Finished today a week-long project installing relays on each of the electric windows. I followed the postings of Jmackro and Jhjacobs. I hooked up a 12 gauge wire (30 amp fused - orange wire in the pic) to the battery:
I had bought dual relay sockets and relays off eBay, removed the open 87a wire, soldered in the diodes per John's diagram, and taped them up:
Then I wired the car - I ran the wire from the battery through the firewall off to the driver's side where I spliced into it for the driver's door and ran a line behind the a/c evaporator to the passenger door, each was wired through their own tubes past the hinges since I couldn't fit this wire through the existing tube and I didn't feel like devising a new one for all the wires:
Then I wired in the relays - the front motors have 3 wires, the middle brown one is ground so I took the wires at the junction box from the switches and spliced them to the relay up and down inputs (black wires), spliced the brown ground wire to the white ground of the relays and ran a separate wire (red) from the old middle junction box wire also to ground, and installed the battery lead to the relay (blue wires) and the power out wires to the motors (red wires).
And drilled a hole for mounting and zip tied and taped it all together:
Then I ran the wire from the fuse box area along the driver's side under the carpet to the back seat area, this is the shortest distance to access the back windows, I ran the wire past the driver's rear window then across to the passenger rear window and terminated it there. I spliced into this wire for the driver's side rear window.
And drilled a hole and installed the rear motor relays:
And since the rears don't have a middle junction box ground I grounded them at the bottom window mount bolt (white wire):
The result is definitvely faster windows, even though I had previously rebuilt and regreased mine and were already pretty quick, with the extra voltage they are faster - and better still the amperage is no longer running through all the old wires and switches. This is an excellent mod which, like the low beam head light circuit relay mod, adds safety and corrects a design flaw in these cars. Thanks to the guys that posted this previously and I hope this details from start to finish enough of the process so those with average mechanical skills like myself can undertake this upgrade.
I had bought dual relay sockets and relays off eBay, removed the open 87a wire, soldered in the diodes per John's diagram, and taped them up:
Then I wired the car - I ran the wire from the battery through the firewall off to the driver's side where I spliced into it for the driver's door and ran a line behind the a/c evaporator to the passenger door, each was wired through their own tubes past the hinges since I couldn't fit this wire through the existing tube and I didn't feel like devising a new one for all the wires:
Then I wired in the relays - the front motors have 3 wires, the middle brown one is ground so I took the wires at the junction box from the switches and spliced them to the relay up and down inputs (black wires), spliced the brown ground wire to the white ground of the relays and ran a separate wire (red) from the old middle junction box wire also to ground, and installed the battery lead to the relay (blue wires) and the power out wires to the motors (red wires).
And drilled a hole for mounting and zip tied and taped it all together:
Then I ran the wire from the fuse box area along the driver's side under the carpet to the back seat area, this is the shortest distance to access the back windows, I ran the wire past the driver's rear window then across to the passenger rear window and terminated it there. I spliced into this wire for the driver's side rear window.
And drilled a hole and installed the rear motor relays:
And since the rears don't have a middle junction box ground I grounded them at the bottom window mount bolt (white wire):
The result is definitvely faster windows, even though I had previously rebuilt and regreased mine and were already pretty quick, with the extra voltage they are faster - and better still the amperage is no longer running through all the old wires and switches. This is an excellent mod which, like the low beam head light circuit relay mod, adds safety and corrects a design flaw in these cars. Thanks to the guys that posted this previously and I hope this details from start to finish enough of the process so those with average mechanical skills like myself can undertake this upgrade.
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