By Bill Osmer

Everybody has a reason for doing projects. Mine was that I was tired of looking at the worn lettering on the Power Window switch panel.

Some of the alternatives I considered:

1) Find a newer looking Fiero switch panel - lots of Fiero owners have done this, but this lacked the "pizzazz" I was looking for.

2) Make a new replacement panel with legends. This idea, being the second alternative, was to generate a replacement overlay panel out of plastic sign-making material. This comes in a "pebbly" surface, similar in appearance to the Fiero's original switch panel surface. By being a plastic that can have letters routed onto the surface, I envisioned placing red LEDs on the reverse surface, thus providing a backlighting effect. This is still probably a good idea for someone to try, although I chose to pursue the next idea.

3) Find replacement, backlit switches from some donor Pontiac. Because I drive a lot of rental vehicles, I noticed that whenever I drove a Pontiac, they had backlit P/W switches. When I drove a Grand Prix, it appeared that their switch size and coloring was close to the Fiero's. After contacting a friend that had access to an auto salvage yard near Niles, MI, we made a mission to find some sample switches to evaluate. Success was had when I found that '98 Grand Prix switches had almost the same footprint as the Fiero's. I retrieved switches from both a passenger's door, and some rear doors (from 4-door versions).

Original Fiero Switch
Grand Prix Switch

I then proceeded to evaluate what would be needed for wiring compatibility. I found that I had chosen what might be termed "slave" switches - they had slightly different wiring that the Fiero's. These switches allow the driver's door window switch to send an up (or down) signal through these switches, as well as let these switches operate the window. A simple fix was in order (see wiring diagrams below), and it was time for a trial electrical test. With the proper wiring modification, the switches performed perfectly!

pink

black

(ground)

pink

(battery)

Fiero Switch

(both)

Switch

Ground

pink

(battery)

brown

blue

violet

green

‘98 Grand Prix Switch

(passenger’s side or rear)

All these terminals have to be “duplicated” with wiring from the Grand Prix switch.

Next was to perform the "surgery" required to replace the original switches with the new ones. As could be expected, the mounting techniques were vastly different - the Fiero's had screw mounts, while the Grand Prix switch snapped into the door-mounted bezel. In addition, the physical size of the Grand Prix switch had mechanical interferences with the screw bosses on the Fiero panel. I wanted to leave the bosses intact, so I ended up taking my Dremel tool and grinding clearance on the Grand Prix switch housings. This was actually easy, without affecting the operation because most of the switch is hollow. Once enough material was removed, the switch could seat flush to the back of the Fiero panel. I could finally see that the switch installation was actually going to work - the switch protruded through to just the right height!

Remove material

to fit

Snap this rocker out and reverse orientation

Add plastic mounting “ears” here

Remove material to fit

I then had to figure out how to make a "left" and a "right" switch to properly mount onto the panel. Snapping the rocker portion of the switch off (without breaking any tabs) did this!. I then reversed the orientation of the rocker, and re-snapped it into place. This created a “left” and a “right” switch, having two different connector orientations.

Because I had previously mounted an auxiliary switch (for my fog/driving lamps), I encountered another interference fit problem - the connectors for the "new" switches weren't going to fit. (NOTE: I always recommend cutting the wiring pigtail instead of simply removing the switch by pulling off the connector - that way, you can splice the wires into the circuits) So, I had to solder wires directly to the terminals to be able to fit the "new" switches into place. The wires were made to be about 6 inches long with crimped spade-type connectors on the ends. These would fit into the original Fiero switch plugs without having to do any splicing, and could allow original switches to be reinstalled at some future time if I wanted. Color-coding will be at the installer's discretion, but refer to the wiring diagrams below.

Next, I fabricated plastic "ears" that provided mounting flanges to use the stock bosses on the switch panel. This is where one has to resort creative "engineering" - using scrap angled plastic (from the salvaged bezels removed from the Grand Prix), I simply cut material to fit, then drilled mounting holes. I used "Plastic Weld" to bond the plastic to the switch housing. After clamping everything together and allowing the bond to cure, I now had "new" switches ready to mount!

NOTE – remember to disconnect the battery ground before starting this job (for safety as well as not accidentally blowing any fuses).

By using the original screws, I mounted the switches into place, then plugged the spade terminals into the correct terminal location in the stock connector.

The backlighting terminals of the switches were spliced into the nearby ashtray lamps to provide power when the vehicle's lights are turned on. ((This is not shown in the above schematics.)) Since the backlights are actually LEDs (light emitting diodes), proper polarity MUST be identified - the LEDs only illuminate in one direction. The good news, since they are solid-state lighting, they'll never burn out.

Add "one-touch down"!

Since I was adding "new" parts, I decided to add the "one-touch down" function. While removing parts from the salvage vehicles, I also decided to remove a control module for this window feature. I was hoping (with reasonable certainty) that this would not require specialized switches and could be a simple add-on.

The donor car for this function was a late model Camaro (specific year unknown, but 95-98 will probably do) - the control box is "conveniently" located below the instrument panel, above the transmission hump (near where the driver's right foot would rest). It's a black box with a 4 pin connector, about the size of the blue dingy thingy we all love so much.

The module has only four wires (remember to retrieve the connector, too!). One of the wires has to go to battery and one has to go to ground. That leaves one wire to "monitor" the window down signal (to "latch" that signal), and the final wire to monitor the window up (to stop the window). I looked up the schematic in a Haynes manual for Camaro, and was able to get the proper color wires (another reason to retrieve the mating plug). The schematic showed that I would really only have to cut one wire, splice into another and go between one other wire. (NOTE: this actually means that this portion of my upgrade could be added even to a stock set of switches to add this function!). Please refer to the figure below for the wiring details.

One-Touch

Module
Switch
Switched

12 volts

Ground

A

C

Blue

E

D

M

Brown

Pink

Brown

Brown

Blue

Violet

Green

Gray

Once all the wiring was identified, it was a simple job to add this. I found that if you add about 12 to 18 inches of wire to this last module, it could be stowed in the front of the console area (in front of the shift lever), with plenty of room, and no interference with shift cables. Make sure the wires are dressed off to one side to reduce any extra rattles or interference. Use wire ties to keep wires together and in place.

That's it - time for a test. Reconnect the battery, turn on the ignition, and test the windows - each should be tested separately. With the driver's window after 1 second of holding the switch, release the switch. It should continue to the complete open position and stop. If you listen carefully, you'll hear a relay in the new module click as it releases when the window reaches bottom. When this test is complete (and all is working OK), turn on the running lights, and look closely at the new switches - there should be a faint orange glow, indicating the backlighting is working.

That should be it. If there are any questions, please contact me (or your service manual for wiring diagrams!).

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Last Revised 04/30/2003 19:39:41.