Don’t you just hate it when your car window goes down and doesn’t come up? This happened to me when I was driving to NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) on my way to Bulacan. So I lowered my window to pay the initial P36.00 toll fee that would get me as far as Bocaue exit, beyond which I would have to an incremental fee (but that’s another story). After I got my ticket and tried to close the window, I heard a crunching sound and that’s it. It wouldn’t roll up again! So in the heat of the afternoon sun, I had no choice but to have the strong breeze blow into my face all the way until Bulacan. I drive a Nissan, and we all know Nissan is famous for it’s Calsonic cool airconditioning system. Unfortunately, I had to come home feeling sticky and humid that day.

So being a Makati resident, I went to the nearest place that does these repairs, Evangelista Street, Bangkal, Makati. Yes sir, South of the Metro, this is the place to bring your car for easy and cheap repairs.

So what could have possibly go wrong? A lot can go wrong in an old car, but knowing where to check first can spell the difference between repair and replacement.

Listen for the source of the problem. Usually the power window will give out tell-tale signs of what the problem is, before conking out. In my case, I heard a crunching sound. I tried to flip the switch and even help it move but the window would only go down and not up. These are important clues to observe before taking it to the technician.

Check the windows for unique scratches or the absence of it. Scratches are indications of frayed cables. The absence of the scratches might tell you that the problem could be the electrical, though this is not valid all the time.

Get a feel of your car’s electrical state. This means, try turning all lights and other accessories and see if the other windows work slower too. Then try starting the car, rev for a few minutes, then try turning on all electrical devices and accessories again. Reduced performance will tell you it might be an electrical problem.

There will be car enthusiasts who will tell you to assume automatically that it is an electrical problem. In my case, the crunching sound gave the problem away: a frayed cable. Cost to fix? P450 pesos only. They bought a cable and repaired it in no time. Cheap and efficient, Evangelista mechanics are mostly nice enough to tell you that you don’t need to replace anything. Try ERLDIANS for your power window problems, I hardly need to come back.