89FormulaRoth

iTrader: (1)

Since I'm finally wiring in my '01 Trans Am seats, I thought I'd also take a shot at installing relays on my power windows. I've seen a lot of talk about it in here, but nothing concrete as far as results. I finished the passenger side last night and timed its "UP" time at five seconds. I timed the driver side without having installed relays and it clocked a solid eight second "UP" time. A three second improvement is pretty darn good, but…

Before anyone brings it up, I am comparing two different windows so my results are questionable. I did not time the passenger side before the mod, so I'm not sure how slow it was. I will have to post the time for the driver side once I am finished with it. Even then, these numbers are not accurate given that my battery isn't fully charged and that my motors aren’t completely new. The car has 80K on the odometer. The car has been sitting for about three years and the Optima Red was only charged to 70% (according to the Century battery charger) when I did this test, so theoretically the windows should be faster than five seconds when the car is running and the battery is fully charged.

In any case, here is the Web site that I referenced for wiring diagrams: http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/cars...r_windows.html. I did not follow the diagrams in the way I got power or in the way that I connected my ground wires (shouldn't matter for the grounds as long as they are grounded properly). I have a trunk mounted battery, so I ran an eight gage wire (overkill I'm sure, but I had it laying around) from the battery side of my solenoid (with 12 gage fusible link for added safety) to an insulated junction block under my center console (also the connection point for my power seats). From there, I ran 12 gage wire to the kick panel, which is where my relays are located.

The "UP" time for my '04 GMC Sierra is three seconds and I think my final result for my Formula will be comparable when I have a full battery charge and I've greased my tracks. I hope this sheds some light on the actual benefit of relays for this application. I’m open to criticism and questions, but I’m no electrical guru, so I might not have all the answers.

89FormulaRoth

iTrader: (1)

Here's a pic of the relays that I mounted under the kick panels:

89FormulaRoth

iTrader: (1)

Here's a pic of the junction block I mounted under the center console. These can be found attached to the fire wall of Chevy Corsicas and Berettas. The orange wire is the original power seat wiring harness. The other three red wires are one power coming in an two power going to each set of relays.

Aaron_SK

iTrader: (1)

Nice setup. I've been waiting for a solid test on this fix. Did you run new wire to the motors themselves, or did you just splice the old wire going to the switch? I'm planning on doing a similer mod, but I'm hoping not to have to rewire the entire door.

89FormulaRoth

iTrader: (1)

I found that the easiest way was to cut the switch wires between the door and the body. I temporarily crimped new wire to the door side, disconnected the connector and pulled enough wire out of the door to make it easier to solder and crimp permanently. I pulled it back the other direction (toward the body) to make the connections to the relays. Then I connected the original switch wires to the relays. I might've been able to get away with soldering in extra wire, but it makes it a little easier.