The Window of Our Discontent

For a long time (several months) the driver's side window on my car hasn't worked. It's a pain in the ass because I have to show my badge every day at work to get onsite, so I have to open the car door (although it is a good deterrent from using fast food drive through!). However, it turns out having an inoperable window is grounds for a safety inspection failure. Yesterday I finally cracked open my door panel and discovered what was wrong. The power windows have three components: the switch, the motor that actually moves the glass window, and an amplifier in between. It turns out the plug into the amplifier is a bit loose and so it loses contact. But if I press the plug into the amplifier, the window works perfectly and consistently. I'm going to try putting on some zip ties about the plug and amplifier to keep it plugged in and see if I can pass inspection that way.

When I took my car into the dealership, they told me it was a bad motor. I believed them, and I ended up ordering a replacement from a junkyard in Kentucky for about $80. Now I don't need it. I should have checked it out myself. When the window stopped working, it didn't "whir" down like a failing motor. It just either worked or didn't. That's why I originally thought it was a broken switch (but the switch looked perfectly fine when I checked it out a few days ago).