Auto-electrician recommendation

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dayofthejackal

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Fellow Frogger
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Nov 14, 2010
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sydney
Can't solve the intermittently working front electric windows in the 1985 CX.
Can anyone recommend a suitable auto-electrician who knows these cars / that era of car and would be interested in getting to the bottom of things ?
 
I also have a 85cx;sick of mess under bonnet and had all re-done by Ben at Eastern Creek {0296224969} can certainly recommend. You should first check wiring where it enters the doors,Andy.
 
You have checked the wires in the doors right ? Try opening/closing the doors while holding the switch down and see if the window moves sporadically. Open one of the doors and look at the wiring..... If it starts half way up the door ... and heads downhill to the pillar .... You are probably fine. If it leaves the door and enters the pillar at the same height ...... The wiring will almost certainly be fractured/broken where it flexes inside the harness.

seeya,
Shane L.
 
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Wiring between door and pillar looks pretty solid.
Seems odd that both windows often start OK ie after the doors are closed and just stop ( concurrently : always ) at some random time in a journey without having touched the doors again.
I now suspect since it always affects both windows at the same time that it could be a fuse problem since 1 fuse controls both windows. Trouble is my fuse boxes bear no relation to the drivers handbook so I don't really know where to start. ( I have already replaced both switches which in my series 1 are next to the gear stick not in the doors themselves ).
 
pull the fuses one at a time until the windows do not work ..... And you have found the fuse that needs cleaning (trace it wiring and see if you can find any dodgy connectors). .... It will probably be the relays connectors onto the relays above the battery. If they are all green with corrosion, either replace the space terminals, or it will probably easier to replace the entire relay wiring tail.
 
Pulling the fuses out one by one I can do but looking at what I've got I can't see me successfully tracing wires from fuse box to connectors above the battery but I'll let you know how I go.
 
I had a CX once and my drivers door window stopped working I found that the motor had broken apart from the gearbox from memory it hangs down with no support I cable tied i together and it started again.
 
You could also try popping the window switches out and spraying them (outside the car) with contact cleaner to clean any crud from within the switches.

Even if the wiring between pillar and door looks ok, the actual wires inside the insulation could be cracked and causing resistant or intermittent connection. Our CX had a similar situation and Mrs UFO was not happy. A bit of work one afternoon and I spliced in some new and flexible wire to replace the worn out sections. Fixed!
 
IF ITS THE LEFT WINDOW ,KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS OPERABLE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE CAR SO BOTH SWITCHES HAVE TO BE OPERATING CORRECTLY FOR THE WINDOW TO WORK ,IN SHORT CHECK THE OTHER SWITCH ALSO ,PUGS
 
Pugs,
I have already replaced both switches with new ones ( after cleaning the old ones as UFO suggested ) .
Can you explain the wiring basis for what you said re LHS operable from both sides ?
 
Not sure how significant this is in terms of getting to the bottom of things but when I fiddled with the relays above the battery the windows ran without having the key in the ignition let alone turned on.
 
I am not sure what arrangement the early CX25s had for their window switches. I know the Series 2 CX 25s did have two switches on the drivers door, one to control the passenger window and the other with a one touch control option for the drivers window.

If you have the old arrangement with the switches on the central console, then I think you are nearly there. You just have to find the fuse and relay involved with the windows and clean their contacts/replace them to get reliable operation. If fact, it wouldn't hurt to clean all the relay and fuse contacts and see if that improves the situation. If not, then you will have to locate the window relay and replace it. It will be one of the relays that clicks in when the ignition is turned on. If you hold the relays when someone turns the ignition on, you will feel them click on.

Cheers, Ken
 
dayofthejackal said:
Not sure how significant this is in terms of getting to the bottom of things but when I fiddled with the relays above the battery the windows ran without having the key in the ignition let alone turned on.
Click to expand...

That is a bit of a worry, You will need to look at the wiring there to see if there is any wires shorting out in the loom. You don't want to have a fire in the loom, battery area.

Cheers, Ken
 
Series 1
Switches ( replaced with new ones ) in the centre console.
( I think your comment re series 2 cars explains Pugs comment re LHS window)
 
Problem probably isolated to the "first " relay ( looking from in front of the car its the left most in the line "above" the battery ).
It got 5 pins and looks original ( Mixo made in France) . The auto electrican tested it and said it was kaput which sounded promising to me . However the pins do not have the current ISO labelling making a match to a new one a challenge.
Questions are : can we assume its a changeover relay ? what amperage should I choose ? is protection better via a diode or a resistor ?
I have bought a 40/30 amp ( since the fuse for the windows is 30 amp ) changeover relay with resistor protection . Thought I would canvas a few opinions before I try it out.
 
dayofthejackal said:
Problem probably isolated to the "first " relay ( looking from in front of the car its the left most in the line "above" the battery ).
It got 5 pins and looks original ( Mixo made in France) . The auto electrican tested it and said it was kaput which sounded promising to me . However the pins do not have the current ISO labelling making a match to a new one a challenge.
Questions are : can we assume its a changeover relay ? what amperage should I choose ? is protection better via a diode or a resistor ?
I have bought a 40/30 amp ( since the fuse for the windows is 30 amp ) changeover relay with resistor protection . Thought I would canvas a few opinions before I try it out.
Click to expand...

What you can do is remove the cover off the old relay, a small screw driver should do this. You will then be able to see physically where there connections for the coil and contacts go to the terminals.

This link here may help you out as well.

Understanding Relays & Wiring Diagrams | Swe-Check

A relay is an electrically operated switch. Learn how to wire a 4 or 5 pin relay with our wiring diagrams and understand how relays work.
www.swe-check.com.au www.swe-check.com.au
 
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