Yeah, I guess it's a matter of perspective. The problem is certainly with the regulator (i.e. in an ideal world you shouldn't ever have to reset it), so you could consider a new one to be the only "correct" (permanent) fix. But it's $250-$300, you have to pull apart your door, and there's no guarantee that the new one won't start doing the same thing in a few years. For me, as long as the window still works with the switch, I can live with a free, easy, one-minute fix (ok, really a work-around). It's become just another one of the little quirks of this car.

FWIW, mine started doing this 7 or 8 years ago, and I've also had to do the reset 2-3 times in a month; but I've also gone a couple years without needing it. So your hope is justified in my experience.

 

I never noticed the reset procedure until here. I never considered buying a new window controller after I saw the price,

So probably 15 years after auto open last worked, I tried the reset procedure Once at 10 didn't work, but twice at 15 did.
A day or two later it forgot again .
15 twice worked again.
If it keeps forgetting then I will go back to ignoring it.

But I'm curious. What is it that is being reset? Why would the window controller need to now the limits of window travel versus just running the motor for a set length of time. And what is measured to remember? Motor rotations?

And for Honda, why go the trouble of using a different method for each window? Why not just "hold" both buttons down while the top is running? After all the system doesn't try to be clever about other things. If the top motor runs, the windows go down. Even if you are raising the top and the windows are already up, they go down..

I checked wires and connectors when it first failed. All was fine. Door panel is easy to remove and the window controller is accessible, but the auto down control is sealed inside plastic housing. No details of an auto down circuit on circuit diagrams All other window functions are traditional wires, connectors and switches and on the diagrams.

 

Believe me, I've asked myself all of those exact same questions!!

Like I said -- eventually I decided it's just one of the quirks of this car.

 

And I forgot the basic question: Honda, if you leave off a clock (I don't care but a lot of people did) why fool with adding something so trivial as auto down?

Some of the car's quirks were worth the time to fix, like allowing the the top to run when car is moving with handbrake off. Or adding wires to the existing rear speaker outputs on the radio. But not this one.

 

I know you're mostly joking, but since I think about these things I'll add a semi-serious reply.

As for why the top uses the auto-down circuit on the driver's window, I'm guessing that was done precisely because of the circuit's "reset" behavior. That is, just sending a pulse to the window and holding it indefinitely could trigger an unintentional auto-down reset that incorrectly calibrates the window. Remember they have to plan for people who might be holding the convertible-top switch for much longer than necessary, and/or raising & lowering the top repeatedly (e.g. when working on the car's interior). And since the regulator is "supposed" to be a lifetime part, avoiding an inadvertent reset is probably the smart choice.

As you say, the easy solution would be to omit the auto-down entirely. But why stop there? In 1999, many people complained that the top was power-operated at all - for a true minimalist driver's car, they argued, it should have had a manual top! (But everyone agreed it should have had a glass window, lol.) In fact, imagine the head-scratching if the car came with a power top but no auto-down!

I think the big-picture answer is that Honda was just walking a fine line. Remember, while the S2000 was intentionally "minimalist" in aesthetic, it was still intended to be a "premium" car. Like the NSX, it was to be a true sportscar that could be used every day. (Reportedly, in fact, Acura's top brass were very upset that the car was badged as a Honda in North America.) So the S2000's "missing" luxuries were carefully chosen things that might compromise a spirited driving experience: a fancy stereo (and even a clock) might be distracting; power seats could compromise the driving position/CG; cupholders, storage bins, and general interior space could force a larger/heavier car, and/or force a cab-forward layout that compromised weight distribution; and even the suspension, with its unusually soft springs and stiff swaybars, was a concession to everyday comfort. But driver's auto-down? It's practically free from a weight/space standpoint, it has no bearing on the driving experience, and even in 1999, its absence on a $30K+ car would have raised eyebrows.

So we ended up with a car that had no clock, no cabin storage, and a crappy stereo, but also standard leather seats, power soft top, HIDs, immobilizer, and unmatched performance for the price. In other words: quirky.

 

Thanks twohoos for the fix. This worked for me!

 

10 second reset worked for me too thanks guys

 

I tried the reset, and while it worked for a bit, it seems to "forget" and stop going auto down. It still works though, which is fine with me. I am not sure if its worth the effort to pull the door card to have it potentially go bad again.. Unless there was a part revision?

 

^No, there was never any part update. FWIW, I think the last time I had to do the reset was pre-COVID, so it can and sometimes does work for several years.

 

I was this close to ordering a new window motor or looking at a new switch - this worked like a charm, thanks so much!