Power window stuck and fixed

[xcbxer]

I've been through a lot of threads on power windows. Here's my story. My 1997 drivers window got stuck in the full up postion. Door handles and console switch had no effect, and window glass would not physically push down one bit. Could not open/close the door without top interference. Passenger window remained fully operational. Power window fuse OK, as expected since there is only one fuse for both windows. Took off drivers door panel. (Mirror switch cover - pull out bottom, then lift top corner. Handle cover - pop the bottom, push down hard on top rear, wiggle and hope the internal tab survives. As panel comes off disconnect microswitch, door lock cable and light socket.) I then ran a felt pen along bottom inside seal and scratch awled regulator feet positions. Removed 4 plugs. Removed glass. Removed regulator/motor assembly. Separated motor from regulator. Regulator had full tension and drive wheel rotated freely manually. Plugged motor into its 8 pin plug but it did not turn. 8 pins feeding door motor showed various voltages. Switching the console switches had no effect. This is where many are inclined to replace the motor. At $300 I chose to remove the passenger panel and plug in the driver's motor into the passenger side 8 pin plug. Motor ran. Took apart the driver's A pillar wiring harness junction block. This finely engineered waterproof 4 piece multiplug assembly released a small cup of long accumulated water. Consequently, a bottom female pin had corroded and separated from its red/grey positive power wire. Repaired the broken pin and reassembled - window behaving normally. My repair cost - 10 cents and 6 hours (over several days) versus what might have been a $1000 plus invoice.

[tamarsha]

Originally Posted by xcbxer

Took apart the driver's A pillar wiring harness junction block. This finely engineered waterproof 4 piece multiplug assembly released a small cup of long accumulated water. Consequently, a bottom female pin had corroded and separated from its red/grey positive power wire.

I have had some strange window problems too. Where is the plug you are talking about? Is it the one between the frame and door?

[jcb986]

Did you take pictures as you went along...could help a lot of guys who get this problem...

[xcbxer]

Just brought in my pristine guard red 97 from the USA into Canada a month ago. Unless the engine blows, I plan to do 95% of the repairs and maintenance myself.

So the car immediately grants me my wish. First off, the rear deck lid closed on some high cargo. That little ding you could see a mile away. Quote for repaint and blend came in at $450 - ouch! I carefully flattened the spike and then moved the boxster emblem up a few inches to cover the left over blemish. Completely invisible. Cost zero.

Then my Goldwing mirror punched into the L/S tail light assembly. Immediately put down $100 for a pair of good used lenses on ebay.

And now the power window. I started without a manual but read the many threads on this site. Starting off, if I thought I had shot, I would have taken pics - for sure next time.

The A pillar junction box is on the body between the door hinges. There is a torx bolt at the bottom surrounded by a plastic turret. A torx bit in a 1/4 inch drive hex holder will undo it. If not also use a 1/4 drive ratchet. There's not a lot of excess harness on the body side, but just enough to pull and wiggle as everthing separates.

Overall, I've been lucky so far.

[ccatolico]

I've had the same problem with my window. I'm following your protocol, and I found the female pin that had corroded and separated from its red/grey positive power wire. How did you open the black box where all the wires plug in? Will all the wires unplug if the box is split open?

[Triumphblack]

Detailed window regulator/motor replacement :http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/window/
Replaced a regulator last weekend and these instruction were very helpful. Haven gotten the "drop" adjusted yet, but working on it.

[xcbxer]

Been out of country so this may be a little late for ccatolico, but how did you find the corroded pin before spliiting the black box. Assuming it's the A pillar JB (pic attached) you unscrew the bolt at the bottom and pull it apart. The wire/pin assy stays together. Get creative to bypass damage. I drilled a small hole, soldered on a short length of wire and reconnected with bullet connectors just outside (or was it inside?) the box.

[bfloeyes11]

Just bought a 2000 boxster a few weeks ago. Washed the car the and found that the passenger side window ceased to function the following morning. Figured that I shorted something out so I went to the many Porsche forums. Thank god for these forums

After several hours of reading posts I figured I start with the quickest and cheapest fix I read and go from there.

My fix involved holding down the window button for 25 seconds in the down position, then 25 seconds in the up position. I read on one of these forums that this would reset the functionality. It worked!!

No multimeters, no amp meters, no ripping doors apart. Just thought that I'd share that for the less technically inclined.

[idrivea]

Hi everyone, I have tried to pull the junction box out but it won't come apart. I got it loose out of the body, but the box itself doesn't come apart completely. The bottom part does but the top seems to be stuck together. How was this done? Thanks!

[tuizner]

Star!

Thanks for this. I just did fork out £55 for a new motor (bargain but still a waste) and found exactly the same issue...

Corroded bottom corner wire and plug/connector.

Now just need to find a suitable connector or workaround to connect power....

Update:
So I cut the power cable to the body side of the connector, connected (in-line) about 10 inches extra wire; threaded the wire through the original connector hole (bottom corner) - through the corresponsing hole on the door side connector and added a male spade to the end of the 10" wire. Add a female spade to the corrseponding wire on the door side connector and connect them (with an insulating cover over the spades). The connection is then between the rubber gator and the door-side connector block (just tidy the excess wire into a loop and it all fits nicely in the gator). You then have a wire which *can* be disconnected pretty easily if you need to open the connector block again.

[jordan]

1997 Boxster. Guards Red. Beauty- but it's been a tad naughty lately.

Oh boy gents. So I had the exact problem happen. Pass window worked fine. Driver window worked fine. Driver window stopped working- clicking noise whenever the door opened or tried using the switch to put the window down. Asked around- regulator. Perfect. Order regulator- nope. Not the regulator. Return the regulator and then order the motor- same problem the first motor had. Return the motor. This has just been a nightmare month! All I ever wanted was a nice sunny drive with BOTH windows down haha.

So... I grew a brain and thought "let's check out forums" (I will now never go about trial and error- these forums are a BEAUTY!)

So this "A Pillar" solution- take it off, observe the connectors and then what?

[Patrick10hudshaw]

Thanks for this advice. Will certainly save a lot of labour ( yes I'm in the UK) costs to at least check out this possible cause of the problem, and since the car spent a while standing out in the rain this winter this is a likely fault.

[rexcramer]

I had the same problem with water in the plug. It took several hours of my labor before I found it.