Auto Electrical Forum

Automotive Electrical Tech Tips and Questions Answered

Jake asked:
hi guys im from Australia and need to rewire my roof for my s13 convertible due to a fire.
Basically it has a motor in the rear boot with hydraulic oil which drives the hydraulic arms to open or close roof.
there’s a +/- wire on motor, at the moment I just use car battery terminals +/- to open roof. how can I wire a switch in cabin?_any assistance will be great, I have a 3 way switch, will I need a relay? fuse? run power from where?
thanks Jake

Answer,
most all motor circuits work the same regardless of if it is a window motor, door lock motor, or a top. Of course newer vehicles are more complicated, many are controlled by the body control module and cant be easily bypass.

By way of review the system works like this; push the switch one way and the top goes up, push it the other way it goes down. The big question is amperage, something like a hydraulic motor will require around 30 amps, compared to a door lock motor that will only be around 10 amps. So for this problem you are going to need a switch that can handle 30 amps, however that may not be the most attractive switch in your interior.

The answer here is a low current switch and 2 relays. Now the easiest way to do this is to order a switch relay kit, it gives you everything you need to make the system work and allows you to run your own switch. If you would like to order one contact our sales department here sales@rushps.com.

If you want to wire it your self here is the layout of the two relays. tape 2 relays together, on the pin side wire the connections as follows:

pin # 85 from one relay, pin #86 on the other relay, and pins #87 on both relays will connect to a 12 volt source using 10 or 12 gauge cable, be sure to use a 30 amp inline fuse and attach the power directly to the battery.

pins # 87a on both relays connect to ground,

the switch should be wired with grounds, the center pin will go to constant ground and the up and down leads will go the relays

ground input from the switch will go the pin #86 of one relay and pin #85 on the other relay, this is low current os you can wire this with 16 gauge wire.

Pin #30 of one relay will go the black wire of the motor and pin #30 of the other relay will go to the red wire of the motor.

Now when you push the switch up or down you should hear a click, this is normal. You may notice the switch is working backwards, that is you push up and it goes down. Just switch the leads at the switch or pin #30 on the relays.

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