Mark: Hi, it’s Mark from Top Local, we’re here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, Vancouver’s best auto service experience. How’re you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well.
Mark: So, we’re talking about a Nissan Murano that had a power window problem, what was going on with this Nissan?
Bernie: Well, there was a couple interesting things. First of all, sometimes the window would stick and wouldn’t go up. We tested it and what we found is the window would go up and then it would immediately drop down about halfway, it wasn’t physically dropping because it was broken, the motor would actually go all the way up and then pull it back down and it did that a few times and then eventually it stopped and wouldn’t move. Interestingly enough, that partial down movement happens on a lot of vehicles with power windows due to like programming issues with the windows but in this case, because the window wouldn’t actually move, there was a problem with the window motor or regulator system.
Mark: So what sort of tests did you need to do to find out what was going on with this?
Bernie: Well first test generally with any power window concern, we take off the door panel, we get right to the window and we test the powers and grounds to the motor and see what signals are being commanded by the switch. In this case, when we tested it, all the signals were good from the switch, the powers and grounds to the motor were good, so it basically confirmed the motor itself was bad.
Mark: So is that then a motor replacement or did you have to complete a bunch of other changes, control modules or anything like that?
Bernie: Well, there’s a couple ways you can go about it and on modern cars, windows are a little different than they used to be. In the olden days, the window regulator used to be this big, large arm with an enormous gear and then the window motor had a gear that attached to that, it would wind the window up and down but most newer cars use a system of cables, I’m going to show you a photo in a minute, cables and pulleys and the motor operates it that way. So the thing about the cables and pulleys is they actually do tend to break over time so with this particular repair, we were actually able, for the same price as a motor, get a complete assembly with the regulator and that makes a lot of sense because they tend to break on a lot of cars or stick and cause problems. So we ended up doing a complete repair. I’ll share a photo here, the regulator, so this is the power window motor right here, this is the regulator mechanism, it’s all sort of bits and several pieces but there’s cables that run from the motor and then this part here, these two parts attach to the window, so that’s what goes up and down when you move the motor. What I found really interesting about this piece when I took it apart is how small these wires are. You can’t really get a sense of it so much looking at this picture, but in years past, power windows would be at least a 14 or 12 gauge wire, there’s a lot of power drawn, these are like an 18 gauge, very, very thin wire. Amazing how a lot of modern vehicle electrical items use very thin wires and so they’re very efficient items.
Mark: So just explaining why, those silver pieces were, are sort of sit on the top and the bottom of the window or how does that or I guess just they’re on the bottom?
Bernie: Those little pieces bolt to the bottom of the window. There’s a bracket on the window and that’s where they attach.
Mark: And that’s what pulls the window up and down
Bernie: Yeah, and sometimes you’ll get a window that’s kind of sticky or it makes a lot of noise and it’s because of the cables or inside those long solve tubes, there’s usually a roller at the end and there’s a cable that goes up and down and they’ll break on some vehicles and cause all sorts of noises or the motor to strain. It seems like actually the quality of the window regulator on this Murano is fairly good quality compared to some cars they’re not that durable but the one of the Murano seems to be pretty good.
Mark: So is this a common problem on Muranos?
Bernie: Not any more than any other vehicle. The driver’s window of course gets the most strain of any car window so it’ll go more frequently but I don’t say, I wouldn’t say the power window are more problematic on Muranos than any other vehicle.
Mark: So there you go. If you have some issues with your power windows, doesn’t even matter what kind of vehicle it is, the guys to see in Vancouver are Pawlik Automotive. You can reach them at 604-327-7112 or check out their website pawlikautomotive.com. Thanks Bernie
Bernie: Thanks Mark