and then my outside door pop gets belligerent, followed by my door lock LED. After 11+ years, my GTS has finally fallen victim to broken door wires.
I went to the mORGue and reviewed the How To section for the fix. After pulling the rubber boot back, I found 4 wires completely severed, and 2 more with severe kinks that were about to go. I need to buy some good stranded conductor and a new roll of solder. The first few nights of the week are all planned out for me.
did you have to cut the rubber boot to get to the wires?
M.
No, the boot keys into the panel on each end. The toebox end of the boot is taped to the harness. When I get mine fixed, I'll let you know and maybe we can get together and fix yours.
I started practicing with my soldering iron last night and quite frankly, I don't like the way it's heading. I'm looking for crimped butt connectors that don't have the usual plastic casing over them. I plan to crimp and then slip heat-shrink over them.
I started practicing with my soldering iron last night and quite frankly, I don't like the way it's heading. I'm looking for crimped butt connectors that don't have the usual plastic casing over them. I plan to crimp and then slip heat-shrink over them.
Just a quick tip.... when dealing with wires like this, try to "stagger" your cuts if it's possible. This way, none of your crimps can possibly short out.
FIXED! I spent time in the garage last night listening to the Spurs game splicing wires and buttoning-up everything.
Getting a look at the bad wires requires dislodging the ends of the boot from the toe box and door hinge area with a small screwdriver or plastic trim stick. Door panel removal is not necessary, but makes repairs a little easier.
To get to the green 16 pin connector to the door, you need to remove the knee blocker panel (trim and structural) pieces. The connector is practically impossible to separate without doing this. I took the seat out for easier access to everything. (The pedal adjuster knob pulls straight off, remove the trim panel and use a 3/4" or 19mm deep socket to remove the locknut.)
Next, I pulled back the flex boot and inspected all the wires that weren't already broken. I found 3 that were kinked hard enough to break inside the insulation so the total was 6 wires to repair. I cut them and laid everything back against both side of the harness. I used a primer feed tube from my reloading bench as a guide to snake the new wires through the boot. It's very difficult to do without something like this.
This photo shows all the new wires run through the flex boot, ready for stripping, butt connectors (non-coated 18 ga.) and heat shrink tubing. DON'T FORGET TO SLIP HEAT SHRINK OVER THE WIRES BEFORE SPLICING.
I used kitchen matches to activate the heat shrink material on each individual wire. A heat gun is hard to concentrate that small and you are likely to shrink everything else you aren't ready for. I looped the repaired areas back away from the stress point in the boot so there would be fresh conductors in the flex boot.
Everything works like a champ, the Spurs won, and I'm Vipering again!
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Skating away on the thin ice of a new day.
Last edited by GTS Dean : May 9th, 2008 at 02:26 PM.
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