stlz/28

Picked up a 99 trans am with 34,000 original miles and one owner car for..... Hold on tight........ $7000 looks brand new! The bad is the windows won't roll down. I was told it was a relay because the motor had been hooked up to a different power source and worked fine. Im guessing its the relay? and if so where could I find this relay on my car at? I was told under the dash somewhere

J_O_E

Open the driver door and there is a panel you can pop open on the dash. There are also to fuse boxes on the driver side under the hood, behind the headlight. I don't remember which has the relay/fuse.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Nope. This is a very common problem. Do a search and you'll find more information about this issue than you can dream about. (BTW - Make sure you go with the Dorman replacement motor.) You should also read the stickies at the top of the section.

Welcome to the forum.

One other thing you'll want to address right away is the door panel cracking problem. (You have it even if you can't see it.) There is also a key thread here on that.

On your '99, anything with rubber seals will also start to go out now, due to age. So, you may not have the normal failure mode on things - but we have some great threads to help there, as well.

EDS01SS

iTrader: (30)

What you are talking about is the fuse and breaker panel. There is a relay box for the windows up under the dash. It is a 3"x3" black box and is located in the vicinity of the stereo. I doubt that is the problem though since these cars have such an issue with their window motors.

stlz/28

Im not new to these cars haha. I have a built 99 z/28, a 2001 ws6, 2 V6 firebirds, and now I also own this 99 red trans am. I know all about the cracks on the top of the door panels. Its not the fuse though. I switched the fuses and that isnt the problem. I need to know where the power window relay switch is located.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

There is no relay! The motors are likely bad and its common for them to die in pairs. Check the voltage at the switches and that will confirm.

Even if there was a problem with the express down module, that would only explain the drivers side...

EDS01SS

iTrader: (30)

yes there is a relay but it is actually called the window control module and the exact location according to the wiring diagram is (Mounted to center of dash mat above floor tunnel). it has 2 brown wires, a dark blue wire and a Gray wire coming off the connector

EDS01SS

iTrader: (30)

the express down relay is part of the window control module

stlz/28

Thanks for the help! hopefully thats the problem if not like he said ill just have to try the new motors I have and see if thats the problem.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

This doesn't sound to me like the typical power window motor problem. Usually they will go down, but not back up. And for both of them to be completely dead at 34k miles is not impossibile, but also not extremely likely. Although you don't really know how often the windows might have been used by the previous owner, so the mileage might not be an exact indication of wear/lack of wear in this regard.

Are the windows tinted? It seems that the motors die more often on cars with tinting paper, perhaps due to some extra drag on the motors. My first window motor didn't die until about 90k miles, and the other original one is still working.

stlz/28

No there is no tint and when the motors were hooked up to a different power source they both worked. Im not sure what to think either.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

This happened to me after 45k miles and we've had similar threads before.


Highly unlikely its the module since it ONLY comes in to play on the driver's side. (nevermind the part is difficult to find at a reasonable price)

If its not the motors, I'm thinking its a RAP issue.

A simple voltage tester will confirm.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

From what I remember, if you disconnect the driver's side switch then neither side will operate. So if that switch has gone bad or is disconnected in some way, it could be causing this condition.