Sod's Law and the Art of Electric Window maintenance

[Tsu]

Ok, it's a clickbaity title. Apologies.

I've got an MOT looming large tomorrow morning and as Sod's Law would dictate the front passenger electric window decided to stop working yesterday, from either drivers or passenger switch.

I've been through almost every post on here related to the issue and none of the suggested fixes have sorted it.
- battery disconnect
- charged battery overnight
- relevant fuses checked
- swapping CCU DCM
- banging CCU DCM
- checking loom
- reconnecting wiring in order power first with ignition on

Now the only minor success I had was once I swapped out the CCU and used the key in the drivers door held to the 9 o'clock position for a few seconds to open all the windows the passenger window behaved as it should and dropped. Trying to return both windows to the up position failed on the passenger side however.

For the sake of my sanity I disconnected the battery again and let the system clear for over 10 minutes. Reconnected and now both windows don't respond to the key, however the drivers side window still works from the switch.

On the off-chance that I've missed something I'd appreciate any dig outs you could give me here as I'm running out of time.

Thanks.

 

[Robin_Cox]

What about pressing the lock button on the remote for a few seconds - that normally causes the electric windows to close if they are responding to the signal.

If that doesn't happen I'd start wondering about the window motor itself.

 

[A2Steve]

It will be the passenger control module. I have loads in stock, but unfortunately i'm not in my garage until Saturday.

Pretty sure an opening window is not an MOT fail. The door just has to open from the inside.

 

[Tsu]

Thanks for jumping in so quickly guys. I appreciate it.

Old CCU DCM in hand in this pic.
Slight difference in code but hoping that's ok.
Old: 105080-104
New: 105080-102

@Robin_Cox I haven't had a working fob in years I'm afraid.

@A2Steve I've replaced the motor with one I know is working. When I was referring to the CCU I was referring to the door CCU. I'm in Ireland so our MOT here is called the NCT, and unfortunately a faulty window is a fail.

 

[timmus]

If only to aid clear communication...

The CCCU (Central Convenience Control Unit), sometimes abbreviated to just CCU, is a main brain housed within the chassis of the car.
The DCM (Door Control Module) is the box of electronics shown in the photo above, attached to the window motor.

Slight difference in code but hoping that's ok.

Not a problem. These are cross-compatible.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[A2Steve]

If I’m right @timmus, the drivers door control module is the master and has a control over the passenger window. Could it be at fault?

 

[bix]

I had my mot last week and same as yours my pasanger side window switch is broken and as expected my car failed MOT on emissions. I didn't use the car for 3 months due lot of repairs to be done and weather wasn't always nice and sunny. I put in half a tank of Shell V power bottle of emission reducer. Blast it on the motorway up and down went back and emission dropped by 500%. Don't worry about the window if you can't fix it t will pass.

 

[timmus]

If I’m right @timmus, the drivers door control module is the master and has a control over the passenger window. Could it be at fault?

Yes, the driver’s one is the ‘master’ (though still subservient to the CCCU). However, if the window switch on the passenger side isn’t controlling the passenger window, then the issue is almost certainly local to the passenger door.

Have all the small 10A fuses (range 36-42, if my memory serves me correctly) been checked?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Tsu]

Thanks @timmus
I've just run through those fuses and all are intact.
The drivers window now also refuses to respond to any input, and it's currently stuck in the down position. And it's started raining.
Sod's Law indeed.

 

[Tsu]

@timmus would it be overkill to swap out the CCCU?

 

[Tsu]

Sod's Law dictated that they didn't even test the thing I was worried about but damaged my passenger side rear sill when they had it on the lift, despite me showing the tester the photo of the A2 on its side with the jacking points clearly marked and him agreeing to take appropriate care.

Question is now do I make a fuss about it and bear their wrath next time its in for a test, or suck it up and live with it/get it repaired at my expense? My gut tells me the latter.

Other than that it failed on emissions due to a faulty lambda sensor which despite my best efforts I couldn't replace myself during the week as I couldn't get the %$*(&%$£(*%& thing off even with the sensor removal tool I got off Amazon as recommended on here as it was about a mm too big, and ARB bushes which in hindsight I think the tester might have mistaken for being missing as he was looking at the plastic collars which on closer inspection when I got home look fine to me.

The joys of having a now rare car (in Ireland anyway) go through a system that the guys have no interest in other than getting it in and out as quickly as possible so they can hit their target quotas for the day.

 

[birtyA2]

Hi
That’s awful! I’d make a great big fuss myself. I do what you did and have a copy of that picture in the glove box. I can recommend the jacking point bungs from @Proximo which are available in very bright colours to make it pretty obvious where to jack the car.

Justin

 

[Tsu]

I ordered them earlier this week @birtyA2 so they're on their way but I doubt they'd have made any difference. The impression I got from the tester when I was showing him the jacking points was that he was more put out by being asked to be careful than actually paying attention to what I was showing him. He may have even made a point of downright ignoring it when it came to it because when I saw it on the lift I could tell he hadn't supported the car correctly. Us plebs aren't allowed to take photos when the car is being tested so that ruled that approach out, and as I don't have any shots of the sill prior to the test they could argue it was already damaged. Is it worth the fight? Not when I plan on getting the car tested in there every year for the foreseeable. Believe me, when I discovered it I was fuming, but against the backdrop of a 21 year old car needing only a few bushes and a lambda sensor to be legal again, on balance I'm strangely proud of it. Choose your battles as they say.

 

[audifan]

Well all I can say is more fool you for stating that you are going to be using this testing centre every time. If this was the case then why even bother complaining here about them......

 

[Tsu]

Because the next nearest one to me is notorious for being nitpickers. At least yesterday they missed faulty windows, a torn outer CV boot and a painfully slow to retract drivers seat belt. I'll choose being a fool for a lifetime over being king for a day @audifan , but duly noted on the complaining.

 

[bix]

Sod's Law dictated that they didn't even test the thing I was worried about but damaged my passenger side rear sill when they had it on the lift, despite me showing the tester the photo of the A2 on its side with the jacking points clearly marked and him agreeing to take appropriate care.

Question is now do I make a fuss about it and bear their wrath next time its in for a test, or suck it up and live with it/get it repaired at my expense? My gut tells me the latter.

Other than that it failed on emissions due to a faulty lambda sensor which despite my best efforts I couldn't replace myself during the week as I couldn't get the %$*(&%$£(*%& thing off even with the sensor removal tool I got off Amazon as recommended on here as it was about a mm too big, and ARB bushes which in hindsight I think the tester might have mistaken for being missing as he was looking at the plastic collars which on closer inspection when I got home look fine to me.

The joys of having a now rare car (in Ireland anyway) go through a system that the guys have no interest in other than getting it in and out as quickly as possible so they can hit their target quotas for the day.

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I told you in my previous post they don't test the widows when I did my mot last week. You coud just skip the window issue and look at it later on when not in rush.

Same as you I failed the mot on emision last week but I totally expect that because the car wasn't used for quiet a whileI. I had my emissions readings in 5s after 2hr Italian tune up with loads of additives it went down on my retest to 0.9.

Are you sure it's a bad lambda sensor? Did you check it with vcds?

 

[Tsu]

I told you in my previous post they don't test the widows when I did my mot last week. You coud just skip the window issue and look at it later on when not in rush.

Same as you I failed the mot on emision last week but I totally expect that because the car wasn't used for quiet a whileI. I had my emissions readings in 5s after 2hr Italian tune up with loads of additives it went down on my retest to 0.9.

Are you sure it's a bad lambda sensor? Did you check it with vcds?

@bix I'm in Ireland, and the test includes windows. I'm parking the window issue in lieu of getting the ARB bushes and lambda sensor done. VCDS confirmed. Additive and Italian tune-up on the 20 minute drive to the test centre didn't get the reading within limits unfortunately.