How to replace your broken power window switches
08-24-06, 11:58 PM
#1
Lives on the Forum
Thread Starter
How to replace your broken power window switches
How to replace your broken power window switches (with cheaper, more reliable off the shelf standard electrical switches):
Many of you have had your power window switches either burn out, or have had the plastic break on them. The plastic on my switches broke, I glued them a few times, but eventually it got too bad and I couldn’t operate the passenger window from the driver’s side any more. Buying another stock switch is at best a temporary solution, as it probably would break soon after anyway.
I decided it was time to do something about it. I looked up the stock wiring diagrams and went to work devising a solution. My criteria for the solution was that it require as little extra in car wiring as possible, retain the passenger switch disabling feature, use commonly available, inexpensive components, and the switches had to be located in the doors.
I’ve come up with 4 different ways of going about wiring up the switches that fit those criteria. Unfortunately the windows need 15A switches (the fuse is 30A, so figure each window at 15A), and finding switches of that capacity that have the right functionality and look good isn’t easy, so two of my designs incorporate relays so that switches of a smaller capacity can be used.
Only one solution that I’ve come up with doesn’t require any extra wiring, but I wasn’t able to find switches for it that I liked. One solution requires that a wire be run between the doors. The two solutions with relays require that a local ground connection be made (don’t just tap into a wire, its high current so run a proper ground wire to the chassis, not the door). Be sure to use large enough wire when wiring the switches, something on the order of 14 gauge or bigger will do fine. I would recommend wiring the switches to the stock connector that you cut off of the old switch, and put a spade or bullet terminal on the extra wiring so that you can remove the switches from the car if needed.
I’ve made the diagrams as easy to read and understand as I can, I don’t have access to the program they were created on any more, so I can’t change them. The relays are shown as two parts, the switching part as a switch, and the coil part as a circle (this is how it’s often done). I’ve colour coded everything for easy reference. The diagrams tell what components are needed to complete the installation. I’ve specified rocker switches and push button switches, as I think that would look the best, but you can use any type of switch that has the same functionality. BTW mom = momentary on.
I’ll be doing the one with the 4 DPDT rocker switches rated for >15A. I’ve ordered some sealed 20A @12VDC rated auto/marine rocker switches (http://www.action-electronics.com/gcswrot.htm#Marine) and they should be arriving next week. I’ll be mounting them to a piece of 1/8” thick textured black plastic that I’ve found and I think it’ll blend in quite nicely. I’ll post pictures of it once I’ve completed the installation.
I can’t guarantee that the diagrams are 100% perfect, but I’ve spent quite a while checking them and I believe they’re fault free.
I will not be held responsible for any damages to your person or property as a result of you doing this. Have fun and good luck.
Many of you have had your power window switches either burn out, or have had the plastic break on them. The plastic on my switches broke, I glued them a few times, but eventually it got too bad and I couldn’t operate the passenger window from the driver’s side any more. Buying another stock switch is at best a temporary solution, as it probably would break soon after anyway.
I decided it was time to do something about it. I looked up the stock wiring diagrams and went to work devising a solution. My criteria for the solution was that it require as little extra in car wiring as possible, retain the passenger switch disabling feature, use commonly available, inexpensive components, and the switches had to be located in the doors.
I’ve come up with 4 different ways of going about wiring up the switches that fit those criteria. Unfortunately the windows need 15A switches (the fuse is 30A, so figure each window at 15A), and finding switches of that capacity that have the right functionality and look good isn’t easy, so two of my designs incorporate relays so that switches of a smaller capacity can be used.
Only one solution that I’ve come up with doesn’t require any extra wiring, but I wasn’t able to find switches for it that I liked. One solution requires that a wire be run between the doors. The two solutions with relays require that a local ground connection be made (don’t just tap into a wire, its high current so run a proper ground wire to the chassis, not the door). Be sure to use large enough wire when wiring the switches, something on the order of 14 gauge or bigger will do fine. I would recommend wiring the switches to the stock connector that you cut off of the old switch, and put a spade or bullet terminal on the extra wiring so that you can remove the switches from the car if needed.
I’ve made the diagrams as easy to read and understand as I can, I don’t have access to the program they were created on any more, so I can’t change them. The relays are shown as two parts, the switching part as a switch, and the coil part as a circle (this is how it’s often done). I’ve colour coded everything for easy reference. The diagrams tell what components are needed to complete the installation. I’ve specified rocker switches and push button switches, as I think that would look the best, but you can use any type of switch that has the same functionality. BTW mom = momentary on.
I’ll be doing the one with the 4 DPDT rocker switches rated for >15A. I’ve ordered some sealed 20A @12VDC rated auto/marine rocker switches (http://www.action-electronics.com/gcswrot.htm#Marine) and they should be arriving next week. I’ll be mounting them to a piece of 1/8” thick textured black plastic that I’ve found and I think it’ll blend in quite nicely. I’ll post pictures of it once I’ve completed the installation.
I can’t guarantee that the diagrams are 100% perfect, but I’ve spent quite a while checking them and I believe they’re fault free.
I will not be held responsible for any damages to your person or property as a result of you doing this. Have fun and good luck.
08-25-06, 12:54 AM
#2
Former Moderator. RIP Icemark.
Kinda funky diagrams... they look like the are designed for a PLC rather than an automotive application. Most people will not understand those drawings at all, as they do not conform to automotive standards.
and way too much work. There are much simpler ways than most of your diagrams. Some of them are using 6 momentary switches??? what are you thinking???
And power and ground are already at the drivers switch and fed to the passengers switch from the driver switch, so why would you still run any extra wires???
Here is the factory wiring...:
Either you replace the existing switches with off the shelf DPDT switches (commonly found - well everywhere) or you use relays (which are also commonly found everywhere).
and way too much work. There are much simpler ways than most of your diagrams. Some of them are using 6 momentary switches??? what are you thinking???
And power and ground are already at the drivers switch and fed to the passengers switch from the driver switch, so why would you still run any extra wires???
Here is the factory wiring...:
Either you replace the existing switches with off the shelf DPDT switches (commonly found - well everywhere) or you use relays (which are also commonly found everywhere).
Last edited by Icemark; 08-25-06 at 01:03 AM.
08-25-06, 07:50 PM
#3
Lives on the Forum
Thread Starter
I was trying to avoid having there be the possibility of a short to ground when the passenger and drivers switches are set in opposite directions. I've seen the stock diagram, but I was unable to find any single off the shelf switches that would replicate the passenger switch functionality. You can do it using a single switch for each function on that window, a little push button for up, one for down. The problem is because the drivers window controls the motor by passing the current through the passenger switch. I went through every way that I could think to connect some DPDT rocker switches using only the factory wires, but any way I drew it there was a possibility of shorting to ground, blowing the fuse, which isn't a good thing to have as a possibility. Using the DPDT's the only way I saw to make it failsafe was by having 4 wires (one each for power and ground to the passenger side switch, and one each for the drivers side switch). I could have done it much easier, but the passenger wouldn't have a switch, the fuse would be at risk, or it would have involved more re-wiring to bring the wires to the middle of the car for easy reach from either seat.
The diagrams conform more or less to Electrical Engineering norms, or at least that's what my Electrical Engineering Student co-worker says (I'm a Mech, so I've got 0 practice on this sort of thing). He thought the diagrams were good. They show the functionality of the switches far better than the other diagrams I had created, which were more confusing, but were more of a real representaion of them. You basically just have to match up the terminals as indicated on the diagram to the terminals as indicated on the diagram of the connector and connect wires accordingly. It reads more or less like the stock diagram, but side to side, rather than up and down. The whole thing is colour coded and the terminals are differentiated between the drivers side and passenger side.
It started out just as a project for my own benefit, but I put in some extra effort to come up with alternative ways of doing it, but it's all how I would do it, not everyone would do it this way. I realize they ones with relays especially are complicated, but I think it's better to give more options than to just show the one I'll be using myself. If you think it'll be helpful I can show the layout of the switches on the panel and label them for functionality on the diagram. Anyway, I thought I'd share anyways, as someone might find it useful some day.
The diagrams conform more or less to Electrical Engineering norms, or at least that's what my Electrical Engineering Student co-worker says (I'm a Mech, so I've got 0 practice on this sort of thing). He thought the diagrams were good. They show the functionality of the switches far better than the other diagrams I had created, which were more confusing, but were more of a real representaion of them. You basically just have to match up the terminals as indicated on the diagram to the terminals as indicated on the diagram of the connector and connect wires accordingly. It reads more or less like the stock diagram, but side to side, rather than up and down. The whole thing is colour coded and the terminals are differentiated between the drivers side and passenger side.
It started out just as a project for my own benefit, but I put in some extra effort to come up with alternative ways of doing it, but it's all how I would do it, not everyone would do it this way. I realize they ones with relays especially are complicated, but I think it's better to give more options than to just show the one I'll be using myself. If you think it'll be helpful I can show the layout of the switches on the panel and label them for functionality on the diagram. Anyway, I thought I'd share anyways, as someone might find it useful some day.
08-25-06, 07:56 PM
#4
Former Moderator. RIP Icemark.
I'll try and draw you some simplified easy to build with common parts diragrams in the next couple of days, that confirm more to automotive standards than PLC or manufacturing controls.
09-04-06, 10:55 PM
#5
Lives on the Forum
Thread Starter
Well I got the switches installed and they work just fine. The wiring diagram for the 4 DPDT's is correct, but I ran into one issue with mine. The wire colours changed on the drivers side between the car side of the plug and the switch side. The accent colours on the red and green wires were reversed. The drawing indicates where the colours should be, and if yours isn't like it shows, then it's probably been done wrong too. So it turned out that the diagram I did was more accurate than the car itself.
I didn't get a picture yet, I was busy getting the car ready for the track day next weekend. I'll get a picture before too long though.
The install looks nice and clean, and the switches all fit in there, even though I used terminals and not solder to attach the wires to the switches (makes them taller). I had to trim the foam out of the pocket in the door to get the drivers side switch to fit though. They seem to stay put fine without anything holding them in other than the slightly oversized mounting plates.
I didn't get a picture yet, I was busy getting the car ready for the track day next weekend. I'll get a picture before too long though.
The install looks nice and clean, and the switches all fit in there, even though I used terminals and not solder to attach the wires to the switches (makes them taller). I had to trim the foam out of the pocket in the door to get the drivers side switch to fit though. They seem to stay put fine without anything holding them in other than the slightly oversized mounting plates.
Window Switches
