Hi all,

I have just bought a 1997 Volvo 850 Wagon with 238,500k on. so far, I love the car. I was wondering if all you experts have any tips on what to look for, what to expect, and what I should look at right away.

Secondly, I just noticed that the driver-side power window control for the rear drivers-side window does not work. When I push the button in the back seat, next to the window, the window works fine. It is just the button on the center console up front that does not work. any ideas?

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Does the Passenger Right back window work with switch in front ?

Sticky contacts are a bit of a problem on 850's.

Pull the appropriate power window switch out of the centre consol and apply a liberal dose of elecrical contact cleaner.

Quite often the contacts are simply gummed up as the poor positioning of these switches (and Murphy's Law) means any crud in the cabin will somehow fall on these switches (dust, dirt, coffee, soft drink, crumbs etc.) and work their way into the contact mechanism and end up causing these sort of frustrating problems.

If cleaning the contacts does not rectify the problem, then try shorting out the contacts on the switch to establish whether the switch itself has gone faulty or there is actually a fault in the wiring between the centre consol and the rear door power window switch.

I once kept the switch down a farily long bit, just with my thumbs and miraculously it started back again. That was like 3 years ago, and have not acted up again, since.

:)

I had to replace the switch assembly and the relay that controls it. The chip inside the relay was corroded from water that had leaked into it when there was a leak near the rear view mirror. That wasn't cheap; something like $300 or something! I don't know if that's what's wrong with your assembly and let's hope it's not!

:)
Wow thanks for the tip buddy! I thought I would try a quick fix since I was in a situation where time didn't allow for me to figure out how to remove the center console, so I sprayed some electrical connector/contact cleaner with the red hose that comes with it - directly into the console switch for a temp fix. Theory is that if soft drinks, etc got in there then so will this. It was worth a try for now and it worked great. Obviously it's a hokey way to do it, but I was in a rainfall with my window down and luckily had some PB, WD40 and Contact Cleaner in the trunk. I grabbed the contact cleaner and sprayed a little - it worked for a few seconds, then I really sprayed it in there and low and behold the window went up. When I was able to park, I soaked it really well since the stuff evaporates quickly, I thought I have nothing to lose until I can take the console out. Overnight it soaked in there and it now works better than it ever did. I have another project to deal with on the car so I'll wait until I have a free weekend to do it the proper way as you suggested. Thanks for the tip, hope this helps someone if they need a quick solution until they can do it the right way and get at the connectors directly.

This is one of the really good aspects of forums. Lowbeer originated this thread on 27 Sep. '07 and John2008 finds a solution to his problem sitting amongst the various responses nearly a year later.

There is so much accumulated information held in these types of forums that's so very helpful and in many instances can save lots of $$$$s.

Oh - and before I sign off - :00000732: to John2008.

I hope you also find this forum as helpful and instructive as I do. Sometimes members wander off the beaten track somewhat and you'll get many a good laugh at the humour and wit displayed here - all done in the spirit of help and good fun.

so its safe to spray wd 40 or similar product in there? I am having this problem with my passenger side front window. It goes down but not back up, unless you have complete patience and work on it about an hour.

C'mon someone please answer me!

Maybe because noone has tried WD40 before, XPIece.

John2008 used Contact Cleaner, so he probably could vouch for it.

If you ask me, WD40 and Contact Cleaner are 2 very different things. To begin with, 1 leaves residue, while the other doesnt. And then 1 is supposed to lubricate, while the other is supposed to clean. And those are not getting into the chemical compounds yet.

In short, i dont know if WD40 can be used. Maybe it could, maybe not.
If you do find out, feel free to share with us...

Thanks, dude.
:gitara:

Don’t use WD40. WD40 is primarily kerosene. You need something to remove the carbon and corrosion on the contacts.

Use a quality spray contact cleaner. CNC makes some good products that dry quickly and don’t attack plastics or wire insulation. I took the switch assembly out of my car and opened the side of the plastic box/assembly a bit and gave it a good bath while working the switch back & forth.

My windows have behaved since February.

I have read some threads about the springs/contacts failing/cracking. the only way to know is if the thing has a rattle (i guess) or to open it up on the bench. luckily mine was just dirty.


Good luck

Thank you.

CRC...?





And Cheers!
:)

yes... CRC. :blush: :rolleyes: :wacko: :blink:

thank you bear! :beer:

Sure thing, bro.
:)