1988 T10 Blazer, power windows and locks. The electric locks aren't working. i figured something had burned out (relay, motors, etc.?) but just now I tried it from the passenger side for the first time since forever, and it worked from there, so I'm guessing I've got a bad switch, or possibly a bad connector on the switch - no way to know until I've got the panel off.

There's a small plastic sub-panel in the main door panel which contains the window switches, the door switch, and an opening for the door handle. This looks like it ought to just pop out; there aren't any visible screws holding it in, and I'd rather not remove the entire door panel if I don't have to, but I pried gently on it and it didn't go anywhere. I'm afraid to pry harder on it until I know whether I'll break it or not.

Of course I could take off the whole door panel and look at the back, but that kinda defeats the purpose.

(The window switches pop right out of this panel, but the door lock switch seems to be fastened from behind. These switches are very expensive, list is like $57 although you can get them from $25 and up online. And can someone explain to me why the passenger's side switch (15622302) is $19 more than the driver's side (15622301)? Guess I'm lucky it was this one that went, although if it was the passenger side switch I probably wouldn't bother replacing it in the first place.)

 

Nope. You can not remove that single piece. Its held on with metal clips on the back side of the door panel, and if you remove it, you will break it.

And for switches, head to a u-pull it yard... 3 bucks for a switch, and you can find at least 5 there .

 

Thanks for the response. I decided to get the switch from spAmazon, though, for a few reasons: 1, I'm not sure where the nearest u-pick-it yard is; the one I've dealt with in the past is in Staten Island, and that would add the $13.00 toll on the Goethals bridge to the cost; 2, I'd have to tear down two door panels rather than one (though I just took mine apart and it took me maybe 5 minutes, so that's not a problem) and mostly 3, I'd still be winding up with a 25 year old switch.

It wasn't terribly expensive, something like $26. Dealer cost was over $50.

Interesting thing is that even though it doesn't work, it seems to be necessary to leave it connected for the passenger side to work.

 

Got the new switch, put it in, lo and behold it's doing the exact same thing as before.

Mechanic thinks there's a broken wire somewhere inside the driver's door, but if this is the case, why's it working at all? I can't figure out how it could fail such that one side works and the other doesn't, either there's a complete circuit or there ain't.

One of these days I'ma go in there and see what's what. Until then, it works OK with the manual lock lever...

 

Just a guess, as I've never worked on a first gen, but there could be a separate power source on the pass. side and the signal wire from the drivers side could be broken. This allows the pass side switch to work, but the drivers side doesn't.