Power Windows - 1999 Taurus SE Wagon 3.0 24V DOHC 85K miles

SGOFF61

MEMBER
1999 FORD TAURUS

Yesterday I had a problem with my door ajar light and dome light staying on. I figured it was the door latch because it was raining and my husband had previously had the same problem with his 99 Ranger, but only when it rained. I wasn't overly concerned about it because I figured a little WD would most likely take care of it when I got home.

However, I was concerned about getting a ticket for driving home with my dome light on, so I opted to take it out. Of course, it was hot, so I used my key to pry one end of it out to let it cool. In the process, I blew the fuse, which is also not a problem to fix.

Now for the problem. When I blew the fuse for the dome light, I also screwed up something in my windows. None of them work. I checked the fuse and it's not blown, so I'm hoping it's just a relay. The problem is, I can't find it and, when I do, I don't know how to tell if it's bad. According to the drawings from alldata. Net, the relay in position 38 is a "one touch window down relay". At first glance, I assumed that it was just for the function of tapping the button and having the window go all the way down without holding it, but I couldn't find any others that were for window operation, so could this relay cover more than just the "one touch" function? If not, can you give me an idea of which other fuses or relays to check? Also, is there some secret trick to getting them out easily? I tried to pull that one out but I'm having a hard time getting to it, and my two little fingers just ain't cuttin' it!

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

1 Reply

SGOFF61

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Ok, now I feel like a total idiot. :Oops:

That particular 30A fuse was metal, so I couldn't tell if it was blown just by looking at it. Rather than climbing over all the junk in the shed to get to the tester in my husband's tool box or buying a new one, I decided it would be easier and cheaper just to replace the fuse. So I headed to Autozone and grabbed one, along with a multi-pack of mini fuses so I could replace the one for the dome light. Mistake number one.I got so excited about a mult-pack that included a combination fuse puller/tester that I grabbed the pack with bigger fuses, and didn't realize it until I ripped the package open. Oh well.

So I threw that pack aside, changed the 30A under the hood and found out it didn't fix the problem, so I figured I might as well try the relay (position 38 under the dash) while I was there. I spent 20 minutes getting it out, then another 20 minutes trying to find a replacement. The clerk finally found one that looked the same and told me to take it outside and see if it would fit. It did fit, but still didn't fix the problem, so I spent another 10 minutes getting it back out (hey, I must be getting better! LOL). I took it back inside and bought the correct mini fuses, and left swearing that I was just going to blow the damn car up.

I threw the old relay in the console and started to leave, but then something told me to put the new fuse for the dome light in before I left. I did that and, lo and behold, all of my windows started working except the driver's. That's when the lightbulb appeared over my head and I put the relay back in (which I had originally thought was only for the "one touch" function on the driver's window). And now everything is back to normal and working fine.

So, as it turned out, that one little 10A mini-fuse controlled both the dome light and all of the power windows, even though there is a separate fuse for the windows that was fine, AND nothing that I found on Alldata indicated that this fuse controlled anything other than the dome light. Go figure.

So, the moral of this long story is, fix the small stuff first and worry about the bigger stuff later. If I had just replaced the one fuse that I knew was blown, I would have saved a lot of time researching and my fingers wouldn't be sore from trying to pull that relay out twice. And I would have had to bother you either. But hey, at least I learned a lesson! :Lol:

Thanks a bunch!