Archive for the ‘Tech Aids’ Category

93-02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

This installation will allow you to turn your fans on manually on both low speed and high speed. It is a real simple installation; that most anybody can do. This switch will allow you to run the fans on either low or high at any time, even when the car is off. This is good for sitting in traffic and staging lanes.

In this write-up I am not responsible for any damage to you car.

Materials and what I used:

DPDT Switch. (ON-OFF-ON)
(2) LED’s with resistors
Wire
Wire taps
Wire connectors

(1) Disconnect the battery.
(2) Remove the top part of you center counsel by removing the shift knob and the 2 bolts in you arm rest.

21587208191 540x650 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

21587208183 540x650 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

(3) Drill you holes for you LED’s I put mine right under the cup holder and above the cigarette light plug. I drill ¼ “ holes for the LED’s I used.

21587208186 540x600 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

(4) Next open you hood and find the wire bundle on the passenger side wheel well. You will be taping into the front connector. The wires you are taping into are the H (which is dark blue) and the J (which is dark green). The dark green wire controls the low speed and the dark blue wire controls the high speed.

21587208339 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

21587208187 540x600 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

(5) Run the wires back and through the firewall. There is a grommet directly behind the PCM that you can use. Unbolt the plastic PCM bracket and remove the PCM and bracket together. The grommet ends up at the bottom of the dash just above the passenger’s feet. Make sure you run enough wire to stretch under the dash and to wherever you will mount the switch.

21587208188 540x600 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

21587208189 540x600 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

(6) Now, you will need to find a +12V source and a good ground. The ground will be connecting to three terminals on the switch and the +12V will be connecting to the LED’s. I used one of the cigarette lighters for power. Here is a diagram of how to wire it.

21587208340 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

(7) Test it and put everything back together. I mounted my switch in the ashtray. These LED’s will light whether you have turned the fans on manually or the PCM has turned them on. I have the green light set to low speed and the red light set to high speed. Both LED’s light when the fans are on high speed.

21587208192 540x600 93 02 Camaro & Firebird Manual Fan Switch Mod

98-02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

This is write up is how to relocate your traction control unit out of site by placing it behind your PCM. I did this because I can not stand the look of it. Most people agree it looks like crap sitting in front of your battery.

Time: 30min-3hours depending on your skill level, and if you have the wire mod or not (will take longer if you do)

Tools:
ratchet with socket sizes
7mm
10mm deep
13mm
and an extension
Phillips head screwdriver
wire cutters
soldering iron
heat gun
heat shrink
a few feet of wire
solder
zip ties

Here is a before picture

S50010341.thumbnail 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

and after

S50010521 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

step 1. disconnect battery
step 2. disconnect the wires from your PCM, there are (2) 7mm bolts holding the harnesses on

S5001035 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

removed

S5001036 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

step 3. very carefully slide your PCM out being sure not to damage any of the electrical pins,you may be able to wiggle it out of there with out loosening any thing else. i had to take out the (2) 10mm bolts that hold the PCM bracket in

S5001037 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

step 4. once your PCM is out clean out all the leaves that have gathered underneath it over the years

step 5. take out the (2) 13mm bolts holding on the traction control unit. one is located on top in plain view and the other is facing the battery (also disconnect the electrical plug)

S5001038 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

step 6. take off the bracket that is on the traction control unit, it is held on by (2) 10mm nuts. now use that handy screwdriver to unscrew the plastic clip holding the electrical wire to the bracket

S5001046 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

step 7. now you are ready to put the unit behind the PCM. carefully place the TC unit into where the PCM sits(moving a big wad of wire out of the way so the TC unit can sit further back (if you remove a plastic retaining clip you can get some more slack out of the wires).
The plastic end with the cables goes in first making sure not to kink the cables. you can build a bracket to hold it, or do what i did ZIP TIES. zip tie the top half to the hole where the electrical clip you just removed was, and the bottom half to the big bundle of wires like shown below

S5001048 540x650 98 02 Camaro & Firebird Traction Control Relocation

You are now ready use the wire cutters/strippers, heat gun, heat shrink, solder, and soldering iron to extend all of the wires. if you have gotten this far you should be able to extend the few wires without needing me to write up how its done (its hard to explain, but easy to do). I have the wire mod done, so my wiring is ran differently then stock.

After you are done, hook your PCM back up, then your battery. your car may run rough for the first 15 seconds or so since u disconnected the PCM. Don’t worry you didn’t break your car

How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

This writeup was created to cure the F-body slow raising passenger side window. The wiring for the window motors is a pretty poor design which we will address. The reason it goes up so slow is because it draws power off of the same line as the drivers side window. So what we are doing is giving the passenger side it’s own power source. It’s pretty easy to complete and fairly cheap as well. After performing the steps here you can expect a faster window and a longer window motor lifespan. You will need:

Materials:

- Red & Black Wire 12 guage

- Ring Terminals (Center needs to be 3/8″)

- Female Disconnects

- 2 5-pin Automotive 5amp Relays NAPA Part #AR272SB

- Inline fuse holder with 20 amp fuse

- Zip ties, Wire Cutters/Crimping Tool, Basic hand tools

The Procedure

Here is a picture of the relays and the inline fuse holder

napa relays How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

Inline Fuse Mini How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

1. Disconnect the negative battery terminal.

2. Using a ring terminal, connect the inline fuse holder to the positive lead on your cars battery.

positive fuse battery How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

3. Run a positive wire from the inline fuse to your cars interior. You’ll have to remove the PCM to get access to a port in the firewall.

pcm removed How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

positivewire How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

firewall port How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

4. Remove the interior panel to gain access to the brown, blue and black wires going into the door panel as well as the grounding post. You want to also pull the red wire through that your attached to the positive lead on your battery.

window wires How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

5. Here is the schematic you need to follow using the two relays.

window motor relay schematic 540x433 How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window

6. Properly ground all wiring here.

grounding post How to Fix Your Camaro or Firebird Slow Passenger Side Window