MirrorJohn

I posted this up on the Uk forum, but nobody seems to know the answer.......


Hi guys. I've not had my S2000 long and am new to the Forum but looking for a little assistance please.

Mine is an early S2000 (2001) which didn't come with a heated rear screen from the factory but a plastic screen. It did however come with a hard top as is a GT model so I have the heater button for when the hard top is plugged in. At some point in the cars life the convertible roof has been replaced with a new one using a newer glass heated rear window. It's not connected in my car though.

I managed to buy the Honda lead that connects to the two spades on the rear window but I'm a bit stumped where to connect the other end! I have done a lots of searches and most results seem to be people talking about retro-fitting a hard top and wiring associated with that. Where I had the hard top fitted from the factory, I am lead to believe that the wiring is already in place. I just need to find where to route the cable and where the female socket is that I plug it in to.

I was told by a breaker (that I bought the wire from) that I need to remove the trim in the boot and the plug I need is by the petrol filler neck. I have done that and cant see it there.

Can anyone give me any advice please where the plug is and how I should route the cable? I don't want to start randomly ripping the car apart in the vague hope I might stumble upon what I am looking for!

I've done quite a lot of searches on Google and here and everything I find seems to be to do with people retro-fitting a hard top. Mine came out the factory with the Hard top so The Hard top connection is already behind the passenger seat. The plug for the softop is designed to be different to the hard top plug. The reason for this is it plugs in to a different place on the loom. The idea being that the soft top wiring is never disconnected. It is meant to be plugged in hidden out of sight. The moment you plug the hardtop in to the obvious socket behind the passenger seat, the heating element in the softop is deactivated. This is so it does not come on when the roof is down. I believe it also disables the complete roof mechanism so that you cannot try to raise the softop while the hard top is on.

Therefore I think the wiring is already in place as my car is a GT from the factory. I just need to know where the plug is hidden and where to route the wiring.


I found a photo online somewhere that showed two different looms for factory hartop wiring. I am lead to believe that one was a pre facelift and one was a facelift. Both still appear to have a plug for the softop. Therefore I am hoping my loom still has a provision for plugging the softop wiring in. Maybe Honda knew a heated rear screen was on the cards?

I am hoping someone can confirm for sure. Even better if they have done it themselves as then they can tell me where the wiring goes!

Help Please!


Many thanks



John

AE_Racer

Here's some relevant reading.. Maybe it will help

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/104...oster-install/

MirrorJohn

Thanks for the link. It doesn't show if he got the bottom of it or not.

Since posting I had another look in the boot behind the trim and couldn't see the plug I need for the Soft top wiring anywhere.

I then removed the plastic behind the passenger seat and traced all the (OEM) hartop wiring. I couldn't find a spare plug anywhere. I am assuming this means my loom is an early one with no provision for wiring in the softop heated screen.

Has anyone with an early car managed to wire up the softop heated screen?


I'd rather not hack the wiring or splice in to it if I can help it. Looks like I need to order 'some' wiring from Honda, but not exactly sure what I need to order. Whether I need to replace the whole hardtop wiring loom or I can just get an extra loom to plug in to what I already have? Any ideas anyone?

banflu

Would like an answer to this myself as my car is also an early one and I also have an AP2 roof and AP2 console; but nothing connecting them together

I've always assumed there should be a harness and maybe a relay, but it appears somewhat more complicated..?

Would appreciate if you can share any info you find.

GreenmanS2000

I following this thread as I have the same problem..
I can't believe there isn't anyone who hasn't updated from a plastic window to a glass window and connected up the heated rear window...

MirrorJohn

Sorry for the slow update on this. I have been really busy with my M3 lately, so neglecting the S2000 a little (a lot). Saying that, I finally got my OEM 17's refurbished and fitted which look much better than the OEM 16's! I also got my headlights polished, so they look like new. Even got rid of a rattle!

Anyway, regarding this pesky wiring issue. I have been working on it and it's bugging me! I went and saw Si at Hendy and looked at the looms for hardtop wiring that go from the switch under the centre console and connect to the socket for the hard top. The facelift loom from the switch does not have any connections for the soft top heated screen, so we are completely bemused as to where the softop wiring actually goes! We cant find it on a drawing. I think we have all been barking up the wrong tree slightly in terms of wiring, looking in the wrong place. I know where the plug/wiring for the soft top heating should be in the boot, but it is just not there on the pre facelift cars.

My thinking is, that actually the wiring for the softop heated screen is integrated with the roof mechanism/electrics. This is because you don't want power going to the screen in the soft top when the roof is down. So, the car must know when the roof is not up and therefore not send power to the elements in the rear window. I am under the impression that if this is the case, it will not be an easy retro-fit for any of us Pre-facelift boys as it is probably part of the roof motor mechanism and may involve a lot of re-wiring. Would love to be proved wrong on this though!

So, I have been pondering other ways of how to get our heated rear screen working. Even more so lately, where it is getting a bit colder and I cant see out the rear window in the morning. I know that the Hard top will probably go back on again soon anyway, but would be nice to get the soft top screen working. Even if I do delay it till next year when the hard top comes back off. It is also bugging me that my mirrors are not heated as well. You really cant see anything behind you in the morning at the moment! I have purchased some facelift heated mirrors with glass and am planning to remove the innards and fit them in to my current mirror housing. I can then run the wiring back to the heated mirror switch and connect them via a relay. A simpler method of connecting them would be via a live switched feed so they are on all the time while the engine is running. This is the way my M3 actually works from the factory. On the misses EP3 CTR, they are switched (separate button for mirrors). I think I prefer this method (not permanently on) and connecting them to the heated screen button. This brings me nicely on to options for getting the soft top heated screen to work. These are some options I have been thinking of:

1: Cheapest option. Connect (via two female spade connectors) the soft top heated screen to a switched 12v (fused) feed. This way, all the time the engine is running the element in the soft top is heated. Although this is a simple way of connecting and the cheapest solution, I personally don't like the idea of the screen always being heated especially when the roof is down. Possible fire risk? I guess you could fit your own additional switch to deactivate the screen when you put the roof down, but that could look messy if you cant hide the switch somewhere and you could still forget to turn it off when roof is down. I managed to get the OEM Honda lead from a scrapyard that has the fittings to go on the soft top screen. Alternatively you could just use 2x female spade connections and some wire.

2: Easiest Option. You can buy the Coiled lead with plugs from Honda that currently connects the hard top heated screen in to the plug socket behind the passenger seat. It is not cheap at all for just a lead with a plug. Somewhere between £60 and £80 I think. What I was thinking was that, you buy an extra one and leave it permanently on the soft top screen. Then when you take your hardtop off and unplug the lead, you effectively just plug the softop in to the same socket. I'm not sure if the coiled lead will fold away neatly when you put the roof down. You might end up needing to remove the coiled lead and replace with some straight (thinner) wire cut long enough to reach. Although this is the simplest option it is a bit messy and expensive. Especially if you end up removing the coiled wire. You are paying a lot of money for two female spade connectors and a plug! You will also need to remember to unplug the softop screen from behind the passenger seat every time you want to put the roof down. You could easily forget to unplug it and even if you remember, it is going to take longer to put your roof down. It goes against the quick roof up/down time that the S2000 has.

3: Neatest Option. Permanently connect the softop heated screen to the heated screen button in the car. This si the way we all would like it to work. That way you can turn it on and off. That in itself is relatively simple. Either buy the softop heated wire from Honda or make your own up using female spades. You can then run the cables down through the plastic 'shelf' and behind the carpet at the back by the roof motor and then through to the centre console where the switch is. Using a relay you can connect it in to the switch. This is the neatest way of wiring it in and will look most 'OEM', but we are back to the issues with number 1: the screen will still be heated even when the roof is folded down (if you forget to turn the switch off). I don't think it will get hot enough to set anything on fire, but is it worth risking it? Also, without the plug connected in to the hardtop socket behind the passenger seat, the switch doesn't work. I don't think this is a major issue as it is because the circuit is not completed. It is just an open loop. By closing the loop it should work. However, once you plug the hardtop back in, you need to 'deactivate' the power to the soft top screen. This is the crutial part of getting this option to work. If this hurdle can be overcome; I still think it is the best option for us. There must be a way to do it using relay[s]. It needs to be wired in a way that the switch works the heated screen in the soft top UNTIL you plug in the hard top. Then it cuts power to the soft top screen. I cant quite get my head round how to wire this so it works yet, but I'm sure it is do-able.


If anyone has any input, ideas, contributions; they would be much appreciated!