Courtesy of Jasonius is this further explanation on how to fix the switch:
A lot of good pics.
This is what he did:
Hey Gang,
My driver side power window switch died as well, and I wasn't too excited about buying a whole new unit, so I engaged the mighty power of beer and innovation.
Howto extension to Odins original thred below. I couldn't post in the other area - apparently I don't have permission!
Why?
Your power window switch goes 'snap' and won't wind the window up or down. The switch moves around loosely on its housing.
Whats happened?
The switch assembly has a small plastic 'stalk' that sticks out at right angles to the switch. This nudges bushes on the internals of the switch assembly to tell the window to go up/down:
What tools will I need?
Well, as always, every good home handyperson job starts with beer:
You'll also need:
- Small flathead screwdriver (to lever the switch off)
- Philips head scredriver (to detach door skin and switch assembly)
- Multigrip pliers (to bend wire)
- Small guage wire (to replace broken foot)
- Drill and small drill bit to match wire guage
- More beer (just because)
- Long sewing needle (to extract broken foot)
How do I fix it?
Righto, first thing - remove the door skin. Odin goes over the removal procedure quite well, so I won't rehash it. It really really helps to wind down the window before you remove the skin.You should end up with this:
Be careful to remove *all* the screws though, including the one in the door handle. Someone removed the doorskin (prior to my ownership) forgot that one, and tore the bottom of the door handle (internal) off.
The switch assembly is held on with two screws, top and bottom of the assembly behind the door skin. Undo these and the assembly just slides out:
In Odins howto, he actually removes (desolders) the PCB from the switch assembly. I wasn't too excited about doing that, and noted that you can actually lever the switch (very carefully) off. Be careful not to lose the little white plug and spring (which I did). It doesn't seem to do a lot, and my switch works fine without it, but I'm sure its there for a reason.:
Once you've removed the switch, you have to dig around inside the assembly to locate and extract the broken foot stalk. I found a long sewing needle very handly for this. You can embed it in the stalk and pull it out. Keep it for measuring purposes later.
Once this is removed, adjourn to your workbench with wire, pliers, drill and beer.
Grab the broken stalk (I tried glueing it, but it just snapped again). Get your wire, cut a length, and bend in half:
Cut it longer than the switch, and longer than you think you'll need. You can see above that I've cut it approx 1.5cm longer than required. The extra length is used to embed the wire into the switch.
Grab your handy drill, and carefully drill two approx .5cm deep new holes where the foot used to be attached:
Now insert the metal replacement foot into the holes you've made. Measure up how much material you need to cut fromthe wire to keep it at the same level as the old foot.
Heat up the bottom of the wire with a lighter/candle/heating device, being careful not to burn your fingers.
Dip fingers in beer to ease burning sensation
Drink greasy beer
Insert the heated wire in the holes. The heat will melt the plastic around it, and affix the wire to the switch:
Wait awhile to let it set, check for wobbles etc. You could also use glue if you like, but I like playing with fire.
Go back to the car, replace the switch, and connect to the dangling connecter assembly. Test that the new switch works:
Once you're happy that it will work properly, replace the door skin and away you go.
While you've got the skin off, its a good opportunity to lube the window rails, fix any wiring etc.
Have more beer (preferrably untainted with burnt finger), and bask in the glow of your handiness.
Cheers,
Jasonius