Retro cars have their appeal — but it’s the window crank that’s the dealbreaker for me. Life is so much easier now that we no longer have to use arm strength to wind a crank every time we want to roll the windows down or up. It’s one of the most underrated inventions of convenience and improves the entire driving experience by a huge margin.
That’s why it can be downright frustrating when it stops working. There shouldn’t be any problem with operating the door controls, especially the master controls from the driver’s door: but driver side door controls not working has been known to happen from time to time for some vehicles.
On the bright side, there’s nothing too dangerous about this. We’ve written articles on low oil pressure and clunking noises from the engine — so you can rest easy knowing that this issue is just a minor inconvenience and not dangerous for you and your vehicle.
Luckily for you, it’s not the end of the world — and we have a few handy causes and solutions that you can follow to figure out what the issue is. Some of these solutions will allow you to deal with the problem on your own, while others might require a part replacement. Some of the causes might even require you to seek a mechanic to help out with a particularly complicated problem. We’ll get into the details of each strategy soon.
So why are the driver-side door controls not working?
There are a few reasons why the driver side door controls of your car are not working:
- The battery was previously dead (reboot)
- Stuck buttons (snow and ice) (blowdryer)
- Corroded Wiring Harness
- Battery Cable Connections
However, if you’re trying to bypass the power window switch, you should probably check out our detailed article on this issue here.
Table of Contents
Top 4 Reasons Why Your Driver Side Door Controls Not Working
Here are the most common and probable reasons why your driver-side door controls have suddenly died on you! Don’t panic because, in all likelihood, you won’t have to replace anything. This is a very common problem that people face and many people have been able to fix the issue without spending hundreds of dollars at the mechanics’.
We’ve listed out the reasons and solutions in order of how you should perform them — with the easiest fixes at first, and the more complicated issues later. The reason for this is we don’t want you to assume something is corroded or malfunctioning and source a replacement part, only to realize that your car just needed to be rebooted. It’s a waste of money and time. Even if you think one of the solutions is not the case, we recommend that you go ahead with it just to eliminate the possibility.
Reason #1: The Battery was Previously Dead
This might sound strange, as you might think that the battery is previously dead or low on charge and has nothing to do with window buttons and door controls.
It actually has a lot to do with the battery! As you probably know already, the buttons on the driver-side door controls are completely electrical and depend on the car’s battery.
That’s why they can be compromised or stop working if the battery was previously dead for a while (you left your headlights on all night, it happens to the best of us) or even if the battery was just dangerously low on power.
Luckily, there’s no replacement that’s required for this particular problem. You simply need to perform a full restart and reboot of your battery.
Solution: So how do you perform this battery reset? It’s easier than you might think.
Start by disconnecting your battery. You can do this by simply locating the red cable and plugging that out. Now you’re going to want to leave your car alone for the good part of an hour. If you’re short on time, make sure that you’ve left the car and battery alone for at least 15 minutes. This is important for the battery to leave any residual power that’s circulating.
Now you can plug that red cable back into your battery and restart your battery like normal. This entire process should be enough to reboot your car and battery. Your window controlling buttons on the driver-side door should work perfectly fine now.
Reason #2: Snow and Ice
Your car doesn’t like the cold any more than you do. At least you get to wear those mittens and extra layers, but your car may not be built to withstand extremely cold temperatures on its own. What does this have to do with the door controls? You’d be surprised.
The buttons that are located underneath the toggle switch can simply get jammed shut. This has nothing to do with the electrical circuit, but they are just rigid and cold due to the weather and won’t move no matter how many times you flip the control switches.
Sometimes, there might even be some condensation or ice formation around these buttons, and they can be the culprit for the inefficiency.
Solution: The solution to this particular issue is so simple that it’s almost laughable! Remove the control panel from the driver’s side door. You will probably need a basic screwdriver to unhinge it since these switches are always removable.
Once you have the control panel, take it inside your house and locate a hairdryer (your wife probably has one) and switch this on to the highest heat. Now apply this hot air on to the control switch panel.
If all goes well, you should immediately hear a click and the buttons go back to normal. We also recommend placing the blow dryer heat on the windows themselves, to help them dislodge the ice from the frames.
If you don’t have a hairdryer around the house, you can try your luck by placing the switch in direct sunlight for a few hours.
Do not try to use a blow torch or any other source of fire onto the part as this can burn the material and render it completely useless.
Reason #3: Corroded Wiring Harness
If the above two strategies did not work, we might have some corrosion on our hands. This is typically the case when you’ve left your car unattended for a period of time.
There is a wiring harness that’s present between the driver-side door controls and the cowl. This harness can get corroded and rusted.
Even if the harness itself is not affected, the pins that control the workings can be individually affected with corrosion and rust. The only way you can confirm that this is indeed the case is by taking apart the door controls to have a look inside.
Solution: Once you’ve confirmed that there is indeed rust on these parts, there are two ways you can go about this. In most cases, the rust shouldn’t be too bad and you can clean it away with some penetrating fluid and a rag.
If the rust is too pervasive, however, and cleaning it doesn’t seem to help — you might need to replace the parts altogether. It’s not too difficult to replace the control switch as long as you make sure to purchase one that’s compatible with your car.
Reason #4: Battery Cable Connections
Since the driver-side door controls are part of an electrical system, it only makes sense to check out the electrical components as well. The first thing to do in the electrical system is check the battery cable connections.
In fact, battery cable connections that aren’t secure are one of the most common explanations for why the door controls can stop working.
Solution: Check that the battery cables are secured tightly to the battery posts. You should ensure that both the negative and positive cables are secured tightly. If this doesn’t work instantly, try to move the cables around a bit for a loose connection to be fixed.
Focus particularly on fuse #8, as well as the #68 relays, like these, are directly responsible for the controls. Double-check to ensure #68 doesn’t just suffer from a loose connection.
Conclusion
No matter what the issue is: the battery, cold temperatures, mild corrosion, or a loose battery connection — there are far worse things that can happen to your vehicle than simply the door controls not working! We’re sure that you’ll be able to rectify the issue in no time.
