EvolutionM - Mitsubishi Lancer and Lancer Evolution Community - Swapping power windows/mirrors/locks and remote locking into an RS

This is not a full step-by-step "how-to" but a bunch of notes I've made on how to swap power windows/mirrors/locks (with remote lock function) from an Evo GSR/MR into an Evo RS.

For those of you interested in doing a swap, I'd estimate a full swap (note that I didn't reinstall the inner door panels on my GSR) will take 30-60 man-hours of work (a body shop could probably do it in less time).

I don't want to go into all the details and do a full how-to, but here are some notes that will be useful; the rest, you can figure out on your own (if you can't, you probably shouldn't attempt this). Disclaimer: I'm only documenting how I did this, which may not be the best way. If you find a better way or have any other insight, please document it in the comments thread for others' benefit.

Door/window mechanisms:
- Remove inner door panels from both cars (undo 4 screws on each door, pull off plastic grab handle and door handle trim, unclip and remove window roll-up handle for the RS, and pull 'em off).
- Remove inner plastic anti-moisture lining. Beware of nasty black "tar" sealant that will stick to everything and make life generally unpleasant.
- Remove window regulator (or manual mechanism in the RS) and the window "slider" rail (comes out as one piece). Roll down the window about 0.5-1" before you do, this is sometimes needed to reinstall on the other car. Don't bother with a screwdriver to undo the window-to-slider bolts; you need a socket to break them loose. For the rear windows you may need to roll them down almost all the way to line up said bolts with a hole big enough to fit a socket through.
- Each power window won't operate without the master power window controls (driver's door) and the door window controls for that window plugged in. Actually though you can roll the power window up or down by carefully applying +12V to the window regulator harness plug--+12V on one pin, ground on the other. Switch the polarity to roll the window up instead of down (or vice-versa). I did this by clipping some small insulated alligator clips to the regulator plug pins, and touching the other ends to a spare Odyssey battery (very carefully since it's all unfused).
- When you're finally ready to take out the window mechanism, use painter's/masking tape to hold the window in place (especially important in the front) before you do so.
- I found it easier to remove the window stuff before the door lock/latch stuff and reinstall in the reverse order.
- Inside door lock/handle, door latch and locking mechanism (not including the outer handle and lock cylinder) comes out as one piece, with some careful maneuvering. Undoing some bolts that hold some of the window sliding guides in place will allow the latter to move aside a bit and make it possible to get the latch mechanism out.
- The three screws that hold the latch mechanism to the door metal are tightly torqued and threadlocked. Use a small pencil torch (I actually used my trusty Bernzomatic with a small flame so not to damage the paint) to heat up each screw for about 10-20 seconds. This will melt the threadlocker and make it relatively easy to break loose the screw. Be sure to use the right-sized Philips head driver for this or you'll strip the head.
- The latch/power lock mechanism attaches to the outside handle/lock using one bent metal rod for the handle and one for the lock (front only). The rods stick in to little plastic swivel end with clips to hold the rod in place. Only one end needs to be undone to to get the door latch/handle out--either end works but one will make extraction and/or installation easier. Some gentle prying with a flat-head screwdriver will open the plastic clip that holds the end of the rod in place. If you end up undoing both ends, make sure you remember which end goes where as the rod is bent in a specific shape for a reason.
- Outside handle/lock stays with the car unless you want to swap keys (and therefore ECUs) too. Duh.
- For the front doors, undoing the two screws and pulling the outside handle/lock out may help undoing/redoing the rod clips to the handle and lock.
- Undoing some bolts that hold some of the window guides in place will allow you to more easily maneuver the latch/handle assembly out.
- Keep track of which door mechanism came from/goes in which car. They look identical but the RS one lacks the actuator that actions the power locks. The RS door mechanism is just about 60 grams or 1/8 lb lighter than the power mechanism, the weight difference being the actuator.
- There's another harness that goes on a lock position sensor which is on the end of the lock cylinder, in the car with power locks. It unplugs and reinstalls easily; make sure the wire harness is routed correctly around the window sliding guide.
- Reinstallation is basically the reverse of what I described. If you didn't roll the window down partway you may find when switching that the slider for a window is rolled up too high to align with the window bolts (which is why you should have rolled it down a bit before taking it out).

Wiring:
- Make careful notes (take photos) of how the wiring harnesses for the power window/locks are routed, otherwise you'll be scratching your head for a long while when reinstalling them by trial-and-error.
- Front door wiring goes through the door-body boot and a few inches to a connector behind the "kick" plate plastic panel. (You'll need to remove the door sill and kick plate plastic panels to get at this.)
- For any wires/pins you need to pull out of a harness connector, here's how: on the top or bottom of the connector there's plastic tab the width of the connector that you need to pop up about 1/16" before each little "claw" that holds each pin in place can be released. Use a small flat-head driver to pop it up (pry gently), then use a tiny jeweler's screwdriver (or paperclip, etc.) to pry the claw for each wire pin and free it by gently pulling on the wire.
- By "pin" I actually mean "pin terminal", the terminal on the end of the wire that receives the pin. All the wires you'll need to remove from harness connectors are in the "female" connectors.
- Front door harnesses are easy: remove and swap.
- Rear door harnesses are labour-intensive: the wiring for the rear doors goes from a harness at the base of the B-pillar, then gets bundled into all the wires that run from the front to the back of the car, and comes out 2 (3?) connectors behind the front outside kick panel and one connector on the underdash fusebox. You need to un-bundle all the wires, trace each wire and undo it from the connector it goes to. (The connector pins are shared between door functions, lights, fuel pump, etc. so you can't just take the connectors, wiring and swap them wholesale.) Make careful note of where each wire goes and reinstall each wire to the same connector in the RS. Re-bundle the wires using tape or a split loom.
- On each side there's a grounding wire that runs from the rear door to a shared ring-terminal on the chassis (a few inches above where the connectors are). Unbolt the ring terminal, cut the wire from the ring terminal (which is shared with 1-2 other grounding wires), and then wire it to your own ring terminal that you'll install in the other car.
- The RS lacks the holes for the rear door wiring boot. Get out your drill and/or holesaw and/or dremel and/or die grinder...
- Beyond the harness connectors at the kick plate, the RS already has all the rest of the wiring and relays for power locks/windows.

ETACS ECU, the "brains" of the power window/lock/remote operation:
- Once you have all the mechanisms and wiring swapped, the last thing to do to enable the power locks/windows is to swap the ETACS ECU that controls window, lock, light function. It's on the hidden (facing front of the car) side of the underdash fusebox, a big orange box. Two harnesses go into its side, and it has a connector that plugs in directly to the fusebox. With the panel under the steering wheel off, you can reach the fusebox, pull the bottom end a bit towards you, reach up to the top of the ETACS box and push down on the single tab clipping it to the fusebox. Pull the top end firmly away from the fusebox and it will come out.
- Make sure the windows can roll up and down freely before sealing everything back up--incorrectly routed or anchored wires can get in the way and be damaged by the window rolling down into them.
- Might be a good idea to disconnect the battery, though we didn't and managed not to fry anything including ourselves.

Power mirrors:
- You can swap the mirrors wholesale if you don't mind the color change. ;)
- Otherwise it's relatively straightforward to swap the power mirror mechanisms and wiring once you figure out how to get the mirrors themselves off: tilt the mirror "up towards the sky" all the way, put some tape on the bottom mirror housing lip, and use a flat-head screwdriver to pry the mirror off its clips from the bottom.
- It may be possible to do this with the mirror housing on the car, but it's a lot easier off.
- The mirror wiring goes along with the door wiring harnesses (covered above).
- The mirror controls turned out to be trivial: take off the instrument panel surround trim ring (two screws and pull carefully), then pop off the panel with the mirror control. Disconnect the harness and push out the controls.
- Do the same on the RS; you'll notice instead of mirror controls, it has a blank with the same harness plugged in to the blank! Unplug, swap, reinstall and presto, you're done with the mirrors.

As you can see it's quite a job.