I still have to take a day and do fourrunner's battery cable beefup. I've got a buttload of #1, #2 and #4 welding cable so I'll make my own, but this has been on the list for a while.
Power Windows and Door Locks--Permanent Fix! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter slcfj62
- Start date
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I still have to take a day and do fourrunner's battery cable beefup. I've got a buttload of #1, #2 and #4 welding cable so I'll make my own, but this has been on the list for a while.
When I replaced my batt and batt cables, I did notice a good improvement.
When the engine is running, the door locks work flawlessly. But when engine has been off for some time, one door lock sticks.
Windown work ok when engine on, but weak when off.
When the engine is running, the door locks work flawlessly. But when engine has been off for some time, one door lock sticks.
Windown work ok when engine on, but weak when off.
Spudman
Addicted to 60's
I have just recently connected OEM door locks and power windows, my door locks also nearly shoot out the doors all the time, but my windows are a little slower, but they all work ok
Spudman
Addicted to 60's
I wired up my door locks as per the permanent fix information on here and it worked a breeze first time, excellent instructions, thanks
I have an idea that'll integrate Eric's fix into a single part solution that can be installed one door at a time. Only caveat is that it would require running a more stout (14ga, or maybe even 12) into each door that it's installed in.
Have to finish my gauge regulator first before I can start developing this, but once I can get a production run of that made and sold I'll be able to use the bit of extra money from there to develop this project.
Have to finish my gauge regulator first before I can start developing this, but once I can get a production run of that made and sold I'll be able to use the bit of extra money from there to develop this project.
So her is an update to my never ending power door lock issue.
So when I bought my 89 FJ62 last year, it had a couple of stuck locks.
I greased them up and cleaned the switch contacts. I then discovered that the factory wiring between switch and doors was cut and routed to an old alarm system. I removed this system and reattached the factory wiring. It worked a little better and I was happy.
Then I bought a Viper wireless remote system. It's a one way system that has remotes and no alarm. It
It has relays built in so I thought it would kill 2 birds with one stone. I figured that running clean power to the viper relays would give me the power of relays and the convenience of remotes.
However, over time the locks started sticking at times.
I removed everything and did some testing. The voltage at the rear right door when the switch button was pressed was under 7 volts. That's a big drop.
I don't know what the issue was now. But the viper installation required splitting the factory wires again. Not sure if operating the door switch used the Viper relays or not. But ever way, this setup wasn't working well.
So I took it all apart and tried a new setup. I wanted to keep the Viper but I didn't want to route the whole circuit through the viper. The viper has small gauge wires in its harness and the relays are pretty small. I think this may have been causing resistance.
I decided that instead of running the circuit through the viper, I would install 2 spdt relays at the door, between the factory door switch and the leads that go to the doors. I have the 'always on' blades connecting the factory switch and the wires that go to the doors. Then I have the power leads that come from the Viper going to the other relay blades. So what happens is that when the remotes aren't used, the relays are always connecting the factory switches to the factory wiring to the doors. But when the remote unlock or lock button is pressed, the relay disconnects the factory switch and connects the door actuators to a fresh and high gauge power lead. I did not want to use only that tired old pos power lead. In fact, I even spliced a fresh 10 gauge always on power lead to the factory pos lead so that plenty of current would be available for both the manual door switch and the remote activation. I also spliced in a new fresh high gauge ground in to the factory ground in the door to handle much more current.
The system seems to work fine, but I'm not holding my breath as it always works well at first.
The good thing about this setup is that a relay is used right in between the switch and factory wiring to the doors, and it switches a high gauge fresh power source and has a strong ground.
Most of the issues have been due to the old factory wiring.
I fully expect this to have problems eventually. If it does, I may have to rewire from the driver door to all of the other doors, using 10 gauge wire.
And if this fails, I will put relays in each door, with a fresh high capacity power source and ground wired to each door.
I know this sounds like overkill for door locks, but I hate not being able to fix a problem.
So when I bought my 89 FJ62 last year, it had a couple of stuck locks.
I greased them up and cleaned the switch contacts. I then discovered that the factory wiring between switch and doors was cut and routed to an old alarm system. I removed this system and reattached the factory wiring. It worked a little better and I was happy.
Then I bought a Viper wireless remote system. It's a one way system that has remotes and no alarm. It
It has relays built in so I thought it would kill 2 birds with one stone. I figured that running clean power to the viper relays would give me the power of relays and the convenience of remotes.
However, over time the locks started sticking at times.
I removed everything and did some testing. The voltage at the rear right door when the switch button was pressed was under 7 volts. That's a big drop.
I don't know what the issue was now. But the viper installation required splitting the factory wires again. Not sure if operating the door switch used the Viper relays or not. But ever way, this setup wasn't working well.
So I took it all apart and tried a new setup. I wanted to keep the Viper but I didn't want to route the whole circuit through the viper. The viper has small gauge wires in its harness and the relays are pretty small. I think this may have been causing resistance.
I decided that instead of running the circuit through the viper, I would install 2 spdt relays at the door, between the factory door switch and the leads that go to the doors. I have the 'always on' blades connecting the factory switch and the wires that go to the doors. Then I have the power leads that come from the Viper going to the other relay blades. So what happens is that when the remotes aren't used, the relays are always connecting the factory switches to the factory wiring to the doors. But when the remote unlock or lock button is pressed, the relay disconnects the factory switch and connects the door actuators to a fresh and high gauge power lead. I did not want to use only that tired old pos power lead. In fact, I even spliced a fresh 10 gauge always on power lead to the factory pos lead so that plenty of current would be available for both the manual door switch and the remote activation. I also spliced in a new fresh high gauge ground in to the factory ground in the door to handle much more current.
The system seems to work fine, but I'm not holding my breath as it always works well at first.
The good thing about this setup is that a relay is used right in between the switch and factory wiring to the doors, and it switches a high gauge fresh power source and has a strong ground.
Most of the issues have been due to the old factory wiring.
I fully expect this to have problems eventually. If it does, I may have to rewire from the driver door to all of the other doors, using 10 gauge wire.
And if this fails, I will put relays in each door, with a fresh high capacity power source and ground wired to each door.
I know this sounds like overkill for door locks, but I hate not being able to fix a problem.
If anyone needs the 2 relays & wiring for the door lock fix PM me. I bought them but am not going to use them. Will ship or local in SD.
Doing it with the relay mod is precisely what I was thinking. I'm planning on using 14AWG wire as it is when I get around to doing it, since I've already got tons of that (alot even tightly twisted for a "single" power/ground lead that'd be easy to feed through the grommets using some wire lube). Plus since I know for a fact that it'll handle more current than 16AWG wire, I'd just go ahead and do it rather than just see if 16AWG would be sufficient. I'm lazy and would rather just do it once
It's definitely going to be a multi-pronged approach for me. I'd love to track down that #27 style felt from JC Whitney if I can, and then lube the entire mechanism as best I can too. I think the combination of a slightly beefed up relay mod, lubing the mechanism, and new felt would make a world of difference in my barely functioning windows. The bonding wire idea you suggested for the doors would be great too. If the grommets are just too tight for two 14AWG wires to be squeezed through, this will be the way I go while just grounding the relays to the doors, just for the sake of knowing for a fact that I have a strong ground provided.
I am thinking about the relay fix but my first concern is the strength of the stock wiring.
I wired a fresh new ground directly from batt to the power window harness and the windows worked much better.
I tested using a fresh pos source to the circuit and it helped a little bit more. However, feeding switched power to the pos circuit is more difficult as that puts power to the whole power group.
Plus, after adding the ground, only one window was still working slowly. So I wired in a relay that fed fresh pos power to that one window's up circuit when that window is activated.
Also, I don't both with 16-14 gauge wires. I use 10-12. Some may think its overkill but these windows pull in a lot of amps.
Props to slcfj62!!
Had a real slow passenger side window. Lubed up weather stripping and regulator with no increase in performance.
Installed two relays and WALA! FAST (well same speed as other windows) UP/DOWN action!! now to install relays into all the doors!!
Only pain was running a new ground wire through the door loom to the cabin.
Also my relay harness was color coded differently. To prevent mistakes, used a small jeweler's screw driver to pop out the wiring and reinserted into corresponding configuration to mimic slcfj62's wiring.
T
Had a real slow passenger side window. Lubed up weather stripping and regulator with no increase in performance.
Installed two relays and WALA! FAST (well same speed as other windows) UP/DOWN action!! now to install relays into all the doors!!
Only pain was running a new ground wire through the door loom to the cabin.
Also my relay harness was color coded differently. To prevent mistakes, used a small jeweler's screw driver to pop out the wiring and reinserted into corresponding configuration to mimic slcfj62's wiring.
T
Did you run new POS line to the door and relays?
Im finding that not only grounds are bad, but each system needs a clean, good supply of +12v in addition to ground,
I didn't run new power lines, but probably should one day.
I read through and didn't catch anything referring to wire sizes on the power lock fix, so I'd like to add that you need to make sure you use at least 14AWG wire for the red, black and yellow leads that you're adding. The blue and brown are just for signal to the relays so they're good at 16AWG. I say this because I pulled my driver's front door apart to see if there was maybe a bad solder joint or something from when I did the relay mod, and I noticed that I had used 16AWG for all the leads, which added a ton of resistance to the current-carrying circuit. So I replaced those wires with some 12AWG that I had available and now ALL my locks sound like they're going to rip their way out of the doors when I hit the switch, even without the engine running. My locks now work better than they ever have, and my rear driver's side solenoid has no issue at all (for a long time it wouldn't unlock at all without the engine running, and rarely with it running). The rest of my locks had gotten sluggish too, but now all is well.
I integrated a Viper keyless module so I could unlock my doors without the key. I used a couple of relays to make the locks better.
Its not a total fix. They still get sticky. It depends if car is running. When voltage is over 13, they usually work without fail.
I think the issue is still the factory wiring between the driver door and the actuators in the other doors.
I am tempted to make a radical fix. This would involve running fresh power and ground wires to each door, and putting a relay in each door.
If that doesn't work, nothing will.
The factory wiring in the Toyota, especially after 25 years, just has too much resistance and doesn't carry the power necessary for old, sticky door lock mechanisms.
- Thread starter
- #154
I agree with you. Old wiring and old connectors drop voltage between the battery and the lock solenoids. Running new wires would most likely improve the situation. I would use at least 14 gauge. You might also take a good look at the connectors in the doors for both the door locks and the window motors. Replacing the connectors with a short piece of wire may also remedy the situation. I would at least try that before replacing all the wires. The inside of the doors is subject to water ingress and the connectors are not water tight. The wiring in these rigs certainly wasn't built for the long haul. Probably no car manufacturer except may Mercedes Benz builds their cars to last 30 years.
Good idea. I plan on taking voltage measurements at each junction. I know 14 is probably adequate, but I tent to go overkill. I ran 10 gauge POS and ground to the driver door. 12 should be a good compromise.
Its amazing how poorly certain components perform due to voltage drop, like the windshield wipers, interior light, headlights, etc.
I wish there was a single fix like a main ground that could be replaced to address all this.
But I've added 2 major grounds (to engine and body) and no dice.
I tried bypassing the fusible links to test if that fixed things and nothing.
I don't want to cut and butcher the factory harnesses so maybe a surgical bypass is better. For the driver door i used a relay to apply clean POS power to the harness. I think this helped a bit.
Maybe I should use that same method to apply power to the master power distribution points?
Hi, having same problems. I'm new to this site since purchasing my 88 fj62 a month ago.EDIT: This thread got longer than a Russian Folk tale. Since it got put in the FAQ, let me add a bit of a table of contents for quicker access to the meat of the thread:
Power door lock mod--Posts 27 to 32
Power window mod--Posts 47 to 51
Discussion about grounding-- Posts 76 to 83
Most of the rest of the posts are either side discussions, Q & A, or comments about how great I am.Those people haven't talked to my wife yet.
CLOSE EDIT.
My power windows and door locks haven't worked very well since I got my fj62 last spring. I've read enough postings to know that this problem is not unique to my cruiser. Awhile ago, I finally got around to pulling the master switch panel and all the door switches out and removing the pits from the contacts with emery paper and polishing the contacts all nice and shiny like has been recommended on another post. I even put dielectric grease in there as well. I reinstalled the switches and tried the power door locks and bamm, up and down they went for about 5 cycles. Then right back to the old problem. I pulled the master switch panel out again, and had a little black pit in the contacts. Curses. I think that the original surface of the contacts was hardened a little, and once that is eroded away, the softer metal won't stand up to switching that much current.
The switch contacts for the drivers window aren't the same as the rest. They are just flat copper bars without the contact because they just control the relays for the drivers window. The relays actually switch the current for the window motor. So, I figured why not use relays to switch the current for the windows in the rest of the doors and the power door locks as well? After examining the wiring diagrams, I figured out how to add relays to the other windows and for the door locks, and ordered a set of 8 relays with sockets and pigtails for about $50. Each relay will switch 50 amps, so they should never wear out. If they do, it's only a $5 fix.
Well, tonight I wired in the relays for the door locks. I tried the locks. They all jump up and down with authority. I must have cycled them 50 times and they work fantastic! Now I was really stoked, so I dove into the passenger door window switch. Toyota did kind of a funky thing with the windows. The window lock switch actually interrupts the path to ground for the window motors. So when you lock the windows, you can't even roll them down from the master control panel. In order to use relays with the windows, I had to change the ground path, so the window lock feature doesn't have any effect any more. I have to wire in a ground to each door switch. I haven't quite figured out the best way to do that. I am leaning toward just using a braided strap between the door pillar and the door, and then grounding the door switch to a ground point on the door. But hey, the passenger window goes up and down lickedy-split now. It is just as fast as the drivers side. I ran out of time to complete the back doors, I'll have to get to them later.
But if anyone else out there is interested in the fix, I will take some pictures and do a short write-up of the procedure. You'll have to add a ground to three doors and you'll have to cut some wires between the switches and the connectors and figure out where to stuff the relays in the doors, but for $50 in relays and sockets, you can breathe new life into your door locks and windows!
I'm out for tonight.
Is this write up still the best way to correct the relay issue?
- Thread starter
- #157
The power door locks and power windows fix is for everything but the drivers door window. As far as I know, this is still the best solution. If your problem is the drivers door window, see this thread:
FJ62 Drivers Power Window (AutoDown) Relay Fix
FJ62 Drivers Power Window (AutoDown) Relay Fix
Ok thanks!
4Cruisers
SILVER Star
Will this harness:
RELAYHARNESS - **Relay Harness (5 Wire Heavy Gauge Relay Harness Spdt) - Generic
Work with this relay?
Song Chuan 896H-1CH-C1S-R1-12VDC High Current Mini Relays
I'm getting ready to install the power windows and power door locks from my '89 FJ62 into my '86 FJ60 project vehicle. I'd like to order eight of each but want to make sure they're compatible.
RELAYHARNESS - **Relay Harness (5 Wire Heavy Gauge Relay Harness Spdt) - Generic
Work with this relay?
Song Chuan 896H-1CH-C1S-R1-12VDC High Current Mini Relays
I'm getting ready to install the power windows and power door locks from my '89 FJ62 into my '86 FJ60 project vehicle. I'd like to order eight of each but want to make sure they're compatible.
- Thread starter
- #160
Assuming the relays have a standard automotive relay terminal configuration, that should work. Give Waytek a phone call before you order them just to verify.
