nobangmycar Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Not really old school, but I'm at the end of my rope! My 1990 N14 pulsar keeps going through master window switches. 3 in 3 weeks! They just fail completely, stick new one in and good for a week, then nothing again! On closer inspection nothing is toasted on the inside of the switch, but nothing will operate. Power is good, earth is good. Also heater (climate control) only works on full hot and won't adjust. I have replaced heater control unit, but not interior or exterior sensor. Anyone got ideas? Call for an exorcism of this horrible little cheaply built rubbish?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllTorque Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Heater will be the resistor block. Look under the glove box area. In the heater duct you will see a plastic thing with a plug and two screws. Pull that out, it will have a 'card' attached to it. Get a NEW one from nissan. Window switches. Make sure the window tracks and mechanism is well lubed. Edit: after re reading your post my info is off. I thought you meant the heater fan. Ignore me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobangmycar Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Ha! Yeah no worries. The blower resistors were poked as well, but that was the easy part! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Is the hot water tap working properly? Find it in the engine bay (usually by firewall), get someone to adjust climate from hot to cold, if the tap moves (closes) the tap is no good, if it doesn't move, electric motor that controls tap is no good In saying that, im not familiar with your vehicle, but its somewhere to start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 And have you stripped the window switch and had a look at the contacts after it stops working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Check under the bonnet, there's a funny looking little cylinder thing behind the front grill that plugs in, this is some temp sensor and with it unplugged the heater will always blow hot. Dunno about window switches though sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtrail Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 You wont find tap in engine bay lol itll be jammed up under the dash and part of the heater box I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobangmycar Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Correct. Climate control is all electronic and part of heater box. No tap and cable here! Will try exterior sensor and see how I go. It is plugged in, but could be faulty. As for windows, will try lubing to reduce load required to move them. I have stripped switches and everything is fine. Nothing damaged and continuity where there needs to be. Got me stuffed! My old '78 Subaru doesn't have these issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 If you're putting a multimeter on the window switches and that's telling you they're fine... this might sound crazy but perhaps they're not faulty and you need to consider other possibilities. To be sure / as a next step, you could try measuring voltage at the switch while it's in circuit and while you turn it off and on. I had to laugh at your thread title, as I own an Alfa Romeo and a Rover, both from the '80s, where the electrics are actually bad. The drivers electric window in my Rover sometimes won't lower after the car hasn't been used in a while. When I press the switch, I can hear the relay operate to power the window motor and I can see the interior / cabin lights dim with the load on the electrical system, but the window doesn't move. I happen to know that the window motor is rusting and seizing internally (because Lucas), but by your logic I would approach this problem by replacing the window switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobangmycar Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 Ha! I have just spent half an hour reading your thread on your alfas! How funny is that?! Fantasically frustrating reading! I have tested the voltage. What happens is: one day everything is operating fine, next day you push the switch and nothing happens. No relay flick, no motor trying to work, nothing. All of a sudden there is power to switch, but no power to motor on other side of switch or to any other door. Replace switch and problem goes away. No other door switch works until you replace the master. Windows that don't work goes awesome with a heater permanently on hot!! Maybe I should put an alfa badge on the front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Have you had a look at the wiring in the door? Specifically the part that gets a workout between door and pillar. Maybe it gets jiggled into making contact when you change the switch? Just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtrail Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 They normally have an amplifier thing in the door somewhere too have a looksy at that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Ha! I have just spent half an hour reading your thread on your alfas! How funny is that?! Fantasically frustrating reading! I know where the problem with the speedo is, finally, after all these years of it mostly sitting at zero. Just need to bother fixing it properly, but the instrument cluster's got a bit damaged from all my diagnosis attempts. =| All of a sudden there is power to switch, but no power to motor on other side of switch or to any other door. Replace switch and problem goes away. No other door switch works until you replace the master. What do you mean by the master switch? Is that some kind of button that locks out all the electric windows so your kids don't commit suicide? You can't have a situation where you've got voltage on one side of the closed switch, a good connection through the switch and yet no voltage on the other side. Old switch A installed -> no windows work at all New switch B installed -> all windows work 100% Old switch A reinstalled -> do the windows all stop working again? This would point to switch A being faulty rather than you just jiggling loose wires back into place during switch swapping. If switch A does seem to be faulty as above, take it out and measure it on the low ohms setting not just the continuity beeper. Maybe I should put an alfa badge on the front? Have you heard of the Alfa Romeo ARNA and Nissan Cherry Europe twins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobangmycar Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 What do you mean by the master switch? Is that some kind of button that locks out all the electric windows so your kids don't commit suicide? You can't have a situation where you've got voltage on one side of the closed switch, a good connection through the switch and yet no voltage on the other side. That's right. It is the switch. To be clear the switch consists of silicone pad on a PCB.... There is no connection through any of the switches. It's not the wiring through the door, there is always power at the switch. By master I mean the drivers door switch that has all doors on it, that's what we called them at PartsWorld and partmaster where I used to work. Old switches don't work at all once they stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 To be clear the switch consists of silicone pad on a PCB.... Pfft. Get a real car. Regardless of the type of switch you're trying to describe (I'm starting to think you're talking about a whole bank of switches, perhaps four or five), so long as the switch(es) is/are working properly, then when you press it/them, you will be able to measure a change. With a real switch, the resistance would change from an open circuit to near zero. With a stupid rubber button pushing a bit of black stuff onto a PCB, the resistance might not drop right to zero when the switch is pressed. In this situation, if you've got your multimeter on a smaller scale than the switch 'on' resistance, you'll still see an open circuit. Using the measurements taken from a known good switch for comparison, you can evaluate suspect switches. Your findings can then help you work out what's wrong with your car (apart from it being newschool). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobangmycar Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Too hard! I'm going back to my 70's Subaru. Bugger this modern crap! Thank you all for your help, it seems that lubing the windows helped. Current switch has lasted 8 days so far! As for the heater... I'll just put the windows down. Hopefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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