Ghost in the rear window

[sportscarfan]

I searched and found a TSB about "Unintended power rear window activation" which applies to 99-01's.

I've got a '97 and while camping this week, we noticed that at some point overnight, the rear window rolled itself down and would not go back up with the switch inside, or the key in the hatch. With limited tools and a roll of concrete form tie wire I threw in the tool bag (bailing wire, zip ties & duct tape fixes all, right?) I was able to pull the rear panel off and get power to the motor to roll it back up...I left the motor unplugged for now.

Search didn't reveal anything obvious to check. I haven't looked at it further since getting back home last night. I did notice after the campsite workaround, the rear wiper does not work now (only the window motor is unplugged). The wiper did work the day before the window went down on it's own...

Any ideas?

Pictures of forest repair:
Tools on hand -

Panels off -

Tie wire to ground -

Tie wire to (+), check out the hands free device to keep it off the body!

Two bare wires supply power to motor & up it goes!

 

[RunninOnBlue]

Take a look at the wire harness at the top of the rear hatch.(With it open) I saw another thread where the wires have gotten pinched/stretched and failed. See stock photo below.

 

[YotaZach85]

There is a limit switch on the window motor that tells the wiper that the window is up, with the window unplugged it would make sense that the wiper isn't working.

 

[sportscarfan]

I think I found the culprit - rear hatch key switch that rolls up/down the window.
There's continuity between 2 of the contacts which correspond to twisting the key to the left to roll down the window. When disconnected, everything works fine - except being able to roll the window up/down with the key. The switch inside still operates the window and the rear wiper works again.
Good enough for me...

 

[DirtAlley]

This just worked on my 97! There was a 400mA drain on my battery, and rear window/wiper had stopped working. I could hear the relay clicking when I pushed the Down button on the console switch, but nothing would move. When I pulled the fuse for power windows (which includes the rear window), it went down to 20mA.

I spent 3 weeks trying everything, read every thread out there...got a new battery (old one had drained too many times), jumped the window motor to make sure it still worked (and was fully at the top position), fixed a cracked wire at the hinge spot where most people had their problems, pulled apart the front console to check the switch...nothing.

Saw this thread today and gave it a shot, didn't think it would do anything - it did! Window and wiper are working now and the parasitic drain is gone (sitting nicely at 20mA).

Thnx for finding this, I was ready to give up (or start looking for a new rear ECU). Definitely try this if you're having similar problems

 

[sportscarfan]

Saw this thread today and gave it a shot, didn't think it would do anything - it did! Window and wiper are working now and the parasitic drain is gone (sitting nicely at 20mA).

Thnx for finding this, I was ready to give up (or start looking for a new rear ECU). Definitely try this if you're having similar problems

Haha, glad to see it helps! 9 years later and I still never replaced that little chunk of harness. I don't miss the ability to roll the rear down with the key one bit.