Driver's side window switch

When I press the window down button all the way the window goes all the way down as I expect it should. When I depress the button half way, only occasionally does the window go down at all (I assume it should act like my passenger side window where it goes down only while I hold the button halfway depressed.)

SOMETIMES the window behaves, and seems to work better if I wiggle the switch just a bit. Is it likely that a new switch would fix this, is there a chance some of the electrical is loose somewhere. Is this a fix I could likely do on my own, or maybe with a friend? I would not consider myself more than a beginner in auto repair.

I have the same problem, but taking the switch out isnt hard. pop off the back cover where you can put your hand throught the handle and then i think you just pull. then theres a plug which im going to put some di-electric grease on.

I have had this problem for the past three Summers. Each time I pull out the switch assembly and take it all apart to find nothing. After I put it all back together again it works for the next year or so. What I had concluded was that retightening the tiny screws that hold the switch assembly together was the correction, but this year that theory did not hold true. So my most recent adventure was to clean all the contact surfaces with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and then I stuffed some cotton between the finger and the rubber thingie that is inside the casing.
The inside reminds me of a TV remote, if you have ever taken one apart.
If I can find this thread a year from now, I'll try to remember to post my results. So far the driver's side window switch is working; whereas before only the automatic opening function worked and not the manual. Again, the problem had alot to do with the ambient temperature. The hotter it is outside, the more predominant the problem. One more thing, I was surprised at how clean the inside of the switch was, but I cleaned it anyway; and the surface mounted resistors all checked out good with my DMM.

I had some window gremlins where pushing 'down' on the switch would make the window go 'up', and vice-versa. A new window switch was ~$60 from the dealer, but it corrected the problem, and it's been problem-free for the last few years since it was replaced.

To get at it, remove the back part of the grab handle by gently prying/rocking it out with your fingers. (tools will gouge it up, and it can be done by hand) Then lift the back of the switchplate/grab handle (the front end is hooked in.) Remove the electrical harness and remove the 3 phillips screws that hold the switch to the switchplate.

Thanks, I'll try cleaning it out first. Since it isn't a huge pain, I suspect I could wait to find a working switch from a part out evenually - if the cleaning doesn't last.

Thanks for the tips.

having the same issues with my 05 Passat, sometimes works good, other times kinda does what it wants... sounds like its not model specific.

I tried to remove the handle to get at the switch assembly but I couldn't get it free. I was afraid I'd break something as it seems pretty tight in there. The only 'loose' part is the back right corner of the whole plastic piece behind the grab bar, it rocks slightly, but the rest of the piece seems quite solidly placed.

Should I just keep trying to get my fingers under the edge of the plastic on the lower side?

I've got the same issue. I'll probably try to pull it apart tonight.

I was able to get the front part on the right side to 'pop' in and out, but that doesn't seem to be enough to get the whole thing out. It still feels quite firm near the handle, and against the door. I feel like I'm going to break the whole hunk of plastic before it comes off. Does anyone know if there are special places to pry?

i just pulled hard and it popped off. i did seem sketchy, so do it at your own risk.

I found an answer to my own question and maybe this will help out anyone else.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=961163

Does anyone know if removing the inner handle part will break any of those many tabs you can see in the 3rd picture from the link?

it wont breeak any. only 2 are actual clips the others are guide pins of sorts.

I pulled the handle off in a similar fashion as shown in the VWVortex thread that I posted, although I didn't need a screwdriver or paint scraper, I was able to do it by hand.

I took the control module out of the car and disassembled it after using compressed air to blow all the crud out from under the switches. The insides looked clean, so I didn't mess with them. I reassembled and tightened the little torx screws fairly tightly. Plugged it back it and it seems to be working pretty consistantly.

I still need to reinstall the whole handle piece, which I will do tonight, assuming that the window is still working properly.

About a week later and the simple cleaning I did to the window switch is still working. I have full control of my driver's side window now.

adamant628 said:

About a week later and the simple cleaning I did to the window switch is still working. I have full control of my driver's side window now.

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So is mine, but give it another full year.
If the switch is still functioning properly, then the cleaning would be the trick, IMO.

Thanks for the post, guys. My d-s has the same problem and on occasion the p-s will do the same thing. I've been wanting to take it apart, but wasn't sure what to look for. I guess it's time to have a look.

i saw somewhere to tighten down the little screws on the back, so i did, with no results. ill pull mine apart tonight and clean it and see if we can get a 3rd person to confirm that cleaning it works. =0

I am pretty sure that to solve my problem, I probably didn't even need to disassemble the switch. I had a lot of dust in and around the actual switches. I also popped off the rocker switches and cleaned under those.

well a thourogh cleaning will probablly last longer.. and its only like 7 little phillips screws, right?

true, just saying that mine looked fine. Although, on my 2005 jetta, they were torx that I ended up using an allen on with some success. The torx was smaller than anything I had, so I will probably get another bit if I need to go in there again.

I did not clean mine the first two times I had the switch opened, but it worked after reassembly. I don't know why, and the circuit board looked clean. What would help me is to know just how the electrical circuit is opened and closed by the up and down motion of the switch. Do those
black pads complete the circuit? Anyone know? I'm just curious.

that would be my guess, there might be some wiring diagrams in the bently manual.

I see what you are thinking, you could test it yourself with a jumper.

JB05 said:

I did not clean mine the first two times I had the switch opened, but it worked after reassembly. I don't know why, and the circuit board looked clean. What would help me is to know just how the electrical circuit is opened and closed by the up and down motion of the switch. Do those
black pads complete the circuit? Anyone know? I'm just curious.

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exact same thing when i did it tonight! got home, took the switch apart, found no dirt and it looked practically brand new, so i solemnly put it back together with no hope... but then it worked fine. no clue why.

Did you disconnect the plug? I did mine again, and it was clean, but then the problem comes back later. I wonder now after reading all these reactions if somehow slight oxidation on the connection pins causes the problem, and the movement along them disconnecting and connecting the plug clears that up.

yes, i disconnected the plug, diconnected the switch fron the handle and the back of the sitch from the buttons and reassembled. i HAD put dielectric grease in the connection before this, but that didnt do anything for me.

I still think the problem has to do with warmer ambient temperatures.
If I hadn't taken mine apart the problem would have ceased until the return of warmer weather.

Had mine apart Friday night. Now it works Big surprise, huh!

One thing I did notice is this...the switch levers contact a white plastic piece that seems to be spring loaded. There's 3 of these on the express down switches and it seems as though the one at the front or rear of the switch by itself is for normal mode and the one in the middle (that gets pushed with a detent-like motion) is what is responsible for the express down. I wonder if the springs weaken, or if somehow the 'blisters' on the circuit board push more easily than just the 'normal mode' ones.

It's a contact issue. I solved this problem by placing a carefully sized strip of thin cardboard inside of the front window switches. Now the touch-down and touch-up features work correctly most of the time, though the driver's side is still a bit touchy sometimes and may need a thicker strip of cardboard.

Diesel Addict said:

It's a contact issue. I solved this problem by placing a carefully sized strip of thin cardboard inside of the front window switches. Now the touch-down and touch-up features work correctly most of the time, though the driver's side is still a bit touchy sometimes and may need a thicker strip of cardboard.

Click to expand...

i jsut had to take it apart, look at it, and put it back togeter and now mine is completely flawless.... for now.

Diesel Addict said:

It's a contact issue. I solved this problem by placing a carefully sized strip of thin cardboard inside of the front window switches. ...

Click to expand...

I have to add to this thread and confirm that it’s a contact issue. Having just returned from the local PnP with a VW 1J4 959 857 B off an ‘05 Passat (and replacing a D on an ‘03 Jetta...) and having the windows perform <worse> than when I started, I figured I might as well experiment. In my case I used a laminated business card (so probably a little bit thicker than your standard card) and I cut it up to fit under the yellow plastic pushers that press against the silicone overlay on the circuit board. Do NOT put the spacers between the footpads of the pushers and the overlay because your window(s) will be non-op. Trim the spacers to conform to the space and shape under the pushers, and to even out the spacing on the inner part just cut a little square and slide it under a pad with a pick or something so it’s even all the way across.

Buttoned things up, plugged it into the connector and the one touch up and down works along with the 1/2 detent for manual down and up works as well for DS and PS. Hopefully this lasts longer than previous attempts to fix this issue. Thanks again, Diesel Addict, for moving this solution forward.