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Volante hood/rear ¼ windows logic - logical?

2378 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  ray f
Somebody, doubtless with the best of intentions, made a peculiar decision not to give the owner of a DB7 Volante the responsibility or the stress of having to decide whether or not to lower the little rear ¼ windows. Heaven forbid anybody should have their own preference!

I have had a few convertibles over the years and I sometimes like to have the hood down with the side and rear ¼ windows up. I find it helps reduce the draught around the back of the head. Similarly, I sometimes like to have the hood up but with all the side glass down.

I thought it would be a doddle to just put an extra electric window switch into the system so the rear windows could be operated independently. That was until I investigated the bootful of relays! I swear I've never owned a car with as many relays, nor as many fuses - nor as many hundreds of metres of cabling! It's like driving around in an old fashioned telephone exchange.

I digress..... ! After identifying the source of the window switches (who knew it was the Ford Transit van or the rear door of a Mondeo?) I now have a perfectly original looking setup which is still as idiosyncratic as the original in a way. I envisaged that I would simply insert a switch which would lower or raise the rear ¼ windows. No, it's not that simple. It's a two-switch operation now - I have the original hood switches which select "up" or "down" and the new switch selects what it is that is to go up or down: just the hood, the hood and rear ¼ windows, or just the rear ¼ windows.

A little odd, but perfectly effective - but anyway I do now have the option to have the windows set the way I want them................... (I still can't work out the logic in the original setup)
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Topvaux, I hate to impose, but I hope you can help. I have a 98 Volante. The left rear 1/4 window does not go down when it's supposed to. I assume it's a relay (fuse?). You seem to have some experience with that relay panel. Can you explain to me which relay relates to that window, or perhaps where I might get a chart indicating which switches relate to which parts? thanks, Woody
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Hi Woody

Surely, you're not imposing in the least.

Having spent so many hours standing on my head in my Aston's boot deciphering the mysteries of the hood and ¼ lights it's a pleasure to pass some of it on.

The ¼ windows are controlled by TWO relays - one for UP and the other for DOWN - (you couldn't make it up!?) There are no fuses, the motor is protected by circuit breakers.

The relays for the left hand motor are: for UP - a white base and a pink cover and for DOWN - a yellow base with a pink cover. You could swap the relays to see if a new relay would fix it, of course - but you knew that!

I do now have a full set of workshop manuals, incidentally, on CD in PDF format if you'd be interested. I can do you a copy for £25 if you'd like one. No obligation, mind - do feel free to ask me another if I can help.

My next projects are to investigate a non-functioning cruise control and - bizarre, this one - a passenger side aircon fan which won't stop unless you pull the fuse....... even with the ignition off!

Best regards

Chris
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Hi Topvaux - sounds like a clever mod you've done; any chance you could attach photos of the switch installation and possibly a step by step on how to do the modification?

Kind regards, Ray.
Hi Ray

Yes, I'd be delighted, only I'll have to put it on hold at the moment because I'm a tad busy just now with the design and build of a trailer for a friend to carry a hanging load, building a summerhouse for sister-in-law, repainting half an Audi TT for my elder's fiancée, making some electronic games for my younger's wedding in three weeks, fixing the aircon on my DB7 and the development of a six stroke engine. In fact, I'm supposed to be retired with a progressive degenerative disease but I really don't have the time for that as well.

I'll try to get on to it for you soon, Ray. I must say I am very pleased with the mod - except that the hood cover (which I hardly ever bother to use - alcantara is very easy to clean) needs a slot in it to fit round the raised rear ¼ windows, but other than that it is much quieter and less turbulent driving at speed top-down.

Tootle-pip

Chris
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