Question by Aaron: How do I get my power windows and power locks working again?
Within a month of each other, my power locks and power windows went out. I can lock the doors by hand, but the windows are immobile and not closed all the way…which is fine until rainy season/winter snow begins. I’ve checked all the fuses (both under the dash and under the hood) and none are blown. I understand that the next course would be to check the power relays, but I am not sure where these are located, or if it is within my ability to fix. If it is something I can fix myself, I would like to try.
It is a 1996 Honda Civic LX.
Best answer:
Answer by BillyTheKid
Take it to a repair shop and have them fix it.
Give your answer to this question below!
1 – you have to actually pull the fuses to examine them. Common mistake is to look for discolored fuses rather than pulling them.
2 – The relays are the boxes (in the fuse box) which aren’t fuses.
If you can hear the motor trying to shove the windows around, you need new motors.
If you do not hear the motor and you do not find any bad fuses or relays, also consider the controls themselves. If you left your windows down in a rainstorm and got the doors wet, the controls themselves may have corroded switches. You can try reseating the wiring harness several times where it connects to the door controls to clean it but you may simply need to replace the controls whole stock.
First I would recommend getting a Haynes or equivalent manual. I buy them anytime I buy a vehicle so that I know how to work on them.
Locks:
Without the manual for guidance I would say to start at the fuse and the switches checking for voltage using a multimeter. From there trace the wiring and check for breaks…
If you have power at the fuse and the switch but they still don’t work it is probably the switch. If there is no power at the fuse then trace back from there. From what I have been able to find there are no relays for the locks and the locks malfunctioning seems to be a common problem.
Windows:
In my sources section you will find a link to a explanation of where the window relay is located in the fuse box under the hood. If the relay is good then I would follow a similar process that I described in the section above….
Troubleshooting electronics is one of the more stressful things to do on a car… Good luck! 🙂
The window and lock relays are under the hood and look like a small box, black, and about 1/2 in size, if you don’t have another one find one that is working and replace it with one to see if that’s the problem.