intermittant electric window

[vw_golf_nutter]

hi all,
my passenger side electric window in my 1996 cabrio sometimes works and sometimes doesnt. it seems to be decided when i turn the car on whether its going to work or not.
any ideas?

[chippychoppy]

hey i cant really help on the issue as i have the same sorta probs, it just never works on the buttons but will randomly go up or down whenever the ignition is turned on! hopefully someone can help! haha

xx kate

[Gavv8]

First thing to check would be the switches as they do wear out/get dirty, get some replacements from a scrappy.

[dubstar9]

I have the same prob and on the third set of switches (blue switches - green lit, black switches - green lit & now black switches - red lit) and the problem is still the same.

On mine I have nothing off the passenger door switch and to get it to work on the drivers i have to press down, then up and then down again to get it to go down, once down it will go up off the drivers with no problem. But if I want it to go down again I have do the same routine!!!

Any ideas??? Has stopped working on total closure too now!!!

[trog_nfs]

The wiring in the bellows between the car and the door gets a bit brittle over time.

There may be a couple of breakages or maybe a short.

[vw_golf_nutter]

its hard because sometimes it works fine so if i start testing all the wiring and switches it may not show a fault!
when it stops working though i cant open it from my side button or the passenger side so perhaps wiring rather than a switch for me? some days i turn the ignition on and it works fine other days i turn the ignition on and theres no power to the window at all!? hhmmm

[Gavv8]

Try replacement switches first.

[thai-wronghorse]

Like Trog mentions, sounds like dodgy wiring to me as is a very common failure point on mk3's.