Beefncheese

My 96 xj has 140,000 miles on it. Over the past several months I have noticed a gradual decline in the effectiveness of my power window/lock system.

First, I would have to hit the unlock switch several times to get the rear locks to move. Eventually they stopped responding to the switch all together and I'd have reach back and manually unlock them.

Then I noticed that raising/lowering the windows in both front and rear became slower and slower, the front driver side being the slowest.

Today, the front driver side power window quit working all together.

But now all of the power window/locks work quite well. Windows go up/down as fast they used to, and all of the locks work again.

One thing about the rear locks though, I hit the unlock switch and they unlocked. I hit the lock button, and they locked. But then going to unlock it again, I had to hit the button twice to get them to fully unlock. Same for getting them to lock again- tap the button twice and they'll move the whole to lock.
Let the car sit for a couple minutes, started it up, shut if off. Boom, they work first try, but then gradually get weaker and successive attempts require hitting the switch multiple times.

Any help sorting this out is greatly appreciated. When I started working on this jeep I had to google "breaker bar". Thanks to this forum I've managed to swap out a power steering pump, water pump, trac bar, steering stabilizer and all kinds of other stuff, but this is my first try with electrical work and it is pretty intimidating.

Fred/N0AZZ

Check all the wiring for the door switches from where they come into the door all the way up to the switch's and the connections first. Most likely its there in those 2 areas, either switch or wiring both easy to replace.

Cheddarnut

Had a similar issue. Took off the panels and greased all the joints, worked like a charm.

Beefncheese

Thanks for the reply. Have never taken a door panel off before but it seems straightforward enough. Can you explain what you mean by "grease the joints?" Thanks again.

El_Guapo

Hit all the pivot points for the lock system with a suitable lubricant. I'm a big fan of Teflon dry lube - PB Blaster makes it in an aerosol can that Home Depot sells. Works great and doesn't gather dust.

The intermittent nature of your issue is making me wonder if you could be working with a marginal body ground. These things aren't known for good ground paths to begin with, but one out of whack can make it do all sorts of goofy things. There is a little cheesy braided ground strap that runs from your back head stud to the firewall that is supposed to be responsible for the bulk of your body electrical function. Check and make sure it is tight, or better yet take it off, throw it away and replace it with a legit ground strap. You can get a premade 4 or 6 gauge cable at just about any auto parts store or you can make your own with very little effort. I made mine out of a scrap of 4AWG amp wiring that my neighbor had left over from his stereo install. Took care of a lot of gremlins for the cost of about $2.00 worth of connectors and shrink tube.

After that, start looking over the wiring running into the doors for breaks.

Cheddarnut

El Guapo hit the lube plus good ideas about the ground. There is a series of rods connected together that make the door lock and unlock. At each joint there are fittings that can be sprayed with lube or greased. I also used a dry spray lube to slow down dirt build up. I used a Phillips screwdriver to free the switch and handle, then an upholstery tool to pop off the panel. Take your time or you will break the little plastic goobers that hold the panel on.