Windows only go down with doors open . . . what?

[Sea Ranch]

Greetings.

1996 1.9 Z3. Developed this interesting habit during storage over the winter: the window will not go down unless the door is opened.

Clearly the window motors and regulators work fine. It appears to be some logic issue. Will this be fixed by the simple "reset" advice? Or is there a controller somewhere in these cars which needs dealing with?

Thanks very much for your insights!

 

[Dxbolton]

I have a micro switch in the door lock that allows my windows to operate if the ignition is off and the doors are open. Not sure if this is a separate circuit to when the ignition is turned on.
have you checked your fuses in case it’s two different circuits using different fuses

 

[Sea Ranch]

Interesting thought. I'll check into it! Thanks,

Randy

 

[Sea Ranch]

Problem solved.

Went through all the fuses, ordered extras and the original fuse puller tool as well. Got that all sorted.

Part way through a trip, and after opening the door slightly a number of times to lower windows while on the fly, we discovered that - lo and behold - the windows now lowered and raised properly in any condition: door opened or closed, ignition on or off.

So not sure exactly what fixed it, but the problem is gone.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Randy

 

[DavidM]

Up / Down cycle interrupted at some point - I think it rectifies when you complete one full up / down cycle of the window.

 

[Sea Ranch]

Could well have been computer-related. But the windows did go up and down fully. And we cycled them many times over the course of a couple weeks. Just only with the door open.

Well, I'd like to know the details, but happy they're working. On to other issues

Randy