DIY Pass Window Fix Step by Step (PICS missing)
06-20-2009, 06:30 PM
#1
DIY Pass Window Fix Step by Step (PICS missing) Alright, well this is going to be a long one. I know this is a common issue and the sponsor making these kits is gone, so I decided to make a detailed, step by step write-up with pictures of how to make your own passenger side window fix kit. It's really not too difficult or time consuming.
Here is what you will need:
-Red Wire 12awg ~15'. If you don't have some on a spool already, just get 20' to be safe.
-Light Blue Wire 12awg ~5'.
-Light Brown/Tan Wire 12awg ~5'
-Black Wire 12awg ~5'
-All wires should be stranded, NOT solid copper.
-Splice tap connectors - Come in packs of 4, you'll need 3.
-Butt Splices- Typically packs of 8-10, you'll need 5.
-Ring Terminals- Center hole needs to be ~3/8", you'll need 3.
-Female Disconnects (AKA FastOns): You'll need 10, but get extras just in case (i.e. pack of 20).
-All connectors should be insulated, not bare.
-5-pin Automotive relays, you'll need 2. NAPA Part #AR272SB. The pins should be labeled 30, 85, 86, 87 and 87a.
DO NOT GET DURALAST RELAYS FROM AUTOZONE, Duralast Part #19273! They are very poorly built and will break from the pressure of putting the terminals on. Trust be, I broke 3 of them...
-Inline fuse holder, preferably water proof, capable of at least 20 amps.
-20 amp fuses.
-Adhesive backed Velcro strips (depending on how you want to mount your fuse holder).
-Zip ties.
-Wire Cutters/Crimping Tool
-Other basic hand tools (Phillips Screw Drivers, 10mm socket, wrenches, etc.)
Everything with the exception of the relays and fuse holder can be bought at home depot in the home electronics/wiring section. The fuse holder I bought came from Radio Shack, but something similar is probably available at an auto parts store.
When I say to strip the end of a wire, in all cases about a .25" strip is all that is necessary.
Here's a picture of some of the stuff you'll need (DO NOT get the relays in the first picture):
Here are the relays you should get (From NAPA):
This is the fuse holder I got. They are a rubber housing and they seal out water pretty well. Probably overkill, but it works:
Here is what you will need:
-Red Wire 12awg ~15'. If you don't have some on a spool already, just get 20' to be safe.
-Light Blue Wire 12awg ~5'.
-Light Brown/Tan Wire 12awg ~5'
-Black Wire 12awg ~5'
-All wires should be stranded, NOT solid copper.
-Splice tap connectors - Come in packs of 4, you'll need 3.
-Butt Splices- Typically packs of 8-10, you'll need 5.
-Ring Terminals- Center hole needs to be ~3/8", you'll need 3.
-Female Disconnects (AKA FastOns): You'll need 10, but get extras just in case (i.e. pack of 20).
-All connectors should be insulated, not bare.
-5-pin Automotive relays, you'll need 2. NAPA Part #AR272SB. The pins should be labeled 30, 85, 86, 87 and 87a.
DO NOT GET DURALAST RELAYS FROM AUTOZONE, Duralast Part #19273! They are very poorly built and will break from the pressure of putting the terminals on. Trust be, I broke 3 of them...
-Inline fuse holder, preferably water proof, capable of at least 20 amps.
-20 amp fuses.
-Adhesive backed Velcro strips (depending on how you want to mount your fuse holder).
-Zip ties.
-Wire Cutters/Crimping Tool
-Other basic hand tools (Phillips Screw Drivers, 10mm socket, wrenches, etc.)
Everything with the exception of the relays and fuse holder can be bought at home depot in the home electronics/wiring section. The fuse holder I bought came from Radio Shack, but something similar is probably available at an auto parts store.
When I say to strip the end of a wire, in all cases about a .25" strip is all that is necessary.
Here's a picture of some of the stuff you'll need (DO NOT get the relays in the first picture):
Here are the relays you should get (From NAPA):
This is the fuse holder I got. They are a rubber housing and they seal out water pretty well. Probably overkill, but it works:
Last edited by WhiteBird00; 05-18-2018 at 12:03 PM. Reason: Change title to say pictures no longer available
06-20-2009, 06:36 PM
#2
As always, disconnect the positive terminal on the battery.
1) Remove the black plastic piece underneath the glove box. There are two plastic push connectors in the front, and a metal tab connector towards the firewall. You should be able to just pop all of these connectors off with a flat blade screwdriver.
2) Remove the trim piece that runs along the inside of the door sill. It's held in place by 4 Phillips screws.
3) There is a rubber panel that is underneath the sill panel you just took off with some wiring running through it. You don't need to fully remove this panel, just move it out of the way enough to get enough room to work.
Here's what you're looking for, with stuff moved out of the way:
4) Under the hood: Unscrew the 2 nuts holding the PCM bracket in place and pull the PCM out and set it to the side. This will require a little work, and I found it easiest to remove the two plastic push connectors on the rain sill under the hood on the far end of the passenger side.
Here it is out of the hole and moved off to the side.
5) Locate the grommet going through the firewall here and remove the electrical tape on it, then slide the red power wire through the grommet. The best method I've found to do this is to fold the wire over on itself and crunch it with some pliers and feed it through. This gives it a little extra strength on the end, and will keep the wire from poking through the grommet.
Another tip is to put a dab of silicone or some other lubricant on the end of the wire before you feed it through, and it should slide through without much trouble at all.
Feed through about 3 feet into the passenger compartment. Just leave the rest under the hood for now.
***Also: vaccuum that **** out while you're in there
***
1) Remove the black plastic piece underneath the glove box. There are two plastic push connectors in the front, and a metal tab connector towards the firewall. You should be able to just pop all of these connectors off with a flat blade screwdriver.
2) Remove the trim piece that runs along the inside of the door sill. It's held in place by 4 Phillips screws.
3) There is a rubber panel that is underneath the sill panel you just took off with some wiring running through it. You don't need to fully remove this panel, just move it out of the way enough to get enough room to work.
Here's what you're looking for, with stuff moved out of the way:
4) Under the hood: Unscrew the 2 nuts holding the PCM bracket in place and pull the PCM out and set it to the side. This will require a little work, and I found it easiest to remove the two plastic push connectors on the rain sill under the hood on the far end of the passenger side.
Here it is out of the hole and moved off to the side.
5) Locate the grommet going through the firewall here and remove the electrical tape on it, then slide the red power wire through the grommet. The best method I've found to do this is to fold the wire over on itself and crunch it with some pliers and feed it through. This gives it a little extra strength on the end, and will keep the wire from poking through the grommet.
Another tip is to put a dab of silicone or some other lubricant on the end of the wire before you feed it through, and it should slide through without much trouble at all.
Feed through about 3 feet into the passenger compartment. Just leave the rest under the hood for now.
***Also: vaccuum that **** out while you're in there
*** Last edited by jimbo98z; 06-20-2009 at 09:16 PM.
06-20-2009, 06:41 PM
#3
6) Back inside the car: Locate the red wire you just pushed through. Strip the end, and crimp a FastOn terminal onto the end.
7) Take a 1 foot section of red wire and strip then terminate one end with a FastOn. Take the other end, and using a splice tap connector, attach it to the wire you just passed through the firewall. The two FastOn terminated ends should be equal.
Here's what you're making, but only you'll be making with RED wire. I couldn't get a good pic of that because it was in the car.
8) Behind the rubber panel pushed aside in step 3 there will be a large bundle of wires going through the body and into the door. Locate the one LIGHT BLUE wire and the one LIGHT BROWN/TAN wire. Tug both of these wires to give you some slack and then cut them both in the middle.
The two wires in focus are the two you're going to cut:
9) Strip both ends of both wires you just cut and attach a butt connector onto each end. There should be a total of 4 butt connectors.
10) Take the light blue and tan wires you bought and cut 2 about 1.5' sections off of each and strip both ends on all four wires (2 tan, 2 light blue).
11) On one end of all four wires, crimp a FastOn terminal.
12) The non-terminated end of each of these wires will be attached to one of the butt connectors of a wire of the corresponding color cut in step 8 (tan to tan, lt. blue to lt. blue). Put a piece of electrical tape or some other marker near the end of the light blue wire and the tan wire that come from the passenger door. This will make it easier to identify the wires later.
Here are the wires butted together. Kinda hard to see, and they kinda hide back in there. Getting the crimping tool in there can be tough, so be patient.
7) Take a 1 foot section of red wire and strip then terminate one end with a FastOn. Take the other end, and using a splice tap connector, attach it to the wire you just passed through the firewall. The two FastOn terminated ends should be equal.
Here's what you're making, but only you'll be making with RED wire. I couldn't get a good pic of that because it was in the car.
8) Behind the rubber panel pushed aside in step 3 there will be a large bundle of wires going through the body and into the door. Locate the one LIGHT BLUE wire and the one LIGHT BROWN/TAN wire. Tug both of these wires to give you some slack and then cut them both in the middle.
The two wires in focus are the two you're going to cut:
9) Strip both ends of both wires you just cut and attach a butt connector onto each end. There should be a total of 4 butt connectors.
10) Take the light blue and tan wires you bought and cut 2 about 1.5' sections off of each and strip both ends on all four wires (2 tan, 2 light blue).
11) On one end of all four wires, crimp a FastOn terminal.
12) The non-terminated end of each of these wires will be attached to one of the butt connectors of a wire of the corresponding color cut in step 8 (tan to tan, lt. blue to lt. blue). Put a piece of electrical tape or some other marker near the end of the light blue wire and the tan wire that come from the passenger door. This will make it easier to identify the wires later.
Here are the wires butted together. Kinda hard to see, and they kinda hide back in there. Getting the crimping tool in there can be tough, so be patient.
Last edited by jimbo98z; 06-20-2009 at 09:20 PM.
06-20-2009, 06:45 PM
#4
13) Now locate your black wire and cut 2x each of 1.5' and 6" sections.
14) On both of the 1.5' sections strip both ends. On one end, crimp a FastOn connector, on the other end crimp a ring terminal.
15) On the 6" sections of black wire, strip each on one end only and attach a FastOn terminal to that end.
16) Now take a 6" section of black wire and connect it to the 1.5' section of black wire using a splice tap connector. The ends of both wires that have FastOn terminals should be pointing the same direction, and should be roughly equal.
17)Perform step 16 again for the other 1.5' and 6" section of black wire. Then connect the ring terminals on both of the assemblies you just made to the bolt right where you are working that already has a ground wire connected to it. It's pretty obvious, you can't miss it.
Here's what you'll be making two of:
And here's where they connect:
18) Now make the connections to the relays as indicated in the diagram below. One relay will have Black, Red, and Tan wires only, and the other rely will have Black, Red, and Light Blue wires only. (For reference and trouble shooting, the Light Blue wire controls upward movement of the window, and the Tan/Light Brown wire controls the downward movement.)
After putting the terminals into the relay, put a zip tie about 4" up from the connectors to act as a strain relief. It should look something like this:
14) On both of the 1.5' sections strip both ends. On one end, crimp a FastOn connector, on the other end crimp a ring terminal.
15) On the 6" sections of black wire, strip each on one end only and attach a FastOn terminal to that end.
16) Now take a 6" section of black wire and connect it to the 1.5' section of black wire using a splice tap connector. The ends of both wires that have FastOn terminals should be pointing the same direction, and should be roughly equal.
17)Perform step 16 again for the other 1.5' and 6" section of black wire. Then connect the ring terminals on both of the assemblies you just made to the bolt right where you are working that already has a ground wire connected to it. It's pretty obvious, you can't miss it.
Here's what you'll be making two of:
And here's where they connect:
18) Now make the connections to the relays as indicated in the diagram below. One relay will have Black, Red, and Tan wires only, and the other rely will have Black, Red, and Light Blue wires only. (For reference and trouble shooting, the Light Blue wire controls upward movement of the window, and the Tan/Light Brown wire controls the downward movement.)
After putting the terminals into the relay, put a zip tie about 4" up from the connectors to act as a strain relief. It should look something like this:
Last edited by jimbo98z; 06-20-2009 at 09:00 PM.
06-20-2009, 08:58 PM
#5
19) Leave everything inside the car out and do not put any trim panels back in place just yet.
20) Back to under the hood. Roughly trace the path you want the red wire you previously fed through to take to get to the (+) terminal of the battery. I fed it through some of the existing wire loom and down by the black TCS box then down to the battery. Cut this wire to length and then feed it through how you want it to run under the hood to the battery. Tug any excess wire back through into the pocket where the PCM is to leave some slack there, or trim the extra, your choice.
Here is the path I took with the wire:
21) Strip the end of the red wire nearest the battery and place a butt connector on this end.
22) Locate the inline fuse holder you bought, and strip the wires on each end. On one end (it doesn't matter which) put a ring connector. The other end will be connected into the butt connector on the red wire.
23) DO NOT INSERT A FUSE INTO THE FUSE HOLDER YET. Connect the ring terminal on the end of the fuse holder wire to the (+) battery terminal, and reconnect the (+) terminal to the battery. DO NOT PUT A FUSE IN YET.
24) Now it's time to check the relays and your connections. Having a helper for this step will be useful. Put the key in the ignition and turn it to "Run". Check that the window still rolls up and down from the passenger side switch normally. If it does not work properly recheck your wires and connections.
25) Now go to the driver's side switch panel. Have your helper hold the two relays in their hands and push the button on the driver's door that will roll the passenger window down. The window will not roll down, but the relay with the two Light Brown/Tan wires will make an audible "click" that can be also felt if the relay is being held. If the relay does not click or the wrong relay clicks, check your wiring and connections.
26) Perform step 25 again, but this time push the button to roll the passenger window up. This time the relay with the Light Blue wires should click. Again, the window will not move yet. Take the key out of the ignition.
27) MOVE ON ONLY WHEN STEPS 25 AND 26 HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AND EVERYTHING WORKS PROPERLY!
28) Insert a 20 amp fuse into the inline fuse holder. If the window begins to run up or down on its own, you have reversed two of the connections on the relay (the two Tan/Light Brown wires if the window goes down, the two Light Blue wires if the window goes up).
29) Get back in the car on the driver's side and turn the key to Run. Now check the operation of the passenger window from the driver's side switch panel. If the window does not roll up or down or the fuse blows check your connections and terminations. If all of your connections appear correct then you may have a bad relay. If you suspect the relay is bad, perform the procedure at the end of this article to check the relay.
30) At this point, you are done with all of the electronics portion of it. Now you just need to put everything back together. The best way I found to pack the wires in is with zip ties. All of this will be covered up, so simplicity and ease of access to make possible repairs later down the road is more important than appearance. After placing all the zip ties, it's a good idea to recheck and make sure the window works (from both doors) to ensure you haven't tugged a connection loose. If everything works properly, push the rubber panel back into place, then reinstall the trim piece under the glove box, and finally put the door sill trim panel back into place.
This is how well tucked it should be when looking from the passenger seat:
31) Back under the hood: Mount the inline fuse holder somewhere under the hood that is out of the way from moving parts, is shielded from water, fluids, flying debris, etc. and is not in a position where stress is put on any of the connections. I mounted mine to the side of the battery using a piece of adhesive backed Velcro, but it's your choice.
This is how I mounted my fuse holder. Out of the way, but still easy to get to:
32) You're done! Easy, wasn't it? Go drive around and enjoy the fact that your passenger side window now has the right voltage running to it, will move up and down faster, and most importantly make your window motor last longer.
20) Back to under the hood. Roughly trace the path you want the red wire you previously fed through to take to get to the (+) terminal of the battery. I fed it through some of the existing wire loom and down by the black TCS box then down to the battery. Cut this wire to length and then feed it through how you want it to run under the hood to the battery. Tug any excess wire back through into the pocket where the PCM is to leave some slack there, or trim the extra, your choice.
Here is the path I took with the wire:
21) Strip the end of the red wire nearest the battery and place a butt connector on this end.
22) Locate the inline fuse holder you bought, and strip the wires on each end. On one end (it doesn't matter which) put a ring connector. The other end will be connected into the butt connector on the red wire.
23) DO NOT INSERT A FUSE INTO THE FUSE HOLDER YET. Connect the ring terminal on the end of the fuse holder wire to the (+) battery terminal, and reconnect the (+) terminal to the battery. DO NOT PUT A FUSE IN YET.
24) Now it's time to check the relays and your connections. Having a helper for this step will be useful. Put the key in the ignition and turn it to "Run". Check that the window still rolls up and down from the passenger side switch normally. If it does not work properly recheck your wires and connections.
25) Now go to the driver's side switch panel. Have your helper hold the two relays in their hands and push the button on the driver's door that will roll the passenger window down. The window will not roll down, but the relay with the two Light Brown/Tan wires will make an audible "click" that can be also felt if the relay is being held. If the relay does not click or the wrong relay clicks, check your wiring and connections.
26) Perform step 25 again, but this time push the button to roll the passenger window up. This time the relay with the Light Blue wires should click. Again, the window will not move yet. Take the key out of the ignition.
27) MOVE ON ONLY WHEN STEPS 25 AND 26 HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AND EVERYTHING WORKS PROPERLY!
28) Insert a 20 amp fuse into the inline fuse holder. If the window begins to run up or down on its own, you have reversed two of the connections on the relay (the two Tan/Light Brown wires if the window goes down, the two Light Blue wires if the window goes up).
29) Get back in the car on the driver's side and turn the key to Run. Now check the operation of the passenger window from the driver's side switch panel. If the window does not roll up or down or the fuse blows check your connections and terminations. If all of your connections appear correct then you may have a bad relay. If you suspect the relay is bad, perform the procedure at the end of this article to check the relay.
30) At this point, you are done with all of the electronics portion of it. Now you just need to put everything back together. The best way I found to pack the wires in is with zip ties. All of this will be covered up, so simplicity and ease of access to make possible repairs later down the road is more important than appearance. After placing all the zip ties, it's a good idea to recheck and make sure the window works (from both doors) to ensure you haven't tugged a connection loose. If everything works properly, push the rubber panel back into place, then reinstall the trim piece under the glove box, and finally put the door sill trim panel back into place.
This is how well tucked it should be when looking from the passenger seat:
31) Back under the hood: Mount the inline fuse holder somewhere under the hood that is out of the way from moving parts, is shielded from water, fluids, flying debris, etc. and is not in a position where stress is put on any of the connections. I mounted mine to the side of the battery using a piece of adhesive backed Velcro, but it's your choice.
This is how I mounted my fuse holder. Out of the way, but still easy to get to:
32) You're done! Easy, wasn't it? Go drive around and enjoy the fact that your passenger side window now has the right voltage running to it, will move up and down faster, and most importantly make your window motor last longer.
06-20-2009, 09:13 PM
#6
If you have problems:
TO CHECK FOR A BAD RELAY:
-You need a basic multimeter capable of reading resistance to do this.
-First, grab a hold of each terminal on the relay (terminal 87 is the particular one I had issues with on the AutoZone relays) and feel if there is any play in the terminals. The issue I was having was with the terminal physically coming loose from the body of the relay. If there is much play in any of the terminals, the relay is probably no good.
-To check the relay with a multimeter:
1)Take the relay out of the car, disconnecting all terminals.
2) Connect the meter to terminals 87a and 30. The reading should be 0 ohms, or something very close (less than 1 ohm).
3) Between 30 to 87 should be "open" or read overload/9999999/etc. on the meter.
4) Between 85 and 86 should be around 26 ohms.
For those of you that can understand it, here's a diagram of the relay pinout:
Once I figured out a couple of problems, this really wasn't hard to do and didn't take long at all. The biggest pieces of advice I can give are to make sure you get good relays, and make sure your crimps are good and strong.
Good luck
Jim
Questions or comments, shoot me a PM.
TO CHECK FOR A BAD RELAY:
-You need a basic multimeter capable of reading resistance to do this.
-First, grab a hold of each terminal on the relay (terminal 87 is the particular one I had issues with on the AutoZone relays) and feel if there is any play in the terminals. The issue I was having was with the terminal physically coming loose from the body of the relay. If there is much play in any of the terminals, the relay is probably no good.
-To check the relay with a multimeter:
1)Take the relay out of the car, disconnecting all terminals.
2) Connect the meter to terminals 87a and 30. The reading should be 0 ohms, or something very close (less than 1 ohm).
3) Between 30 to 87 should be "open" or read overload/9999999/etc. on the meter.
4) Between 85 and 86 should be around 26 ohms.
For those of you that can understand it, here's a diagram of the relay pinout:
Once I figured out a couple of problems, this really wasn't hard to do and didn't take long at all. The biggest pieces of advice I can give are to make sure you get good relays, and make sure your crimps are good and strong.
Good luck
Jim
Questions or comments, shoot me a PM.
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06-27-2009, 05:31 PM
#17
nice write up all I did was dissassemble motor desoder the bar inside the motor, (replace w/ 8 guage wire ) when bar gets hot from rolling down or up window the motor either slows or stops untill bar cools down.
the bar GM used has resistance to protect the motor.
w/ larger wire there's less resistance so motor do'es not slow down works fine for me.
Thanks again GM for protective engineering that slows or stops the pass. and the driver side window motors.
the bar GM used has resistance to protect the motor.
w/ larger wire there's less resistance so motor do'es not slow down works fine for me.
Thanks again GM for protective engineering that slows or stops the pass. and the driver side window motors.
06-29-2009, 09:52 PM
#18
Sweet, thanks
The bottom line is that it doesn't get full voltage to the motor either. I measured voltage at the power wire to the passenger side window right where the wires go through the door and it was peaking around 9.5 to 10 volts. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense seeing as that would make the motor have to work longer and harder to do the same task, but oh well.
The bottom line is that it doesn't get full voltage to the motor either. I measured voltage at the power wire to the passenger side window right where the wires go through the door and it was peaking around 9.5 to 10 volts. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense seeing as that would make the motor have to work longer and harder to do the same task, but oh well.
