Car Windows Won't Go Up or Down

Car Windows Won’t Go Up Or Down? Here's Why, and What to Do About It

The side windows in your car add a lot of functionality to your driving experience. Opening your windows can quickly let outside air into your car’s interior. Open car windows also make it possible to talk to people outside your vehicle, pay road tolls, as well as order, pay for, and receive food at the drive-thru window of your favorite fast-food restaurant.

Then there are those times when it is important to be able to close your windows securely. This comes in handy when you are locking your car, keeping out extreme weather like pouring rain, a snowstorm, or dust, not to mention cooling down your interior with the air conditioning during a heat wave.

There can be many reasons why your vehicle’s windows are not working. Fixing your windows can be somewhere between very simple and extremely complex. Once you understand how your windows work and how to fix them, you can be back on the road with properly functioning windows!

Here’s our guide to car window problems, their causes, and how to fix them.

How your car windows work

Up until the 1940s, car windows were opened and closed by hand, using a rotating crank. As with many automotive innovations, the first electric power windows were introduced on expensive luxury cars. Power windows later became available on higher trim levels of mass market cars, while manual windows came on the less expensive versions. Fast forward to today, and nearly every new vehicle on the market has power windows as standard equipment.

Manual windows and power windows both work on the same basic principle. The window is moved up and down by means of a cable- or gear-driven mechanism called a regulator. With manual windows, you crank the window up and down by hand, while an electric motor controlled by a switch does the work when you have power windows.

A useful additional feature on many cars with power windows is one-touch up and/or down, which lets you raise or lower the windows with a single touch of the switch. Another common power window feature is anti-pinch protection, which reverses a closing window if it senses a finger or other obstruction in its way. Many cars with frameless door glass can also automatically roll down the window slightly right before the door is opened or closed. Once the door is closed, the window then returns to its completely closed position. This lets the windows seat solidly into the recess in their rubber weather strips, reducing wind noise and improving weather sealing.

Reasons your car windows aren’t working

Problems with manual window systems are purely mechanical in nature. Because power windows use both electrical and mechanical components, a problem can usually be traced to one or the other. Some possibilities include:

Manual Windows: Bad window crank

Manual and Power Windows: Bad regulator Bad window guides, seals, gaskets, and weatherstripping Environmental issues

Power Windows: Human error Bad fuse Bad motor Bad switch Bad wiring Bad window-control computer module

RepairPal Tip: Unless you have experience working on car window mechanisms, we do not recommend that you attempt to repair your windows by yourself. Taking off the interior door panel to reveal the inner workings of the window is a very complex process, with many small, easy-to-break parts involved. If you don’t know what you are doing, you could cause more damage. There is also the real possibility of serious injury if you get a finger caught in the regulator while it is in motion or if the glass breaks. Leave this job to your mechanic, who has experience with all types of car window repairs. The only exceptions to this might be the replacement of a manual window crank or a power window fuse, as well as some other minor fixes that don’t require you to deal with the moving parts inside the door.

Manual window issues

If you have a vehicle with manual windows, you are probably aware that these mechanisms are extremely reliable. After decades of development, manual windows just work! But there can be issues that arise due to wear and tear or other causes. Since the only unique part of a manual window system is the window crank, we will focus on that.

Bad window crank: The crank that you turn to raise or lower the window has a gear that engages with the regulator mechanism inside the car door. If the gear teeth wear out or break off, the window won’t go up or down. You may notice that the crank turns freely or that the gears make a grinding sound, while nothing else happens.

Solution: Replacing the worn crank with a new one should solve the problem, and the good news is that it usually doesn’t require you to take the insides of your door apart. You may be able to do this yourself if you can remove the bad crank. Search online for the best way to remove your specific car’s manual window crank, remove and examine it to verify that it is bad, then order a replacement online or from the parts department of your brand’s local new car dealership. If you aren’t up to doing this, your mechanic will be happy to take care of it for you.

Manual and power window issues

Aside from the window crank, both manual and power window systems have much in common. Here are some problem areas that can happen to both manual and power windows:

Bad regulator: The regulator is the internal mechanism that translates the rotary motion of the manual window crank or power window motor into the up-and-down motion of the car window opening and closing. If the regulator gets out of alignment, a part wears out or breaks, or the lubricating grease dries out, the window will not operate. In some cases, the window may drop inside the door, get stuck in a partially open position, move much slower than normal, or the motor might make strange noises (if you have power windows).

Solution: Fixing the regulator does require getting inside your car’s door, so leave this one to your mechanic, who will troubleshoot the problem and repair or replace the bad regulator.

Bad window guides, seals, gaskets, and weatherstripping: Another important part of your car’s window system are the guides, tracks, seals, gaskets, and weatherstripping in each door. The tracks and guides hold your windows in the proper position as they move up and down. You may notice that the window momentarily sticks as it goes up or down.

The seals, gaskets, and weatherstripping around the windows keep snow, rain, and other environmental debris from getting inside the doors, where the window regulators are located. These components also keep noise out and prevent precipitation from entering the interior around the edges of the closed windows.

Solution: If the problem is simply the result of high friction due to dirt, weather, or age of the car, you can try spraying some silicone lubricant in the guide channels and on the rubber parts to help the window to move easier. Otherwise, repairing or replacing these items is best left to your mechanic, who may need to get inside your car door to fix the problem.

Environmental issues: Your window systems can be affected by winter weather. Snow, freezing rain, and ice can accumulate on your windows, causing them freeze into their window frames or guides. When this happens, you may be unable to raise or lower your windows.

Solution: The easiest fix is to turn on the heat and defrosters full blast, melting any frozen precipitation on and around the windows. This should allow the windows to work properly. If the frozen buildup is very thick, you can use an ice scraper to speed things along while the heat inside does its work.

Power window issues

Because they use electrical components to “power” the windows up and down, power window systems can have their own unique set of problems, compared to manual windows.

Human error: First things first – most power windows will simply not work if the ignition is off. If your front windows work, but the rears do not, it is likely that the rear window child safety switch has been activated.

Solution: If your ignition is off, start the car and your powers windows should work. If only the rear power windows are inoperative, turn off the rear window child safety switch, found on the window switch panel on the driver’s door.

Blown fuse: This is one of the most common reasons for a non-functioning power window. As with many of your car’s electrically-powered systems, the power window circuit incorporates a fuse. This fuse will blow in the event that its circuit is overloaded, shorts out, or has some other problem. The fuse basically gives its “life” to prevent serious damage to the power window system.

Solution: First check your owner’s manual for the location of your vehicle’s fuse box. Next, determine the location of the power window fuse within the fuse box, as well as the proper rating of that fuse. With the car shut off, open the fuse box and remove the fuse for the power window (use the small plastic tweezers or other tool for this task if one is provided). Now check the fuse and see if the wire inside it is broken. Also check that the fuse has the correct rating, according to the information in the owner’s manual. Replace the fuse with one of the proper rating if necessary.

Bad window motor: Over time, the motor that repeatedly powers your window up and down can slow down, wear out and fail. When this happens, you may hear a whirring or clicking noise when pressing the window switch.

Solution: Your mechanic will need to remove the appropriate door panel, check the operation of the power window motor, and replace it if necessary.

Bad window switch: The switches that control the up-and-down movement of each window can wear out or malfunction. If the window switch is unable to make contact and close the power circuit, the window won’t work. This is most likely to happen to the driver’s window, which gets much heavier use than the other windows in the vehicle.

Solution: If the front passenger window or one of the rear windows won’t work, try activating it from the driver’s window control panel (which includes a separate switch for each of these windows). If the window works from the driver’s switch panel, the problem is most likely the switch (although the system’s wiring could also be bad – see below). The switch can often be replaced without taking the door apart, but this job is best left to your mechanic if you haven’t worked on automotive electrical systems before.

Bad wiring: Because your power window system uses motors, switches, and fuses, there is plenty of wiring needed to connect all of these components together. Any damaged, broken, corroded, or disconnected wiring can keep your power windows from working when they need to. Problems can occur where the wiring connects to the window motors or the switches. The place where the wiring goes from the car body into each door, near the door hinges, can be susceptible to wiring breakage, due to the repeated flexing of the wires each time the door opens or closes.

Solution: Your mechanic can troubleshoot your window system’s wiring, look for any faults, and repair them as needed.

Bad window-control computer module: Many newer vehicles have power windows with advanced computer-controlled features such as:

• One-touch up and down
• Pinch protection
• Frameless glass that automatically lowers slightly right before the door is opened or closed

These features are controlled by the memory built into the control module. The memory keeps track of exactly where the window is, so that it can:

1. Stop when the window is all the way up
2. Stop when the window is all the way down
3. Reverse when it senses an obstruction in the window’s path
4. Lower the window slightly before the door is opened or closed

If the window-control module loses power due to a dead battery, a blown fuse, or some other electrical malfunction, it will be unable to control these functions properly. This can also happen if a window or window motor needs replacement.

Solution: The window-control module will need to be reset. You can find the proper reset procedure for your specific vehicle by searching online, then following the steps in the proper order. If you aren’t interested in doing this yourself, your mechanic will be happy to take care of it for you.

Is your window stuck open? Here are some emergency strategies

It’s your worst-case scenario. It’s a beautiful day and you are driving with the window open. Suddenly, the clouds darken and raindrops start pelting your windshield. You reach for the power window switch or the manual window crank to close the window – and nothing happens! What can you do to get the window up and prevent the rain from soaking your car’s interior?

Here are some things that you can try when you have a stuck window emergency:

Power Windows: Check for a blown fuse and replace it If fuse is good: Turn ignition on, hold window switch in the up position, and slam the door (repeat a few times if necessary) If that doesn’t work: Open the door and stand facing the inside door panel Sandwich the glass panel between your palms (this won’t work unless at least an inch or two of glass is sticking up from the door) Move your hands slowly upward as you grip the glass between your hands – this should let you raise the window to the closed position

Manual Windows: Use technique #3 as noted above

The next step is to contact your mechanic and not lower the window until your window problem is repaired.

Can I drive with windows that won’t go up or down?

You can. The basic functionality of your vehicle does not depend on whether the windows work properly. If your windows won’t go down, you can get by, except for things like toll payments and accessing the drive-thru – but it can get awkward to have to open the door, get out of the car, and pay.

On the other hand, if your windows won’t go up, you suddenly have a security problem, along with an inability to keep the weather out. Windows that are stuck open are not usually a problem you can live with.

Either way, it is best to get your window issues fixed as soon as you can. Your mechanic is there to help!