Our Honda Odyssey was hit in the driver-side door. Several months after receiving the vehicle back from the body shop, I noticed that the passenger-side window would go down whenever someone closed the driver-side rear window. The passenger window could then be subsequently closed. This never happened before the accident. We operated the windows like this for some time until I finally decided to try to solve the problem.
My initial thought was that some of the wires in the door had shorted together. I pulled the door panel and discovered that there was no damage, and they were all intact. I then pulled out the shop manual, studied the wiring diagrams, and learned that the driver’s window switch assembly was a local controller that sent control signals to window controllers under the dash and at the rear of the vehicle. While operating the windows as part of the troubleshooting process, I also learned that the rear window would close when the passenger window was opened from the driver’s door.
The easiest next step would have been to replace the driver-side switch assembly. This, of course, would not be nearly as much fun as figuring out why the windows did not work correctly. I inspected the window switch control board with a magnifying glass.
The leads from the four window switches are connected to the control board in a row of solder joints at the edge of the board. With the help of the magnifying glass, I found a tiny bridge of solder between two of the solder connections. The two connections were from the front passenger-side window switch and rear driver-side window switch! Now it all made perfect sense. I carefully removed the solder bridge with a knife, and the windows now work as they should.
This entry was submitted by Thomas W. Manning, Jr., PE, and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tom Manning graduated from Drexel University in 1984 with a master's degree in mechanical engineering and began working in the field of machine vibration measurements in the engineering department of DuPont. In 1989, he began process equipment development work for the DuPont Lycra business at Benger Laboratory. He returned to DuPont Engineering in 2005 and now works to improve the quality, yield, and productivity of Nomex and Kevlar products.
Tell us your experience in solving a knotty engineering problem. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Sherlock Ohms.
"One very prominent manufacturer of aftermarket parts boasts that they re-engineered the part to eliminate the failure modes. Their replacement part can be had for as little as $43.00.
Which would you buy?"
In this case, a GM that I would repair the lamp in. :)"
Uhhh, I don't think so. The assembly consists of two pieces of plastic bonded together so well that they can only be separated destructively. I am going to cut two failed assemblies open to determint the exact failure modes, but these will not be suitable for reassembly.
I've repaired a lot of "non-repairable" things, and will probably repair these, but they won't be reusable.
Anatech also wrote:
"Saab makes a really cool car too, ..."
Uhhh, yeah. Click and Clack (Tom and Ray Magliozzi) described Saab as a car put together by designers who never looked at how anyone else was doing it. Battery under the driver's seat? Clutch out in front, under the radiator? How about those 1998-2001s which all had the premature transmission failure that required a $2700 replacement unit. There was a reason why GM dumped them, and a reason why no one else would have them.
"One very prominent manufacturer of aftermarket parts boasts that they re-engineered the part to eliminate the failure modes. Their replacement part can be had for as little as $43.00.
Which would you buy?"
In this case, a GM that I would repair the lamp in. :)
To answer a question like this, most of us require a lot more information to go on. After considering my experiences with well over 25 cars, the answer is easy. BTW, look at the "Black" or "Red" book values on cars after they are 5 years old. That is a reasonably reliable indicator on how much that model is worth.
You may have guessed our family has a lot of experience in the auto industry, and you would be right. In this case, that door was probably taken off another vehicle and maybe repainted to match. That is common practice and there is normally nothing wrong with that. And yes, the vehicle the door came from had this fault from when it was brand new. But, the used door is better than yours repaired in this case. The original door would never have been the same, and probably have been very noisy.
Other cars to consider? A KIA (one saved my life) or BMW. Saab makes a really cool car too, and they are quiet at speed (not a surprise considering they make fighter planes too).
Now I may have to retract my last post after reading a little more on the subject. Sorry about that--I am always the skeptic, sometimes in the wrong direction.
Hmm. Wait until we start tracing these faults to tin-whiskers due to the misguided European RoHS campaign.
Ooops. I'm sorry. We'ce already done that. Look for the reports on tin whiskers in the Toyota throttle-by-wire unit.
By the way, has anyone else noted that the rich-text posting editor doesn't work. My last post used the indent feature, but the indent was once the post went live.
Third –party component manufactures have no responsibility for the overall quality of an electrical system, because they have "no skin in the game", so to speak. They are trying only to peddle after-market modules.
Jim, you are painting the aftermarket with too broad a brush. Virtually all of the high-mounted brakelights on 2000-2006 Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukons, Yukon XLs, and CK-1500 pickups failed within a few years. The GM list price for that part is $223.00. (The GM parts counterman said "No, we don't think it's unreasonable to replace that part every few years for $223.00.) There is no ECO on this part--they sell you the same weak-sister part that you got originally.
One very prominent manufacturer of aftermarket parts boasts that they re-engineered the part to eliminate the failure modes. Their replacement part can be had for as little as $43.00.
It seems that the author have a good debugging knowledge and analytical skill. The entire malfunctioning happens because of the soldering problem and it implies to the accuracy in precession soldering.
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