Westcoastxj6’s question about power windows prompted me to post this. I had two things that irritated me about my 1979 series 3: (1) the cigarette lighter stayed powered even when the key was off. I use a Garmin Nuvi GPS and I wanted it to turn off when I stopped the car. And (2) I was doing a lot of work on the doors and every time I wanted to put the windows up or down I had to get the key and turn it to get power being careful to not hit the starter position. Also, when someone was waiting in the car when I run into a store (usually an auto parts store) they had to fiddle with the key to get the windows to move.

The simple fix is to lift the ski slope and switch the wires between the two. I made the assumption that the fuses were about the same size and sure enough, it works like a charm. If children are going to be in the car maybe you might want to rethink it but no kids are ever in my car.

1979 XJ6 series 3
2007 Vanden Plas

 

Want to expand a bit on this "mod"? Sounds good.

 

Hi Ian, just disconnect the battery, remove the screws and lift up the ski slope part of the console. You don't have to take it all the way off, just enough to reach under it. Find where the power comes into the window switches and cut it. Do the same for the cigarette lighter and then wire the lighter power to the window switches and the window power to the lighter. Be sure to insulate the connections well and put it all back together. Your lighter will now be disconnected when you turn the key off and the windows will work all the time, even with the key out.

 

Make sure to cut the cigarette lighter wire downstream of the fuse, not upstream....otherwise your window circuit won't be protected.



Cheers
DD

 

Really keen to get the cigarette lighter ignition protected, so I like this idea! Not so fussed about the windows but I can see the convenience of having a direct feed.

So to clarify the wires I need to cut, looking at the S57 diagram am I correct in identifying them as follows?

Swap purple wire to cig. lighter, with black/pink wire to windows (between ignition feed and relay).

I'm hesitant to chop around with wiring at the best of times, so am I on the right track??

Many thanks,

 

Hi Tony

Think you might be one the wrong side of the relay , the black/pink is the trigger/coil side rather than the switched power side you are after. The guy who did the real work correct can confirm but I think you will be looking for a red/slate wire (should be lots of them there :-)

By the look of the S57 this mod leaves you with a thermal breaker on the lighter socket, which be no big deal if all you operate is a GPS. Ramping it up may cause cut out issues e.g. we have a battery powered esky fridge on the back seat in summer sometimes. One side of the car ends up with a 20A fuse (or whatever is in there after 30 years) in the window circuit rather than a thermal breaker. Looks like the breaker protects against misoperation (held on window button) or a faulty switch. Not sure what happens in those unlikely situations if there is a fuse in the circuit and the max motor current doesnt blow the fuse.

Is your cigarette lighter in the ski slope? mine is in the dash, with the fuse tucked behind one of those cheek panels (the ones with all the dragons behind them) so I would need to extend the wiring out to the ski slope to do this mod.

 

Thanks for the interest in my suggested modification. I guess one of the issues is that xj6 changed so much through the years. My car is a 1979 early series 3 and the cigarette lighter is right behind the right hand ashtray on the console. The 4 window switches are on up and back right below the front edge of the armrest cubby. I just disconnected the battery, loosened the ski slope console and switched the wires about 2" below the lighter and switches. Was a while back and didn't note the wire color. I think I probably reconnected the battery and used my 12v test light to identify the window power wire, disconnect the battery again, snip snip crimp and I was done. I always use crimp-on 1/4" spade connections. They are quick, easy and clean and easy to switch back if I ever want to. As to one gentleman's post, where I switched them was definitely down stream of fuses, relays, etc. because it was right where the juice entered the lighter and switches. Hope this helps. If you disconnect the battery whenever you are fiddling with the skislope you should be safe. Especially with the skislope since it is metal and you have to wiggle it up.

 

Hi Steve,

As you know, I get a bit nervous around sparky things and I wasn't confident about which side of the window relay is correct. So I'm looking at the red/slate - makes sense. Being a later version than the OP's '79 my cig. lighter is on the dash, same as yours.

All I run is a GPS and phone charger now and then, but recently I bought an mp3 player with bluetooth which plugs into the lighter, a great little device but a pain with the continuous power feed - have to pull it from the lighter socket to turn it off. The other thought I had is to leave the windows alone and put a switch into the lighter circuit, still a little clumsy but more convenient than having to pull and stow the mp3 every time.

Thanks for your help.

 

The first mod I made to my car when I got it was adding a simple push/pull switch to the console so I could turn off my Navman when getting out of the car. As for the windows, powered or unpowered makes no difference.

 

That's exactly what I ended up doing today, Clarke. Extended the cig. lighter live feed wire, spliced in a small rocker switch and mounted it inside the passenger side ash tray. When I thought more about it as the second option, it became the preference since I can now switch off whatever is connected to the cig lighter at will. E.g. I can switch off the mp3 and still listen to the radio. I'm not really bothered about changing the windows, but I'm a bit envious of yours operating without ign on!!

This has also re-commissioned the otherwise redundant ash tray to serve a useful purpose. Since my reversing lights had not been connected when the T700 was installed I created a similar set up by mounting a switch in the driver's ash tray for a simple manual operation (I think that was a tip from Elinor if memory serves).

 

Haha Tony, the second mod I made was putting a momentary push button switch in the ashtray. When I got the car the kick down micro switch on the throttle bracket was squashed and didn't work, after a bit of playing with it( a few days) I ran a wire loop into the cabin and mounted the switch. If I need it to kick down I put my foot down and touch the button, it is great for track days because I can choose when it is going to kick down to second. I wouldn't go back to the micro switch now.

I found the cause of the damaged switch after a few weeks. When I first got the car it had a sticking throttle issue, but only under acceleration up hill when you had to give it a bit from the take off. Really handy when you have a steep drive and enter the garage with stuck accelerator(not). I learnt really fast exactly when to turn the key off.

It turned out to be a broken left engine mount, so when I put my foot down the engine jumped to the right it slammed the throttle linkages into the master cylinder bracket and the cable was getting stuck.



Can you imagine the adrenaline rush entering that garage with the accelerator stuck 1/2 way down.

 

I love that 'power window' switch. I don't know about you, but I think those Brits of the 80s must have been really addicted to smoking. Those twin giant gaudy chrome ashtrays taking up valuable console real estate. I removed the one on the driver's side and installed some auxiliary toggle switches and filled the passenger ashtray with Jag-Aire's nifty manual climate control temperature switch. No smoking in my car!

 

Of the era, everywhere I think.

I wanted to preserve the basic appearance of the console, which at least is achieved when the ash trays lids are closed!

 

Oh man, can I relate to that driveway! Yours looks even steeper than mine, but they can be scary. We have floor mounted wooden blocks at back of the garage, and we creep up to them. Couldn't imagine heading up there with a jammed throttle The driveway does have its advantages though, it's a good test for handbrake integrity - when one stops holding it's time for adjustment.

 

Sorry.

One thing is certain, all my cars have a perfect handbrake.

It is steeper than it looks in pictures. Steepest you can legally have a driveway in Qld. I Know my handbrake works, I've tested it.
When reversing out all you can see is tree tops, and reversing in is even worse. From the road you aim for hole in the wall and hope for the best, the door way disappears out of sight until you are almost through it. You get one shot both ways.

So many people have got it wrong.(Paulyling backing out missed the mark) Touch wood, not me.

No matter how many pictures I take of the drive they just don't do it any justice. So many people have arrived here and said "I knew it was steep, but this is ridiculous".

 

Family/friends who visit from Europe can't believe some of the driveway slopes in Oz. Of course they'd never happen over there, snow and ice would mean they don't get in or out. Thankfully we don't have to worry about it Come to think of it, if we did have an ice climate, our area would be just forest!