Spent some time playing with the central switch block. Worked how to open it up, clean up the contacts, and reassemble to working condition a while back.

Recently, the front passenger switch broke off at the pivot points. (Grand daughter obviously thinks the harder you pull the faster the window goes.)
Pulled it apart, worked out how to remove a good one for the left rear, and now have the front passenger one working - but without the switch, the left rear doesn't work, not even from the door switch itself.

The rear door switches seem to have the same structure, so I'm heading off to the wreckers and hopefully pick up a central switch block and/or rear door switches.

Question - how do the rear switches come off the door card? Just lever them up, or are they held in with screws from the back so the door cards need to come off?
(Not a problem either way, really - just take the right tools to u-pull-it and look for a TL/TW.)

Pretty sure they pop out like the ones on the doors from the TJ down.

Lol i did that today with the central switch block, quite by accident though. Gave me a heart attack when all those little rocker things fell out. But i got it back together eventually........ wont be touching that again haha

Lol i did that today with the central switch block, quite by accident though. Gave me a heart attack when all those little rocker things fell out. But i got it back together eventually........ wont be touching that again haha

Yep, heart attack!
First time I pulled mine apart I was expecting a whole bunch of micro switches on the circuit board. At least with the little rockers it is so much easier to clean out the grot and burn marks on the contacts that accumulate over time.

I tried to pull out one of the rear door switches on my car, but no go. Don't want to damage it. At the wreckers though, it is a different story.
All I want is the bit that moves.

Yep, heart attack!
First time I pulled mine apart I was expecting a whole bunch of micro switches on the circuit board. At least with the little rockers it is so much easier to clean out the grot and burn marks on the contacts that accumulate over time.

I tried to pull out one of the rear door switches on my car, but no go. Don't want to damage it. At the wreckers though, it is a different story.
All I want is the bit that moves.

I'm surprised the centre console switches are still around at the wreckers since genuine they ran out some time ago. Did see some crazy prices like $250 at one point on ebay, Plenty of chinese knock offs at about $65 now. ......Anyone tried them?

Madmax, the same thing happened to me. I had to forgo my rear left power window so that the others can work. When I was replacing my gearboot on my TW, the whole lot when flying up into the air. I lost one, so I made do. Now my rear right doesn't work at all even though I haven't touch the actual rear right hand door switch on the door, it doesn't work at all.

I have a spare TW central switch at home, but I don't want to take it apart until I really have to. I have no kids and my rear seats are very rarely used and mostly used as a briefcase holder haha. The way I see it, once less thing to go wrong if I don't replace the switches

I'm surprised the centre console switches are still around at the wreckers since genuine they ran out some time ago. Did see some crazy prices like $250 at one point on ebay, Plenty of chinese knock offs at about $65 now. ......Anyone tried them?

Seen the eBay ones, look ok but who knows?

I'm actually not expecting to find any central switch blocks at U-pull-it, rear door switches on the other hand, may be do-able.

Madmax, the same thing happened to me. I had to forgo my rear left power window so that the others can work. When I was replacing my gearboot on my TW, the whole lot when flying up into the air. I lost one, so I made do. Now my rear right doesn't work at all even though I haven't touch the actual rear right hand door switch on the door, it doesn't work at all.


Yep. It needs the two little rocker contacts to be in the right position in the central switch block to pass power to the door switch, it seems.
I still have the two rocking contacts for the rear window, so as soon as I can get my hands on the moving plastic bit, all should be sweet.
Still, one rear window not going up/down is no big problem, compared to a front one not working.

Yep, heart attack!
First time I pulled mine apart I was expecting a whole bunch of micro switches on the circuit board. At least with the little rockers it is so much easier to clean out the grot and burn marks on the contacts that accumulate over time.

I tried to pull out one of the rear door switches on my car, but no go. Don't want to damage it. At the wreckers though, it is a different story.
All I want is the bit that moves.

Yeah it seems an antiquated design to me. I ended up putting marine grease on the pivot points to make the rockers stay in place.

Been down to U-pull-it today to check out the TL/TW range available.
Just the two cars, no central switch blocks of course, but I did pick up 2 rear door switches. $9 each.
Also, the earlier models have the main switch block in the door but the rocker switches and the rear door switch rocker parts appear the same as the TL/TW type. Lots of earlier third gens there, but only one that I saw with electric windows.
No 380s in sight, either.

As suspected, the actual toggle part of the rear switches is the same as that of the main block, as are the two see-saw contacts under it.
Anyhow, pulled a rear one apart - Oops, there goes the warranty! - and put the rocker part in the main switch block.

Main switch block is now back in the car and working like a new one.

By the way, the rear switches just pop out of the door card. There is a metal clip in the front of it, which lets go of the switch and drops into the door, making a cute tinkle noise. So if you do this to your TL/TW be prepared to open the door right up to retrieve it.

Aside:
Met a bloke there, working on the engine of the TL I got the rear door switches from.
Asked which bit he was after - the CAM BELT!
Crazy or what? I left quick smart.

Nothing like a used timing belt :iough:

I've seen people pull out disc pads, throw the shims away, and carry them off like they found treasure.

Another bloke - a long time ago - was trying to pull the front wishbones off a second gen Magna because he wanted the ball joints. I suggest he better check the speedo reading on the car first. Just in case he ended up replacing worn out ball joints with worn out ball joints. lol

I was tempted to tell the bloke today he could have one of my brand new spare belts for free, but I don't give presents to crazy people.

Could have been worse, he may have wanted the old oil filter too, or perhaps siphon out the last 10ml of petrol from all of the tanks to make up a litre of petrol. lol

There was a time you could make up to $10 a day pulling out the back seats to get to the lost dollar coins, but now everyone else does that ;)

Could have been worse, he may have wanted the old oil filter too, or perhaps siphon out the last 10ml of petrol from all of the tanks to make up a litre of petrol. lol


Yes, why not? Pull ten oil filters off wrecks, take home, pour out oil, filter through an old pair of your mum's tights - there is your next oil change, just use whichever oil filter looks the least used.

As for petrol - U-pull-it always take the fuel cap off cars, don't now if they drain tanks though. On a stinking hot day, there is a strong smell of ancient engine oil and petrol. Gets a petrol head like me quite giddy!

Disappointed though - just the 2 TLs there, I expected more. Both had shonky steering wheels, with the foam loose from the frame across the top half.
Guess I may need to look for a TJ or older steering wheel with cruise next time I visit, they don't seem to have the same problem.

Coolant change, re-trim the headliner, scrub the interior fabric, and the TL is ready for another year. The "to do" list is getting shorter! Steering wheel can wait until the foam actually disintegrates. lol

Anything in particular you use on the seat fabric to clean it? Mine are looking a bit shabby too :-(

Carpet shampoo and a scrubbing brush. Scrub like mad when the shampoo is still wet. Brush or vacuum when dry.

If that doesn't move it:

Remove seats out of car and if no electrics in it, scrub with a strong laundry detergent/water mix. Let sit, then hose off.
(Worked well on my TJ seats. Takes days to dry before the seats can go back in.)

If that doesn't move it:

Remove seat fabric and chuck in washing machine. (Several hours needed to remove and reinstall fabric though.)
Had to do this on my TJ because the water was bringing dirt back up out of the foam as it dried.

If that doesn't move it:

Seat covers!

If that is not your style:

Reupholster the seats. Or look for a good set at wreckers/for sale etc. Wreckers are probably a waste of time though.

My TL has had the rear seat base treated with the detergent and hose method, it's outside drying at the moment.
The front seats are too grubby and letting go at the seams, so seat covers will be obtained. Yes, I hate them, but not in the mood to re-trim them.

For a 10 year old car with 188,000 km on it, the interior hasn't held up too well. I remember my two TSs being in much better condition at much higher kms.

The fabric in the TW`s is pretty ordinary i reckon. The TH LS i had was much better in that area. I think ill just replace the drivers seat, the bloody frame is actually digging into my left shoulder blade. There was a nice verada one on ebay for $180

I just had to pull mine apart after the front passenger switch broke at the pivot point last week. Stopped my car in the driveway this afternoon and that window simply went down about how halfway of its own accord.

I got a bit of a shock when everything simply fell out (probably a bad idea to open it up while I was still in the car, but all the rockers were accounted for after I picked it all up out of my lap).

I noted that one of the metal "loops" attached to the circuit board was bent, so gently tapped it back to what appeared to be the right angle, put one of the good assemblies from the rear in its place and fortunately got the window back up.

I'll visit my auto electrician in the morning and let him have a look at it, but if anything it was interesting to see how the switch looked inside and was happy that it wasn't too difficult to put everything back together.

We well aftermarket switches, have been doing so for around 3 years now, never an issue with them and in many ways they are actually better than the originals

250 is not crazy money IF the parts are not available new anymore, if people are paying that money they must see the value in having working windows, sold many at that price when our stock of new ones ran out, we purchased the last 70 odd from mits back when they were still there, still have a brand new VRX and brand new ES one on the shelf for the sake of having them there.

The cheaper ones are done by sss auto, they are rubbish, have seen many of them fall apart fairly quickly, the ones we have are from Electriclife who specialise in window switches and regulators, is about all they do. They had to wait until the patents ran out before they could be made again.

We also do refurb OEM units as well when we have the parts to do them, they are not too hard to fix as long as you can get the required parts.

Go to the wreckers, look for the switch block. Not going to be there, but the ones in the back doors will be. The toggle part is the same. Swearing and violence needed to get the rocker bit out undamaged, but it worked for me. Clips straight into the switch block.
Give the switch block a good cleanout, and clean all the electrical switch contacts. Good as new!
Seeing you took both rear switches, you now have a spare for next time.