Cavalier Power Window Failure

Wow, that's a weird one! So, the windows were working perfectly fine BEFORE you swapped the battery? Did you try checking the fuses related to the power windows? It's possible one blew during the voltage surge when you connected the new battery. Also, have you messed with the door panel or the window switch recently?

Yes, the windows worked perfectly before. I did check the fuses, and they all seem fine. I haven't touched the door panel or switches. What do you mean by 'voltage surge'? Can a new battery really mess up the car electronics that badly?

Okay, fuses are good, door panel untouched... hmm. By voltage surge, I mean sometimes when you disconnect and reconnect a car battery, especially with modern car electronics, it can cause a small spike. The body control module (BCM) might have lost its memory of the window regulator positions, hence the 'initialization' error. Honestly, this is beyond basic troubleshooting. You're likely going to need a specialized scan tool to reset the window regulators, or a trip to the workshop is inevitable.

Thanks for the insight. It looks like it's more complicated than I thought. I took it to a local mechanic, and they confirmed the BCM lost its window regulator settings. They had to use their diagnostic tool to re-initialize everything. Cost me 290€, but at least the windows are working again.