there first.

Then if your ebay relay/module has got wet from your rusted hatch that could be your problem

water and electrical components don`t go well

Good luck