[dabigboy]

Just a quick sanity check...the power windows on an S3 *should* be under switched power, correct? I have two non-stock (freakish orange/yellow ghetto-looking) wires coming from my tranny tunnel, to the ground point on the left corner of the dash. If I ground them, my windows have power even when the key is off. Obviously a hack by a PO to make the windows functional all the time. It also seemed like the windows sped up a little bit when I hooked the bogus wires to ground, but that was with my dash grounding point just barely hanging on (dash is out, so the only thing holding all those wires to the ground point was the screw sitting crooked in the metal tab). Once I put pressure on the contacts at the ground point, for a better connection, I can't really see any difference in speed.

Guess the best thing to do is just roll the wires up and tuck them away somewhere. I can't see where they connect, they disappear into the bottom left corner of the tranny tunnel, behind the tunnel and the plastic console. What's really bugging me is, what part of that circuit could you ground to make the windows work, without affecting anything else? No other switched devices (wipers, reverse lights, etc) are rendered functional by the bogus wires, just the power windows.

Crazy PO's.

I should also add that these wires were connected to the ground point (bare wire wrapped around the mount screw) when I got the car.

 

[SteveD]

Yes, they should be under switched power, turn the key to on and they work, on off they should not.

 

[ddouglas77]

Geez, could you imagine the headache I'd have caused you had you owned my spider right now???!!!! Should I ever sell my spider, you guys are going to have someone on here saying "PO this and PO that....!!!!" Aww, it'll keep you all busy anyways.

 

[Dolce86]

This raises an interesting question. While getting out of my car last week. key out of ignition, I accidentally hit the directional switch and they began to operate.

Should they be powered up while the key is out of the ignition? Sounds kind of funky to me.

 

[dabigboy]

Thanks Steve, that's what I figured....guess I'll roll the wires up and tuck them away between the carpet and the side panel.

Ya my turn signals work with the key out also. You may have noticed they're on fuse #5....according to the diagram, this fuse is unswitched. I'm guessing it has to do with the designers wanting to keep the hazard lights functional regardless of whether or not the ignition is on, a legitimate concern.

As to PO mods....well first of all I kinda consider an old crusty, oddly colored wire that's been twisted onto existing wiring and hooked to a ground point with no connectors to be something of an automotive abomination. Especially on a classy Italian sports car like the Veloce. But then no matter how nicely done a mod is, it's bad if there's no documentation and future owners are left shooting in the dark.........

 

[ghnl]

Here's what I had to contend with when I began the resurrection of our '84 Spider:

 

[Rdykilawat]

Power Window FYI

In my car anyway! The power window motor is dual direction with two wires. Both wires are grounded by default. When you push the UP window button it disconnects the ground and applies +voltage to that lead. Window goes up. When you push DOWN it's the same but the other lead goes high, causing the motor to spin the other direction. Window goes down. In my car the 12V leads to the window switches are behind the starter switch (i.e. no op without key) It sounds like the PO fiddled with the 12V leads to the windows to bypass the ignition. Not sure about the ground wires, might be new leads or rerouted old leads but a loose ground connection can cause reduced motor efficiency.

 

[dabigboy]

Yep, I believe the short-to-ground when off is so the windows stop when you release the button (shorts the motor.....an electronic brake) instead of moving a bit more as the motor spools down.

I *think* I'm ok on wiring, the slowness with the windows seemed to be just because I had the ground point barely hanging on. Everything seemed fine once I grounded it better for more contact area.