The passenger power window in my 70 Cuda has been giving me trouble. It works intermittently. I have traced the problem to the round terminal ends that attach to the back of the switch. They have been hot and have lost their tension.

Anyone know of a source for those buggers? It would be nice to be able to get new terminals that I could crimp on the wire ends. But if I could locate a replacement harness end, I would splice that on if I had to.

Thanks for any leads.

Repaired these switches for years. AFAIK there are no sources other than a boneyard. You could splice in the terminals to existing harness. 69-75 C bodies are best source for B&E PW stuff.

Well, I figured as much. Those are some unique terminal ends.

Thank you for the info.

You might want to check the wires between the door and body. I've found that and the switches themselves is usually the main cause for intermittent windows and lack of power. Even when the plugs are loose I haven't had one yet that's caused problems.

Can you post a pic or 2 of the backside of the switch, the terminal and measure the diameter of the pin

put the motors on relays.

No more load on the expensive switches.

The purple and the yellow ends have been hot at some point and have lost their strength. I have fought this for years and have been able to limp along until recently.



The pins measure about .091". If worse comes to worse, I may be able to use .157 female bullet connectors. I would need to open the split up wider so that I could size the connector down to the .09" range so it would grip the pins. Then there is the issue that those connectors shoot straight out from the switch rather than turn 90*. There may be interference problems.

It sure would be easier to find 2 of those connectors or 2 wire ends with those connectors on them.

Would a cigarette lighter pig tail work?

https://www.repairconnector.com/products/GM-Ford-Chrysler-Universal-Stud-Socket-Pigtail-.html

Hmmmmmmmmm, might need to measure that pin diameter and see if that would fit.

If you can Dave, measure the terminal diameter and maybe use a bullet connector receptacle? (towards bottom of the web page)

https://www.repairconnector.com/categories/CONNECTOR-REFILL-PACKS/?sort=featured&page=1

What size do you need? Digikey has several sizes that might work. What gage wire?

Digikey Connectors

That's what I was talking about earlier. .157" female bullet connectors are everywhere. My posts are .091". They might work with some modifications as long as the fact that they do not leave the connection at a 90* angled doesn't put them in contact with something in the door.

But there were some 'flag connectors' pictured that might work, but would take a lot of modifications.

Thanks

I would guess that the wire guage is 14ish. The posts are .091".

Those connectors are .156" and larger. .156" is a real popular size, they are everywhere. And I will likely have to find something workable in the .156" size and try to size it down to the necessary .091".

Thanks

I know what I would do. I would buy 5/32 brass rod.......

brass rod

Cut it to length, drill on my lathe and ream to size (measure the pins accurately so that you have about 0.0003" press fit and buy the appropriate reamer - they can be made slightly smaller with a stone when necessary)........

reamer

Heat the bushing up to 300 degrees in an oven and slide it on, install the .156 connector and not look back...........

You can't just pinch the original ends with pliers a bit to make the force fit tighter? That usually works when the ends are loose like that.

While I appreciate the suggestions guys, the down sides to those suggestions have already been covered. But, I'll go over them again.

The first point is new, I do not have a lathe. But then, as I have covered before, the female bullet connectors go straight out from the switch. Unlike the originals which 90* right off the connection. It looks like the wires will not clear the window and mechanism when rolled down. Which is why the OE ones make the 90* turn immediately.

And I have pinched the barrels smaller before, but there is no strength left in them to hold any tension.

If I can figure out the right size of these that will fit the posts, I think I can use the barrel that would normally hold the wire to instead go over the post on the switch. Then modify the blade so that I can solder the wire to it and maintain the 90* turn.

https://www.amazon.com/Uninsulated-...amp;pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=306724011

What do you think? And can anyone help me size the barrel. I can find the OD of the different wire sizes, but I can't find any info on the actual diameter of the wire itself which would tell me the size of the barrel.

If it were me I'd focus on what might be possible to restore the tension in the terminals you have. It may be that by heat treating them you can do that. Not sure if they are brass, copper, or a mix etc, but certainly for some metals it's possible to restore their properties as long as they aren't fatigued, which I doubt these would be unless they've been off and on many many times. A bit of google search on restoring tension to brass/copper terminals etc might pay off. If it does, easy fix. If not you've not lost anything but a bit of time.

If ANYTHING of all mentioned really works, you can still conect the terminals and sold them to the switch pins, then cut the wires just right before the switch and insert a male/female plug setup to be able to disconect the switch if needed. This will left the switch with an attached pigtail but still able to unplugg it if required.

I can see those wires could be 14 gauge ? a 5 ways packard plug will hold the load, specially being ocasional.

here you have 3, 4, 5, 6 ways packard male and female plugs... it seems you need a 5 ways for that switch.

https://theelectricaldepot.com/weat...6?zenid=38d4b9a28f22dd1f2f0bbf86bdfdff41

it seems the male end can be attached somewhere into the door sheetmetal to prevent to be loosen around



then the female end will plug it



some other sellers offers these up to 8 ways

https://www.mouser.es/Aptiv/Connectors/Automotive-Connectors/56-Series/_/N-1ehb5?P=1z0wv3lZ1z0zlez

Gavin, I would not even know where to start to determine the type of metal that the terminals are made from to know what process to search for. They look like brass, but that covers a lot of ground. And as I mentioned before, 2 of the terminals have been hot in the past and they are just plain weak. Not much to work with. I believe they are past the point of no return and need replaced.

Natcho, I don't know if the switch will take the heat of soldering wires onto the posts. The posts are very short and are bedded in a phenolic like plastic. If the switch would take the heat, then something like that would work. But if it didn't, these switches are a pain to find and expensive. Frankly, I would be afraid to try to solder on them.