I'm getting frustrated enough that I took my 780 Bertone to an auto electric guy yesterday. Diagnoses. All these switches are bad. Recommendation- put in new master power window switch, passenger window switch, turn signal flasher and climate control switch module. The trouble is I did all this six months ago except for the climate module which had always worked and took a rest from it in disgust when the brand new switches worked for a day then quit. A week later when driving to town the ac switch and fan gave up the ghost. When arriving home and getting something from the back seat, the passenger seat glided forward to also forever quit.

After a nice long nap, ready to try again. Boocoo parts on the way via eBay - I have to ask? Is there an over all electrical problem that is murdering my switches? Am I just going to be sending these new ones off to slaughter?

If your switches are the same as my '88 740, i.e. separate switches in a cartridge to make a master switch.

Did you keep the old switches?

I recommend an autopsy - if they are burned inside, have your charging system checked - perhaps high voltage from the alternator.

They are pretty easy to rebuild - its in the FAQ. The contacts should have a gently rounded top, like the shape of the top of a frisbee.

The only thing that I did differently from the FAQ, is that after I sanded and burnished the contacts, I turned the rocker around as the UP contacts were a lot more worn than the DOWN contacts.

Did your guy install NEW switches?

BTW - the master switches have a key on on one corner, different corners for each switch. If you cut the key off, the switch can be put in any position.

When I repaired my nephew's switches, I could nit get the driver's switch to work, Itook the switch from the left rear door and swapped it with the driver's switch - he could still lower the rear window with the master switch.

Oh, and also the switches are still in the car, I may take them out and look today. The auto electric guy took them apart and tested them and showed me that they weren't working and then showed me how he could make the windows go up and down using his testing equipment bypassing the switches.

If the windows are sticking or reluctant to go up or down freely, the motors are probably drawing a lot of current. This would be detrimental to the switches and accelerate wear/burning on their contacts, although it's odd that "new" switches would fail so quickly.

At the age of your car, any lubricant in the window mechanisms has probably gone away or turned hard, and the guides and regulators may need alignment.
--
Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (V8), 98 S90, and XC60. Also '77 MGB and some old motorcycles

That's very interesting! I've had the car 10 years. Putting on only2 k a year. From the get-go we have had problems with the alternator. It would not charge properly, but supposedly was working. A backyard mechanic finally figured out something having to do with the way it was mounted for the belts was not quite right. After that it always charged but there was a leak when it was sitting for several days. So we have made a habit for many years of disconnecting ground when we are done driving for the day. The switches went bad in rapid succession last year. So for many years with this small electrical leak they functioned fine. Yes we first cleaned up the ball bearings in the switches but it didn't last long and so bought new switches that failed quickly.

When you wrote "Yes we first cleaned up the ball bearings in the switches but it didn't last long and so bought new switches that failed quickly." -- You did not mention the contacts -- were those cleaned? As others have suggested -- too much voltage? -- too much resistance in the window regulators? -- due to lack of lubrication - or misalignment of the regulators (the screws/nuts that secure the regulators can loosen and allow the works to shift and bind). -- Dave