Thanks maxbottomtime!
There are many posts on the microswitch issues, but i believe mine is unusual in that i THINK the weird window behavior stems from a "short" on the pcb-to-9pin connector that controls the DC power-lock motor> tiny physical manipulation of this connection by hand sets the power lock motor in motion (which in turn starts up the window antics)
I'm suspecting it is a pcb bad connection issue and am hoping a member with PCB knowledge will point me in the right direction.