Electrical Problem - 62 starfire convertible

Restoring a 62 olds starfire convertible. Have all the electrical working, but after running the car for a bit, when I go to put the top back up, the motor will stop with the top about 1/4 of the way up and then won't go up or down at all. At the same time this happens the power windows also will not go up or down at all. So far, if I wait a bit after turning the car off, then they will both work again. Anyone have any tips to what I may have hooked up wrong, or ideas of what to look for? Thanks

It sounds to me as though the top gets into a bind during operation, placing a strain on the motor, tripping a relay. After the motor cools town the relay resets and the top then is able to be lowered.

Thanks for the tip. I will check that out.

There is a relay and a circuit breaker between the left front fender and the drivers side kick panel just in front of the hinge post.

Vibration sometimes shakes the connections loose. I had the same problem, tightened everything, the problem went away.

The circuit breaker is what is opening and resetting after it cools down. Look for bad connections ,etc.

Dave

Thanks Dave.

I forgot to say that a tight window will overload the breaker.

I have to "manage" the quarter windows, the new weather stripping

is not co-operative when trying to close them.

Dave

Restoring a 62 olds starfire convertible. Have all the electrical working, but after running the car for a bit, when I go to put the top back up, the motor will stop with the top about 1/4 of the way up and then won't go up or down at all. At the same time this happens the power windows also will not go up or down at all. So far, if I wait a bit after turning the car off, then they will both work again. Anyone have any tips to what I may have hooked up wrong, or ideas of what to look for? Thanks

I want to re-visit this subject , I believe I have found the culprit involved in many problems.

I recently had some of the same problems. Windows would quit working and the heater fan would quit. If I let it sit awhile everything would work again for a short time. Going to the wiring diagram for my 1961 Starfire I found the accessory lead at the ignition switch supplies power to the following: Cigar lighter-Air Conditioner-Heater Fan-Electric Antenna and Electric Windows.

I found the green accessory lead was burned at the connector on the IGNITION SWITCH !!! I went to my parts source and looked at four switches in four different cars before I found one that was not burned. They all had the same connector that looks as though it was not correct from the factory. The green lead (acc) looks as if it has the spring or pressure part of the fitting missing. Looks like it was never there . Top lead in the picture is correct, bottom is the bad fitting. The result is a loose connection that seems to work until it heats up and then opens. Let it cool awhile and it works again. The fuses never blow so its hard to find this goofy problem.

I replaced the plastic fitting and the accessory lead(green) with the correct end and all is well.

Look at the pics. Three out of the four switches I looked at had the same burned lead. Makes me wonder how many good cars were junked because of this problem.

Just thought sharing this info might help someone having any of the problems mentioned.

I'd like to hear from anyone that finds they have the same burned switch.

Dave

I'd like to hear from anyone that finds they have the same burned switch.

Dave

While I've not had a problem with this specific switch, the corroded, overheated terminal is a common cause of the problems described. I've had similar problems with (for example) the blower motor power on my 1984 Custom Cruiser and the rear window motor on my 64 Vista Cruiser. The common denominator is the Packard 56 wire terminals. These are not environmentally sealed and can get dirty. The extra resistance creates heat, which causes the terminals to get burned, which increases resistance, which increases heat, etc, etc. The solution is to trace the wiring diagrams and check ever single connector on the circuit.

That's a lot of amperage thru the ignition switch and connector. They overheat and melt. Seen this on many 61-64 cars.

Pontiac finally redesigned their 60s ignition switches to cut power to the A/C compressor clutch in START. The others should have.

The thing that surprised me most was that 3 out of the four I checked had the same "defective" terminal end . I can only guess that it was a manufacturing defect in the harness.

There are probably a lot of cars out there with the same defect still in operation. I think the convertible top switch is most likely tied to the same terminal but I cannot find it on my wiring diagram.

Dave