Service offered - FJ62 driver's window relay assembly (green box) refurb (1 Viewer)

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Spook50

Skål
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Threads
766
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7,303
Location
Spokane, WA
Update 16 March 2023:
First of all I'm still offering this service to anyone interested, but since I've lately helped several troubleshoot window issues that weren't connected to the relay assembly, I wanted to offer somewhat of a troubleshooting guide so that anyone wanting their relay box refurbished can run through it first and be absolutely sure they need (or just want) to have their unit refurbished. I HATE spending money on something thinking it'll fix an issue and then realizing after the fact that it wasn't the cause. In some cases it ends up being money wasted, so I try to help others avoid that aggravation. Now given the age of these units and some of the environments our Cruisers are in, I'll still recommend a refurb; however there ARE other potential causes to power window problems.

As an overview, if your other windows and power locks are working but your driver's window is not, odds are very good your relay assembly is the culprit. If everything works but the auto-down function of your driver's window doesn't work, this is also very likely due to a fault in the relay assembly. If NOTHING works, or everything is just operating weak/slow, there are several things to consider. I'll go through them as best I can, adding more info as time goes on.

Potential cause #1: Thermal breaker. On the fuse panel, to the right there are two round silver components. These are thermal breakers. The top one is for the HVAC (AC, front and rear blowers) and the bottom is for the power windows and the power locks. If neither your windows nor your locks are working, check this. They can be reset by inserting a pin or paperclip into the small hole and listening for a faint click. If it WAS popped, you now have two things to consider. The first is that something caused it to pop in the first place and now needs to be found to avoid it popping again, and the second is that thermal breakers are more prone to popping after the first time they go, so you'll want to replace it once you find and solve the issue. Last time I ordered one, they were about $35 a piece.

Potential cause #2: The master switch assembly. These have long been notorious for failure due to carbon buildup on the switch contacts. In all honesty, I feel this is one of the very rare situations where Toyota's design and materials were sub par. The switch contacts inside suffer from rapid buildup of carbon deposits due to electrical arcing and are not a hard enough material to better resist the pitting that occurs with long term use. Fortunately there are still OEM replacements available, along with good quality (though not available in gray) aftermarket units made by Switch Doctor. I have a Switch Doctor unit myself and it works very well. I haven't taken it apart since installation yet though to see how the wear compares to an OEM unit. If your windows are painfully slow and your door locks weak or non responsive, the master switch is usually one of many causes.

Potential cause #3: Damaged/corroded wiring, splices and connectors. Here is where we get into the "how deep do you want to dive into this?" portion of window and door lock issues. The first two items I covered are the simplest things to check and repair (or replace). This portion involves having knowledge of the FJ62 wiring layout and ability to chase wire runs. Knowledge & experience are highly recommended with this, and I will say the body & electrical FSM is absolutely mandatory. Essentially this will involve closely inspecting the wiring in each door and conducting any repairs necessary (just focus on one door at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself). I'll be getting more in depth with this process in the near future.

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After doing this on my own rig with success, I commented in @slcfj62's thread here (FJ62 Drivers Power Window (AutoDown) Relay Fix - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj62-drivers-power-window-autodown-relay-fix.362868/) about considering offering a service of refurbishing these assemblies for anyone who either doesn't have the time/resources or the soldering skills to attempt this. After @4Cruisers was gracious enough to be my first customer, I've documented the refurb process on his relay box so that I can detail the work I do to refurbish these boxes and give the user a "near new" OEM quality part at a fraction of the cost of 30+ year old used parts. 4Cruisers's part was in much better beginning condition than my own, so this was a great part to get details of the process. As received, he reported that his driver's window would no longer go down. This made for a perfect opportunity to repair and renew a damaged product.

The part as I received it. Considering its age, very clean and no corrosion that I could see on the mounting brackets. To be expected in either a dry climate or if the vapor barriers were never removed from the doors (mine were years ago and my own mounting brackets have some surface rust).

Relay Box 01.jpg


Relay Box 02.jpg



The assembly immediately after dismantling. The plastic box is made of ABS. While working this one I was able to figure out a way to remove the "cap" while minimizing risk of damaging the plastic. Though only a couple of the tabs on his required repair, my own didn't fare so well; but I keep a supply of ABS solvent cement that makes for a perfect repair of ABS plastic. Rather than being a simple adhesive, it chemically fuses the plastic together. The cure time is three days for full strength, but the repair is just as strong as new plastic. With this I'm able to repair any breaks or cracks in ABS as long as there are not MISSING parts. 4Cruisers's and my own part repaired beautifully with using an insulin syringe as an applicator to avoid mess.

Relay Box 03.jpg



The backside of an as yet untouched PCB. These circuits are very simple. Though I didn't make it as far as the circuit analysis class in my electronics engineering course (divorce at the time and wasn't about to put myself in a position where my GI Bill could possibly be usurped from me), I'm confident that if I sit down and take the time to pore over the specs of each component and trace the current paths, it wouldn't take me long to break it down.

Relay Box 04.jpg
 
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Continuing from my first post, here we see the meat and potatoes of an unmodified window relay board. Like I said before, this is a very simple circuit and the components prone to wear were easily identified.

Relay Box 05.jpg



Since I had all the parts already available (save for the resistor array; the long black component at the top of the pic, which tested good, but more on that shortly), I depopulated the board. Resistors don't typically wear out unless there's damage, which I saw none in this case nor on my own part, but in the event I find an unserviceable one, I do have spares for those as well. You'll see I still removed the resistor array and tested each pin. What's interesting is that his was much more consistent than my own, save for pins 5 and 9. All others pins on his were consistent in readings to pin 1. Mine, oddly enough, were all over the place. Yet both units still worked perfectly after repair; HOWEVER, when testing 4Cruisers's part in my door my window actually raised and lowered slightly faster than with my own part. This is why I would like to more thoroughly analyze the circuit so that I can determine what exactly is affecting the current allowed to pass to the window motors. Regardless, testing his resistor array allowed me to source a proper, long lasting replacement that's already on its way should I come across any that are as out of whack as my own or actually damaged.

Relay Box 07.jpg



Here is the completed and refurbished board. All capacitors and the relays have been replaced and the resistor array reinstalled. Also, before and after working, the PCB was thoroughly cleaned, first with plastic safe (for the connector) contact cleaner, and then after soldering with 99% isopropanol to remove excess flux. Like I said before, any resistors (and diodes) I find damaged can be replaced as well. Given the large holes in the PCB, I can also use larger wattage capacity resistors so as to avoid any possible heat issues in warmer climates (honestly doubt that's ever been an issue anywhere, but hey, why not?).

Relay Box 08.jpg



On the backside now you can see the nice new solder joints. I use old school lead based solder, which to my experience is much more durable and longer lasting than ROHS compliant solders. I also beefed up the connection points on the small bus bar that runs between the relays. What's interesting is that my part had considerably more solder in place to begin with than 4Cruisers's. Wish I would've taken a picture of my own for comparison. I attribute this to variations in the manufacturing process from the late 80s. Nothing wrong with correcting it now, huh?

Relay Box 06.jpg



My hope is that this will help anyone whose driver's window has stopped working in any aspect, or just runs very slowly (caveat: a simply slow window can be caused by several factors. Refurbishing the relay box can/may help, but it is NOT a guaranteed magic bullet for a slow driver's window! Please research the other causes as well if you're tackling a slow window).


For those who are interested, I offer this service for $100 per unit, plus shipping to me. Shipping back to you is included. This provides you with a practically new part for far less than the cost of a used part that's already worn and 30+ years old.

For any Cruiser oriented shops or businesses who are interested for restoration purposes so that they can be putting better than old used parts in customers' rigs, five or more parts are charged at $80 per unit (shipping deal is the same).

My goal is to fill a small niche for FJ62 owners and at the same time use my skills to fund my own projects and maintenance on my 62.
 
To add to this project, I'm also in the process of designing and soon building a test bed for these so that I can more quickly conduct before and after testing of any parts I refurbish. Right now they're getting "real world" tests in the door of my 62. Great testing method to be sure, but not exactly practical if there's more than a couple parts at a time and it isn't exactly enjoyable to be always tearing into one's own Cruiser to test "production level" parts.
 
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i like the VENDORS red banner

finally we have a short leash and shock collar on the mighty @Spook50 😆
 
I was able to install the newly refurbished relay this afternoon, along with a good used master switch that I cleaned the contacts on this Sunday. I now have a functioning drivers side power window again.

After I finished the install, my wife and I took the '86 FJ60 for a drive to our old neighborhood and explored a small side canyon that I haven't been in since 1964 or 1965.
 
Mine landed on Spooks doorstep today. Woohoo
 
Mine landed on Spooks doorstep today. Woohoo
Yeah poor mail dude had to dodge all the shingles and garbage being hucked off my roof! 😂

Pretty sure I saw him Moonwalk for a few steps....
 
@ToyotaMatt nah that's a good thing. Insurance finally coughed up for a roof replacement after our big wind storm in January that took out half my roof and that big honkin tree I posted pics of in Chat.
 
Just recently finished a box refub for a Mudder in Canada. This was a challenge given that there were a few spots where the PCB itself was damaged to the point of causing several opens in the circuit. So the PCB had to be completely depopulated, scrubbed with water and baking soda (to neutralize any acids that might've been contributing to the corrosion), then cleaned with isopropyl alcohol. Then the largest spot had a jumper wire laid over it, was coated with flux and then flooded with solder to create an effective repair to the trace. The other two were remedied with simple jumper wire and didn't require flood soldering. After the PCB was repopulated and tested to ensure it works again, I coated the trace side with urethane conformal coating to seal it and prevent any further corrosion. It's all reassembled and on its way back. Yet another refurbished part for our aging 62s!

01 - Board Traces.jpg


02 - Board Trace Damage 01.jpg


03 - Repaired traces.jpg


04 - Board Coating.jpg



And finally some organization! Cleaned out one of my component totes to use for these boxes. Still have to take the new resistors off the tape strips and put them in but now I have convenient access to my supplies when I do a relay box.
05 - Tray.jpg



If you're wanting yours done, PM me for details!
 
that was my relay! can’t wait to have a functioning window again. opening my door at the drive through is getting old. my symptom was that my window stopped working. unfortunately is got stuck down on a -40 day and i had 35 km to drive with it down before i got home!! it was a cold drive for sure. i jumped the motor and got it back up. now it’ll be nice to have it go down again. especially after my a/c stopped working today for some reason
 
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that was my relay! can’t wait to have a functioning window again. opening my door at the drive through is getting old. my symptom was that my window stopped working. unfortunately is got stuck down on a -40 day and i had 35 km to drive with it down before i got home!! it was a cold drive for sure. i jumped the motor and got it back up. now it’ll be nice to have it go down again. especially after my a/c stopped working today for some reason
I think I may have mentioned it in our PMs, but you'll definitely want to replace the window runs with new felted runs that were linked in this thread: Replacement window run source for 60-series trucks - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/replacement-window-run-source-for-60-series-trucks.1213597/

I detail doing the front doors in this post of the same thread: Replacement window run source for 60-series trucks - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/replacement-window-run-source-for-60-series-trucks.1213597/page-2#post-13658608
 
thanks for the reminder. you did mention it to me but with all the other things i’m trying to sort out on my truck i forgot. i just ordered 20 feet
 

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