stevekat

I recently opened and cleaned my window and door lock switch on my 2009 R3. It was very successful.

My door locks were working intermittently. I ordered a used switch from eBay and the door locks then began working fine. However, I noticed it was hard to 'catch' the drivers window with the replacement switch when it was going down, to stop it. It would either not respond, or reverse direction.

I assumed the locks, that had not been working reliably for any obvious reason, were corrected due to the replacement switch. My next assumption is that the window switch was working in less than a desirable way due to a similar problem.

It turns out you can open the switch body by carefully prying the upper body clips away from the lower body catch ridges. Be careful. Once open you can see a circuit board, with some contact pads, and a rubber intermediate layer between the board and buttons, that contains come carbon/graphite type pads. These pads are pressed down to the circuit board to make contact when pressing on the switch levers. I noticed one of the drivers windows pads (the switchgear that was not working perfectly) was dirty or discolored.

I took out some 71% alcohol and some Q-Tips and proceed to clean the circuit board pads, and also the carbon/graphite pads on the intermediate rubber layer. I noticed a difference in appearance on the dirty pad after it was cleaned. It looked like the others when I was done. The Q-Tips showed some dirt.

When you have the switch apart you'll notice four plungers on each window switch and two on the lock switch. Each window switch, for the up and down position, has two switch positions, partial and full. If you pull or push the switch lever part way, you'll activate the first switch partial switch position. If you push or pull it all the way, you'll activate the second full switch position.

The partial position down lets you move the window down manually or catch and stop the window when it is moving in auto-up mode. The partial position up let's you move the window up manually, and to catch it when it is moving in auto-down mode (my assumptions.) The full position in each direction activates auto up or down.

With the up side partial position contact dirty on the up side on the drivers window switch, its activation would not register reliably. So if the window were moving down in auto-mode, and you flicked the switch up partially, the window would continue down. If you over pulled the switch, it would activate auto-up mode (it would not stop but actually reverse its direction in auto-mode.) By cleaning the contact, partial activation of the up position stops the window in its tracks. It is very responsive and reliable after cleaning. This cleaning could successfully remedy any partial operation of the windows in any mode, or the lock button, or window lock-out button, absent other issues.

I have an old Panasonic wireless phone system whose handsets use similar buttons, and these require cleaning or replacement after prolonged periods of use.

It is possible the switch in the Series I has similar button and contact design. A form of this post might make a good sticky if it turns out this issue and solution has not been addressed previously. If it happened on two switches of mine, it is likely to be a persistent problem, but perhaps one that has not risen to the level a solution being documented in a post.

Even if your switch is not operating intermittently, this cleaning results in the switchgear working instantly and reliably for catching the windows in auto-up and auto-down mode. It is really a pleasure working the windows after this cleaning/rebuild. Much better tactile connection to moving the switch vs. window action.


Photo 1: RX-8 Series II Drivers Switch Gear Internals I


Photo 2: RX-8 Series II Drivers Switch Gear Internals II

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

Great job, really good info!

sharingan 19

I need to replace the gears for the window motors, . Might as well do this while I have the doors apart!