[Corsa B 1993-2000] How To: Install Electric Windows

[Ren]

This tutorial was written for a 1.0l 12v Corsa B (Envoy, X10XE), but will apply to all Corsa B's.

Preparation and installation was done over the course of a week, and most photos were taken during install but some I forgot to take so are after-shots. If there is anything I have missed or is unclear, please let me know.

Section 0: Getting Started

Parts Required:

• Driver's Side Electric Window Regulator & Motor
• Passenger Side Electric Window Regulator & Motor
• Passenger Side Switch
• Passenger Side Grab Handle Surround (With Hole for Switch)
• Driver's Side Door Pocket (Holes for Switch Surround)
• Driver's Side Switch x2
• Driver's Side Door Pocket Switch Surround
• Door Cards (Electric Window variety, no winder holes)

Tools Required:

• Philips #2 Screwdriver
• Large Flat-head Screwdriver
• Drill, 8.5mm bit (Preferably HSS)
• 8mm, 10mm Socket Wrench
• Riveter
• 8x Rivets (Ideally 4.8mm x 11.0mm, can substitute 4.8mm x 10.2mm or 4.8mm x 10.0mm)
• Knife/Scissors
• Tape

Now open up your door, unscrew and pull off the cable gland. If you have just 2 contacts inside, you have a lot more work ahead but it is doable (This tutorial covers this). If you have 14+ contacts inside, you shouldn't have any additional wiring to do and can skip to Section 2.





Basic Loom (Ignore the giant hole):



Advanced Looms:

[Ren]

Section 1: Basic Loom

Additional Parts Required:

• 2x Partial Car Loom
• 2x Door Loom
• 3x Fuse Holder (In-Line or Box)
• 1x 30A Fuse
• 2x 15A Fuse
• 1x M6 Bolt
• 3x M6 Nut (10mm)
• 30~50x Male & Female Fully Insulated Spade Terminals (Or your joining method of choice, not twist and tape)
• 2x Fork or Ring Terminals
• 1x Battery Terminal
• 30A Wire
• 15A Wire
• 6A Wire
• Cable Ties

For the car loom, go down the scrappy and hunt around until you find a car that has the correct loom. Once you find one, cut it from the main loom preserving as much as you possibly can. I removed the glovebox and cut the passenger side as it went behind the kick panel, and cut it at the same place on the driver's side. This left me with ~10" of wire to use (Though some is hidden inside the cable gland).

My door loom (19 pins, 97-00 model) did not fully match my car loom (14 pins, 93-96 model), but they had 13 pins in common. Only 7 are needed for Speakers & Electric Windows, I also used an additional 5 for my after-market central locking (Hawk).

Colour            Use                    Wiring

Brown (Heavy Gauge)    Earth                    15A
Red   (Heavy Gauge)    12V Permanent                15A
Black            12V Ignition                6A
Blue or Yellow        Speaker                    Existing
Brown/(Blue or Yellow)    Speaker                    Existing
Grey/Green        Driver->Passenger Window Control    6A
Blue/Red        Driver->Passenger Window Control    6A

Additional Tools Required:

• Torx 25 Screwdriver
• Stubby Phillips #2 Screwdriver
• Wire Cutters
• Wire Strippers
• Crimping Tool (Ratchet Type Preferred, much easier and more reliable)

Section 1.1: Permanent Live Feed from Battery

Remove your glovebox, on non-aircon models there is 5 screws and then it just pulls out. If you have a shelf, remove that too. You should now be able to see a large grommet in the firewall.





Carefully push your Phillips #2 Screwdriver through this into the engine bay, at some point you'll pierce the rubber on the other side and leave a small hole.

Pop the bonnet and check, if you're through remove the screwdriver, and reinsert it from the engine bay.





Tape your 30A cable to the end of the screwdriver, I first applied 2 pieces of tape and it still snapped Be generous





Pull through enough wire until you can safely reach the battery and tie it down. Trim your cable ties so that they won't get caught in anything.





Cut and Crimp your 30A wire to the battery terminal.







At this point my bolt was far too long.





Cut it down to size





Bolt it to your battery's positive terminal.





Cut down the cable to size, and connect it to your fuse box/in-line with the 30A fuse. From this, run two 15A cables to your box/in-line 15A fuses.

Mine is located behind the passenger side kick panel (One Torx 25 behind a small piece of plastic along the door sill, one Philips #2 up high.





Section 1.2: Fitting Car Loom

Pull out the cable gland from the car body, peel back the rubber and cut the two speaker wires. Mine also had indicator wiring running through it that had to be cut free, my donor loom did not have this second sealing grommet.

Crimp the necessary terminals onto your donor car loom, and insert it into the car. Mine has more terminals than you may need for just speakers & windows, as I am running central locking through it too.





Run all your wires along the path of the main loom, along the bar where the glovebox sits and the fuse box cover clips in. You may need a long rod to pass the cables through the middle of the dash, just above the radio.

Before connecting wires, I advise you trace them to double check they are correct with a multimeter. I am using the specified colours in the wiring diagrams, so they should match.

Crimp and reconnect your speaker wires. This is Blue or Yellow, and Brown/Blue or Brown/Yellow. Check your speakers work again.

Connect Red (Heavy Gauge) to each of the 15A fuses from earlier using 15A cable.

Connect Blue/Red on one side to Blue/Red on the other. Do the same for Grey/Green. (6A cable).

Connect Black to an ignition live, this is easiest to splice off the black wire on the cigarette lighter (4x Phillips #2 Screws to access). This is used to light up the window switches, and send the control signals. For this I used 6A cable.





Connect Brown (Heavy Gauge) to a ground connection. There is an M6 thread right of the fusebox, and left of the passenger heater vent. Use 15A cable, and connect to this using a ring terminal if you can. Mine weren't big enough, so you can cut down the middle and enlarge it, or bend a fork terminal into a large ring. Secure them with a 10mm nut.





Finished Driver's Side Loom:





Finished Passenger Side Loom:

[Ren]

Section 2: Advanced Loom

You either already have, or just retrofitted the advanced loom, and can now move onto fitting the regulator & motor.

If at any time you need to activate the motor, your key must be in the ignition at position II (The switches will illuminate).

Section 2.1: Stripping the Door

Take your large flat-head screwdriver, and pop the strip near the window. Be careful not to slip, as you might break the window





Pull off the grab handle surround, and remove the 3 Phillips #2 screws.





Take off the winder handle, there is a circlip that needs to be removed to free it. I use a small hook made from a paperclip.







Pull off the rubber from the mirror adjuster, then pull it away slightly at the top. There are two push clips at the top, and two tabs at the bottom. Once the clips are free, pull it up and away from the door to avoid breaking the tabs.





There are 7 screws to remove the door pockets, and two more to free the door cards.





Section 2.2: Preparing the Door

Carefully cut around the weathershield, so you can peel it down and out of the way while you work.

Remove the old door loom and fit the advanced loom (if necessary). There are several clips holding wires in the door, and 3 clips around the cable gland connector.





I advise winding down your window, so that when the old regulator is freed the glass does not have far to fall. Also consider putting something underneath it to brace it when it does.

Draw around these two bolts/washers. It'll save you some trouble later when realigning them.





Take your drill, with 8.5mm bit, and set it to non-hammer and its slowest speed setting. Begin to drill out the first rivet, until the head comes off. Repeat for the other three.









Section 2.3: Installing Electric Window Regulators

Move the window regulator until you can free it from the two lower guides on the window glass, then undo the two bolts you marked earlier to free the third runner from the guide.

At this point I found it easier to remove the window glass entirely, pulling it up and out the door (Made easier by removing the wing mirror, 3x M5 bolts, 8mm socket). You can now manoeuvre the old mechanisms out of the door.

Place your electric window mechanism into the door, you may need to temporarily connect it to the wiring plug to straighten it out first. I then bolted it in place, to stabilise it while it was riveted. Electric window mechanisms sit further back than manual, so use the other 4 holes available.

First 3 rivets in:





The fourth hole was misaligned. Not sure why, enlarged it with a hand reamer until the rivet slid in.





All sorted





Section 2.4: Connecting Window Glass

This had me struggling for quite a while, until I removed the bolted section for the third runner and it became much easier. While the glass and the bolted guide are out, give them a top up of grease.

Have the regulator at its lowest position, and slide the glass back into place. Manoeuvre it and the motor arm to whatever angle necessary to get the lower guide nearest the rear of the car into place (The rigid one connected to the motor).







Now, the second arm is free to spin. Move the glass up & down (supporting it, or it will struggle or move in strange ways), and rotating it as necessary, slide the second window guide into the rail on the glass. At this point also make sure it is sitting in the soft guides either side of the glass.

[Ren]

Straighten out your glass, and slide the metal guide removed earlier onto the final runner. Position it until one of the holes lines up, and bolt it in place. Now adjust the angle of the glass until the second hole aligns, and bolt that one in place too.







Section 2.5: Window Adjustment

Open and close the window several times, it should close properly and not leave any gaps. If it's not straight, adjust the third runner arm using the bolts until it does.

Section 2.6: Motor Setting

When the power is removed, the motor forgets its learnt setting and no longer closes on its own properly. To restore this, open the window, then fully close it again, then while it's closed, press and hold the close button for another 5 seconds.

The motor should now fully open and close from a single brief touch of the button.

Section 2.7: Cleanup

Tape up the weathershield as best you can, and replace everything onto the door. The passenger side switch wiring seems to just sit between the door and the door card.





Repeat Section 2.1~2.7 for your other door.