Defrost switch problem solved for double din conversion (Picture heavy)

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TheSinner

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For anyone that ran into this problem doing the double din swap, I'll start this off by saying you're welcome. :beer:

It was a known issue that while doing the conversion one simply could not just wire up the 01-04 switch to the corresponding 94-00 wires. The reason being, the 94-00 defrost switch carries a relay inside of it while the 01-04 just switches on an external relay. So me being me, having a dummy switch was not in the least bit acceptable. With some patience, experience with small electrical, and the right tools you can easily do this. Now on to the fun part...

Firstly, you'll need to disassemble your 94-00 defrost switch, I used the smallest flat head screw driver I could find to pry up the sides that hold the pieces together. Once apart, you will be left with this.
CFCB8607-862C-4E52-BE38-B829CA088EC0-3394-000000B5833B3E9E_zps3b3d231e.jpg



At this point get your soldering iron plugged in and heated up. Next you'll need to remove the small black push button. Upon inspection, the black button on the circuit board is essentially just a compact version of the 01-04 button. So we're just going to swap the two.
357e82b5-737f-44ee-ade3-494b102816ff_zps6599f312.jpg



This is held on by 2 leads on the button itself and 3 support pins. They make a V shape.
25FF04B6-5D87-4A99-A3FB-36F51FA6AD6F-3394-000000B590EFFFF9_zpsd233dd69.jpg



With a desoldering iron it's pretty easy to just heat up one pin at a time and remove the solder. Once removed, I soldered in two roughly 6" pieces of wire where the two leads for the button were. These wires are what will activate and deactivate the defroster. The right wire will connect to pin 1, and the left connects to pin 2 on the 01-04 switch. (Vice versa if you flip the relay over :-D)
F9F094E9-B225-459A-9599-C1D9CB463FDE-3394-000000B5D107529E_zpsfeeb0524.jpg



That takes care of 2 of the 5 wires, now solder a 6-8" wire onto each of these three locations.
ddc78f0a-3b26-44bf-9448-53eaffa4e032_zps7db0c752.jpg


And you should end up with this... These three wires are for switch illumination and grounding (I used heat shrink on pretty much everything to clean it up a bit)
1F822438-9D82-4AA7-9E2A-3B5CE7A8E346-3394-000000B5FF7528BB_zps6b179133.jpg



You may or may not have the connector for the 01-04 switch, I was lucky and they happen to come with mine. Another option would be using small female terminal connectors.

Here are the diagrams I used to determine what wires went together.
(01-04 switch)
4ff5d16d-2200-4f38-8916-d06187309d48_zpsf84e7baa.jpg

(94-00 switch)
5f38a75a-21fd-4a2e-9847-98e0220ee73c_zps801362dd.jpg



I twisted the corresponding wires together and did a test.
(Defrost OFF, notice the LED's off)
342E3B3B-7E7E-4A59-B148-883E0A1B0465-3394-000000B607996DB6_zpsf204944a.jpg


(Defrost ON, notice both LED's on)
4E277606-8F31-494A-9D9D-CC9BCC5677D6-3394-000000B61E38E868_zps36187ce0.jpg


(Defrost ON with the headlights on to show the green LED)
A1D06CED-51DE-42D9-980B-C682C6699BAB-3394-000000B616F3BF14_zps48171e4d.jpg



And that's it! I trimmed down some areas of the original button case and removed the springs on the side so it'll slide into the original location far back enough to conceal with a 01-04 instrument cluster bezel.
(Before)
603CBCA5-EBE2-4155-9643-B4B4799A7BAA-3394-000000B5C08FD744_zpscce3b492.jpg


(After)
193A7D07-BE6B-4EA0-ABF5-8F0EB9042603-3394-000000B5C7F4859B_zpsf6400685.jpg


(With relay inside)
8C28AC5D-E621-4755-AAC2-1E988BD279C0-3394-000000B624CF4840_zps281dc461.jpg



All that's left to do now is extend the 5 wires from the relay to the location of the 01-04 switch. Hopefully this saves someone from a lot of wrongful splicing and soldering like I did at first. It might be a slight pain but it's worth it to have functioning buttons. Feel free to PM me regarding any questions or concerns. :beer:
 
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TheSinner

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Part numbers for connectors:

Defroster Connector
WPT-167
P/N 1U2Z-14S411-ACA


Traction Control Connector
WPT-220
P/N 3U2Z-14S411-DMA


Fog Lamp Connector
WPT-199
P/N 3U2Z-14S411-MA
 

heffe2001

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I signed up on here just to say THANK YOU! I was just about to do the same procedure on my defrost button (in my 2000 GT), and you saved me the trouble! Now I just need to rewire the traction control and fog-light buttons (and teh part #'s for the connectors will make that a snap as well!) and I'm done with my conversion..
 

TheSinner

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I signed up on here just to say THANK YOU! I was just about to do the same procedure on my defrost button (in my 2000 GT), and you saved me the trouble! Now I just need to rewire the traction control and fog-light buttons (and teh part #'s for the connectors will make that a snap as well!) and I'm done with my conversion..

You are certainly welcome! :beer:
 

heffe2001

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You are certainly welcome! :beer:

I did my housing a bit different, but haven't had a chance to test-fit it yet (spent all weekend pulling the mach 460 stuff out to replace it with aftermarket, and re-dying my rear interior pieces). I'll know tomorrow if it fits or not. I also used a length of stranded cat5 cable, since we're only really passing very low voltage to the leds and from the button. I also remove the leds and soldered directly to the board in their locations.

Here's a shot of my housing, I pretty much removed everything down to the circuit board edge (yeah, I butcherd it pretty badly, loaned out my dremel and had to use a hacksaw, lol), hopefully it'll fit behind the 01+ dash piece.




Circuit board w/Cat5:



Also did the traction control by modding the old traction control switch (there's literally nothing in this thing except 2 bulbs and a switch, no other circuitry, same harness as the defrost switch though).

 
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TheSinner

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I did my housing a bit different, but haven't had a chance to test-fit it yet (spent all weekend pulling the mach 460 stuff out to replace it with aftermarket, and re-dying my rear interior pieces). I'll know tomorrow if it fits or not. I also used a length of stranded cat5 cable, since we're only really passing very low voltage to the leds and from the button. I also remove the leds and soldered directly to the board in their locations.

Here's a shot of my housing, I pretty much removed everything down to the circuit board edge (yeah, I butcherd it pretty badly, loaned out my dremel and had to use a hacksaw, lol), hopefully it'll fit behind the 01+ dash piece.




Circuit board w/Cat5:



Also did the traction control by modding the old traction control switch (there's literally nothing in this thing except 2 bulbs and a switch, no other circuitry, same harness as the defrost switch though).


Nice work!

For the traction control switch, I just cut off the old pigtail and soldered in the 01-04 one since I had it. Works like a charm.
 

heffe2001

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The defrost switch housing I cut fit fine behind the panel, but I had some issues with the TC switch (the new switch's pins are pretty close, my connectors even insulated touched occasionally and popped fuses, going to order the correct harness this week and just hack/solder it in and go from there). Now I just need a fog light switch and harness and I'm good to go..
 
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