Ask Me Help Desk - Cars and trucks electrical problems

My 92 four door civic has an electrical problem. I am not getting power to the masterpower switch that controls the front windows. The rear windows at this location work from this switch. The individual door switches for the car( passenger and both rear windows) work from their doors. All of the window fuses are good. What to do next?

Thank you.

I'm not sure I fully understand what problem you're describing. If your not getting power to the master switch, there is an open circuit between the underdash fuse block and the LF master switch, Check for battery voltage, key on, at the master switch, the wire is white with a yellow trace on it. On the schematic for thie vehicle, the power feeds the windows separately, from the power window relay, and grounds all run through the Master switch. If all of the windows function at their respective doors, but not from the LF window at the master switch, the problem is an internal open/corrosion in the master switch. Check this and let us know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainRich

I'm not sure I fully understand what problem you're describing. If your not getting power to the master switch, there is an open circuit between the underdash fuse block and the LF master switch, Check for battery voltage, key on, at the master switch, the wire is white with a yellow trace on it. On the schematic for thie vehicle, the power feeds the windows seperately, from the power window relay, and grounds all run through the Master switch. If all of the windows function at their respective doors, but not from the LF window at the master switch, the problem is an internal open/corrosion in the master switch. Check this and let us know.

Thanks Captain for responding.

I am getting power to the master switch only to the connections for the right rear window and the left rear window.
I am not getting any power to the white wire with yellow trace.
All of the windows function at their respective doors, but not from the LF window at the master switch.
I bought a used master switch from a Honda junkyard before I found out that no power was being supplied through white wire with yellow trace.

I connected 12 volts hot to the white wire/yellow trace at the back of the connector with the switch connected and I can make the front drivers window go up and down.
I checked the fuses for the four windows and all check out OK.
I do not know how to check out the power window relay, if that’s a problem.

But I am still not sure where to go from here.

Now, we're getting somewhere!

If all the fuses, including fuse 5 check out as good, then the relay is good, and the open circuit/broken wire is between the #5 fuse and the master switch. That white with yellow trace is open somewhere. And being that it runs from the underdash fuse block through to the master switch, the break is more than likely inside the boot that connects the door to the body (repeated flexing eventually breaks the wires inside that boot, there may/will be more broken)

If you can find where that wire comes out of the fuse block, and it has power there, tap into that wire and run it as neatly as possible out to the master switch. Sounds easy, huh? You may have to run the wire ouside of that boot to get out to the door and then to the master switch.

Support the wire along it's run with wire-ties and/or electrical tape and stay away from sharp edges. Just remember, what ever you do, make sure the new wire is fused to protect things in case of a short.

Good luck and let us know!

(editted) It sounds, too, like you have the same problem going to the RF window. I thought you said in your first post that it worked?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainRich

Now, we're getting somewhere!

If all the fuses, including fuse 5 check out as good, then the relay is good, and the open circuit/broken wire is between the #5 fuse and the master switch. That white with yellow trace is open somewhere. And being that it runs from the underdash fuse block through to the master switch, the break is more than likely inside the boot that connects the door to the body (repeated flexing eventually breaks the wires inside that boot, there may/will be more broken)

If you can find where that wire comes out of the fuse block, and it has power there, tap into that wire and run it as neatly as possible out to the master switch. Sounds easy, huh? You may have to run the wire ouside of that boot to get out to the door and then to the master switch.

Support the wire along it's run with wire-ties and/or electrical tape and stay away from sharp edges. Just remember, what ever you do, make sure the new wire is fused to protect things in case of a short.

Good luck and let us know!

(editted) It sounds, too, like you have the same problem going to the RF window. I thought you said in your first post that it worked?

Thank you again Captain,
The right front window works only from its own door. It also does not work from the left front master switch. You could be right about other broken wires maybe in the boot. Is there another power(or hot) wire to the master switch to control the passenger window at this location? If there is what color is the wire to the connector?
Thank you,
NicoloB