2016 Altima Power Window Switch (lighted buttons!)

[estomax]

EDIT: Changed title from Maxima to Altima. You want to use an altima power switch from a base model that does not have auto windows on both sides (anti pinch / encoder motors). see through the thread for more info.

Hey Guys,

I was hoping I could post a slam dunk and say this is a 5 minute mod to get lighted buttons, but I have run into a hitch so I figured I'd document the journey in case with the power of us we can solve it and make this a realistic option for those of us missing 'luxuries' in our leafs.

Basically, someone on the board said the maxima power switch looks identical to the Leaf, I verified on Ebay that indeed they look identical and their connectors even look identical. I went and bought one because I was feeling lucky and got it and sure enough, it plugs right in to replace the leaf window switch.

and what turns out, is that the passenger window on the maxima has a serial communication link, while on the leaf is normal button. the wires are on different output pins too, bummer! My only remaining plug and play hope is that putting a Maxima passenger window switch will make this work as they talk over serial, but I somehow doubt the leaf wiring harness has both options wired in. Everything else works just fine though! The passenger switch no longer works on the passenger side either, so my passenger window is completely out of commission which is not super ideal with this setup.

what I have so far is that I looked at the wiring diagrams of the two cars power window circuits (you can access them here)
http://www.nicoclub.com/manuals/Leaf/20 ... AF/PWC.pdf
http://www.nicoclub.com/manuals/Maxima/ ... ma/PWC.pdf


here is the glory shot though


Just posting this as a start of a small adventure, let's find a nice solution to our annoying window / door controls!

cheers,
Marko

[estomax]

ok, in my rush of research I am pretty sure that the maxima passenger window switch will not do the trick because the maxima power switch motor uses an encoder like the driver side on the maxima and leaf. However, I started taking the switches apart and comparing them and made another neat discovery.

The switches on both cars have see through buttons, the only difference is the presence of an LED on one and the lack of an LED on the other circuit board right below the button. The crazy thing is the LED circuitry is all there on both window switch PCBs! I can't find an LED component sitting around my house right now but I will test this tomorrow, I might merely need to solder an amber LED onto the board and voila - done.

some more pictures for documentation purposes:
first, don't be an idiot and scratch your trim like me. You need to pull up on the lower left corner, use plastic tools. Not a screwdriver because that was the closest sharp object


maxima door lock button

leaf door lock button


maxima window disable button

leaf window disable button


proof that buttons are see through


circuit board out of the housing (comes out easy)


and the block diagram of the window functionality Maxima vs Leaf

that's all for tonight.

PS, one public information request, if anyone has access to a friend with a 2013-2016 Altima, they also have the same door switch, more similar to the Leaf, maybe they have LEDs in there already? can anyone confirm?


Marko

[LeftieBiker]

Funny: I was going to ask about an hour ago if maybe some of the switch components could be swapped to provide the lighted buttons but without having to deal with the different ways in which the switches are wired. If it's just a question of soldering an LED into each switch assembly that's a good outcome.

[chirpyboy]

Nice detective work!

I wonder how much Nissan saved by skipping those three LEDs

[pyromancy5]

That was me that mentioned the Maxima switch. I'm happy that you investigated this further... I've been wary of modding this car (for now).

If you find a good LED to solder into this, please share a vendor/ part number so I can follow in your footsteps. Thanks for sharing and great post!

/subscribed

[estomax]

yeah i bought this car swearing i won't mod it. i have an illness obviously, can't help myself

i will test with a led diode tonight if that is really all i need and then order some that i can solder in, there are some 100 packs on amazon for 6 bucks for amber leds that seem to fit the possible bill. i am not planning to solder an SMD led in there, i am not a circuit board engineer

Marko

[pyromancy5]

yeah i bought this car swearing i won't mod it. i have an illness obviously, can't help myself

i will test with a led diode tonight if that is really all i need and then order some that i can solder in, there are some 100 packs on amazon for 6 bucks for amber leds that seem to fit the possible bill. i am not planning to solder an SMD led in there, i am not a circuit board engineer

Marko

If you still have this part apart, can you snap a pic with a mm scale up next to those contacts and LED opening? I might want to go the surface mount route. Shouldn't be much more difficult if I can get the right size. You could even de-solder the ones on the Maxima switch and swap over.

[pyromancy5]

FYI, today I am in a 2016 Altima rental and it has lighter buttons for all three.

[estomax]

great news!

that might be the drop in replacement for the people that don't want to solder. i checked the wiring diagrams and they match. it looks like the maxima has anti pinch on driver and passenger side which is why they have encoders, altima just has it on driver side, same with leaf.

who wants to order an altima switch to try? I am already down the path of the LED trick so i am holding out to try it.

i am still waiting for LED diodes to show up, i couldnt find my other stash, that is why i have gone quiet for a few days.

Marko

[estomax]

well I just bought an altima switch, will report back if it works. putting diodes across the terminals does not do the trick so unfortunately something else on the PCB is missing as well. It won't be worth my time to figure that out if I can just buy switches from an altima though. some cost in trial and error but ultimately we all want a pain free experience, hopefully I can find us a solution!

pyro if you still have the rental do the passenger and rear window switches on altima have a light too? looks like it might in ebay pictures..

Marko