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Electric window power distribution?

FrankD. on Thu November 09, 2006 9:57 PM User is offline

Year: 1996
Make: Buick
Model: Regal
Country of Origin: United States

Is there a good reason for only having power to the windows with the key turned to run or car running?

Door locks and power seat have power all the time why not the electric windows?



Thanks
FrankD.

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FrankD.

NickD on Thu November 09, 2006 11:10 PM User is offline

Ha, I wanted window cranks in my Cavalier, even work with a dead battery. My DeVille lets me power the windows up to ten minutes with the ignition switch off or until any of the doors are opened. The electric trunk release is in a locked glove box that uses the same key as the trunk and doors, but only works when the ignition is on. Easier to use the key to open the trunk, naw, ain't going to spend a hundred bucks for remote entry. When you put the car in any gear, all the doors lock, a pain in the butt when dropping off the wife at work as a busy place, just hold the brake in drive until she gets out, but the doors will unlock if I put it in park, just try and remember to hit the manual unlock switch otherwise she is pulling on the door handle and nothing happens.

Does have an Econ switch to kill the AC compressor, but defeated when switching to defrost mode, don't like my compressor running in 30* weather. Cooling fans only come on when the radiator is just about to overboil, another poor idea. Use to spend hours changing this stuff the way I like it, but that is getting old and so am I, so just learn to live with it. Well, maybe not that old, did rewire my motorhome the way I liked it.

So you want a reason for why they do it this way? One reason I can think of is my dogs know how to operate the windows and door locks, can't open the doors, but sure can jump out of a window. Would never leave kids in the car and maybe that is what they were thinking.

FrankD. on Sat November 11, 2006 3:44 PM User is offline


Thanks Nick

Just wanted to check before I added new wiring.

I can splice in two wires from a salvage car and move the circuit breaker to existing empty breaker holes in fuse panel.

GM used 14 gauge wires for all of the electric window wiring on my car.

Works OK as long as you only operate one window at a time. LOL


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FrankD.

NickD on Sun November 12, 2006 8:56 AM User is offline

I require at least three cups of coffee before attempting to take the master switch apart with a handful of jewelers screwdrivers positioned just right to release the five or six tabs holding the housing together. Motors are floating and can either have nothing, 12 V and ground applied, or that reversed to the motor to make it go up or down. The passenger doors get the 12V and ground from the master switch and act as an interlock. Would get some smoke if you as the driver are trying to roll down a window while your wife is trying to roll it up, that happens. If you have four doors, by holding all four switches up or down, all four windows should respond.

Not sure what you mean by only one window working at a time unless you didn't make always hot the main 12V and ground wires going in.

It's been quite awhile since I redid an entire system, believe it was on my Continental, took a half a day to open or close the windows in that car. First removed all the door panel and cleaned all the switches, bare copper, and all green. Helped a little but still a lot of drag. Motors were pop riveted in, largest pop rivet around town is 3/16" so used nuts and bolts with toothed lock washers to put them back in.

Each motor had an armature, brushes, worm gear, and a spring loaded slip clutch plus it's own circuit breaker. The grease was as hard as a rock and only way to clean them was to take each completely apart. Brushes were okay in the passenger doors, but worn badly in the drivers door. Had to cut down high content copper starter brushes for that, can't find these brushes anywhere. That was quite a chore making me wonder about convenience options.

Other PW problems were with using 16 gauge unplated 8 strand wire with a plastic jacket. Open a door in sub zero weather and the entire bundle would crack in half. Used neoprene fine strand test lead wire splicing that in between the door and jam on all four doors, another major undertaking. Avoid cars with the hardtop windows, much prefer full window frames. Lots of glass sitting up on top with very little holding it in the door, tracks get out of alignment if someone leans on the glass, and had cars where only two sticky tape attached plastic supports hooked the window to the riser mechanism. All a pain in the butt, and nothing like rolling down a window for the toll booths in Illinois and not having it come back up again during a major thunderstorm. That happened more than once.

FrankD. on Sun November 12, 2006 2:40 PM User is offline


All 4 electric windows work fine it’s the 14-gauge wire that I don’t like.

If I push two window buttons at the same time the windows are slow but any single window is fine.

From the ignition switch to the drivers master window switch is around 15 foot of 14-gauge wire routed through 3 connectors. Then you have the same 3 connectors and 10 foot of wire back to the passenger’s window switch. The wires are routed under the front seat, guess I should be glad GM did not route them through the trunk.


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FrankD.

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