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Power window troubleshooting

15K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Andrewferns 
#1 ·
After battling with my power windows, using a multimeter to test everything I could, I solved my problem of a bad relay. Because I couldn't find much information on here, I'm posting up what I have learned.

I'm not sure to what exact models this applies to either. I have a 2000 RS.

When the ignition switch is set to on, you should be getting power to pin 6 (coupe) or 5 (sedan) on your plug that goes into the switch. It is labeled BY for the color code, I don't remember which two colors it is. It for sure has a yellow stripe because of the "y".

Coupe



Sedan



If you aren't getting power here, move on. If you are, it is either a bad switch, or a bad motor/regulator in the door. You can check to see if your switch is working by checking that pins 8 and 6 have continuity when the driver's side "window down" button is being pressed for a coupe. They are pins 5 and 15 in the sedan.



SBF-6 IS for the power window system. If you aren't getting 12 volts to your switch, check here first. It is in your engine bay fuse box. Take the fuse out and see if there is continuity. If there is, you can move on. If not, replace. I am going to assume the 12 is getting there in the first place, because if you didn't have 12v to your engine bay fuse box, you would have a lot more problems than just your windows.

Next is safe to move to the relay area, as it will tell you if your 12v is getting through the circuit breaker to your relay. The relay is connected to your interior fuse box. It's easiest to remove the bottom part of your driver's side dash to get at it. There's just a few clips and two screws on the underside. Now, looking at your fusebox from the driver's seat, the power window relay is connected to it on the upper left hand side in a circular clip. The plug going into the connector is blue. Unplug the connector, and it's time to test things again.

Connect 12v to where the thinner of the two green/black wires plugs into the relay (pin 1), and ground where the black one plugs in (pin 3). You should hear the relay "click".

NOW,
Make sure that after it has clicked, there is continuity between the other two pins. This is where I went wrong, as I forgot to check this. This makes sure the big 12v wire can get the 12v through the relay.

Plug the relay back in, and turn the key to ignition. You should feel/hear the relay click on again. If it doesn't, check fuse 18 on the interior fuse box. If that doesn't solve it, your circuit breaker is bad. They don't usually fail, and if the breaker gets tripped, I have read they reset themselves automatically, so most wont have to worry about this. It is located way up in the dash anyway so I really hope no one has to take it out.

So you should be able to test and see that 12v is getting to the white/green wire going into the relay, and it comes back out with the thicker green/black wire. If you don't get 12v at the second one, stop by Napa and pick up a new relay.

Everything should work now!

Also, make sure your window lock switch isn't engaged when trying to troubleshoot the other door's switches. It makes you feel like a fool :(

Also, this thick green/black wire splits further down the harness and goes to the sunroof. If none of your windows and your sunroof doesn't work, I would guess it is a bad relay.

I know some of this information is very basic, but I just wanted to make a thread where this stuff is laid out, because it took me a long time to look it all up in the service manual when trying to fix my own problems. Feel free to ask any questions too!
 
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#6 ·
I have a 99 rs coupe and my passenger window won't go back up. Down is fine from both driver and passenger switch but not up. I replaced the switch on the passenger side, nothing. The motor I hooked up to power at the green connector, it goes up, if I reverse the power it goes down. When I plug the green connector back in it only goes down. What's going on here it's been 2 weeks I'm going crazy...also the driver window works perfect.
 
#7 ·
It's been a long time since I've dug into this stuff, but I can try to help. I'd probably start by putting a multimeter to the window motor connector to verify the voltage is only coming in when you push the switch down, and nothing when you pull up.

From there I'd look at the Factory Service Manual to figure out where the 12V is supposed to come from. I'm pretty sure it relies on one 12V coming into the switch, and the switch controls the which poles it sends to to change directions. If that's not the case you'll want to track that down.

So I'd go out on a limb and assume your problem is somewhere in the switch and its connection to the motor. I'm assuming the switch is getting 12V because it operates one way, but it's not correctly routing the electricity when the switch is pressed the other way. It is odd that it's happening on both sides, though I can imagine they fork together somewhere and the weak link is after that fork.

Best of luck on your troubleshooting.
 
#8 ·
Having the same issue I started a thread but it's been 3 weeks now and I'm going nuts. Replaced the relay nothing, replaced the passenger switch nothing. Window goes only down at the passenger switch. It does not work from the driver side even though the driver window goes up and down no issues. Window lock is not depressed so please no comments lol. At sbf6 I pulled it and the fuse is fine, one side reads 12v the other prong reads 4v with the fuse out is it supposed to be like that? Green connector at passenger door is ground on both terminals. Is it my driver switch considering it won't control the passenger window? I believe everything goes through the driver switch first correct?
 
#10 ·
After battling with my power windows, using a multimeter to test everything I could, I solved my problem of a bad relay. Because I couldn't find much information on here, I'm posting up what I have learned.

I'm not sure to what exact models this applies to either. I have a 2000 RS.

When the ignition switch is set to on, you should be getting power to pin 6 (coupe) or 5 (sedan) on your plug that goes into the switch. It is labeled BY for the color code, I don't remember which two colors it is. It for sure has a yellow stripe because of the "y".

Coupe



Sedan



If you aren't getting power here, move on. If you are, it is either a bad switch, or a bad motor/regulator in the door. You can check to see if your switch is working by checking that pins 8 and 6 have continuity when the driver's side "window down" button is being pressed for a coupe. They are pins 5 and 15 in the sedan.



SBF-6 IS for the power window system. If you aren't getting 12 volts to your switch, check here first. It is in your engine bay fuse box. Take the fuse out and see if there is continuity. If there is, you can move on. If not, replace. I am going to assume the 12 is getting there in the first place, because if you didn't have 12v to your engine bay fuse box, you would have a lot more problems than just your windows.

Next is safe to move to the relay area, as it will tell you if your 12v is getting through the circuit breaker to your relay. The relay is connected to your interior fuse box. It's easiest to remove the bottom part of your driver's side dash to get at it. There's just a few clips and two screws on the underside. Now, looking at your fusebox from the driver's seat, the power window relay is connected to it on the upper left hand side in a circular clip. The plug going into the connector is blue. Unplug the connector, and it's time to test things again.

Connect 12v to where the thinner of the two green/black wires plugs into the relay (pin 1), and ground where the black one plugs in (pin 3). You should hear the relay "click".

NOW,
Make sure that after it has clicked, there is continuity between the other two pins. This is where I went wrong, as I forgot to check this. This makes sure the big 12v wire can get the 12v through the relay.

Plug the relay back in, and turn the key to ignition. You should feel/hear the relay click on again. If it doesn't, check fuse 18 on the interior fuse box. If that doesn't solve it, your circuit breaker is bad. They don't usually fail, and if the breaker gets tripped, I have read they reset themselves automatically, so most wont have to worry about this. It is located way up in the dash anyway so I really hope no one has to take it out.

So you should be able to test and see that 12v is getting to the white/green wire going into the relay, and it comes back out with the thicker green/black wire. If you don't get 12v at the second one, stop by Napa and pick up a new relay.

Everything should work now!

Also, make sure your window lock switch isn't engaged when trying to troubleshoot the other door's switches. It makes you feel like a fool :(

Also, this thick green/black wire splits further down the harness and goes to the sunroof. If none of your windows and your sunroof doesn't work, I would guess it is a bad relay.

I know some of this information is very basic, but I just wanted to make a thread where this stuff is laid out, because it took me a long time to look it all up in the service manual when trying to fix my own problems. Feel free to ask any questions too!
Great info! I got a slightly different issue with the same circuit and thought I’d share:

2000 Impreza L
Turn ignition and everything works but power windows (all door switches). I also hear clicking (of the circuit breaker or CB) every 5 seconds and when I peek my head under the dash, I see it spark inside the CB each time it clicked.

I had checked everything, replaced the relay, fuses and even battery and still clicking. I then saw this post and started looking at the breaker again.

I measured voltage at the driver door switch to ground and saw a 3-4v flash each time I heard the click.

It took me a while to go through with Subaru but they found me a PN that I believe is the correct CB. At least I hope... I ordered it and will follow up to confirm if it worked or not.

breaker-power window (CB): 85543FC010
 
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