Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:10:47 -0700
Reply-To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Power mirror and lock maintenance?
In-Reply-To: <116065.55512.qm@web51509.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On 8/12/07, Anthony Egeln <regnsuzanne@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Chris,
>
> There have been many posts discussing the likelihood of broken wires in
> the door jamb, but I've never seen anything posted or in the archives on how
> to access those wires. Does the door panel have to come off, or can the
> wiring be accessed just at the jamb? I'd appreciate a primer from some
> helpful person on how to access this wiring.
>
> My door locks and power mirrors gave up the ghost (gradually) a while ago,
> and I love to think that a simple wire splice would have them resurrected!
>
> Thanks, Anthony
> '89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)
Anthony,
If you look at the door jamb right by the hinges, you'll find what looks
like a black rubber hose. The wires usually break inside there. Here's a
quick step by step for you for a typical Vanagon door:
1) Remove door handle by first prying off the plastic cover to reveal the
screws. These flap like covers open away from the center. There two Phillips
screws on each end of the handle. Early Westies have an armrest which needs
to be removed as well. Screw holes for those are at the bottom.
2) Next remove the escutcheon plate of the inside door release lever.
There's a plastic piece which can be pried forward to reveal the screw that
holds the trim in place. Remove that trim.
3) Next remove the vent grill at the back bottom end of the door. It's held
in place by Phillips screws. If you see the vent hole taped up inside, don't
worry. Later Vanagons are set-up that way.
4) If you have manual windows, remove the crank handle. The cover can be
pried open by pulling on the edge way from the crank knob. There is a single
Phillips screw under there. Don't worry about the power window switches yet
at this point.
5) Get a suitable putty knife or flat head screw driver and start prying the
door panel outward. There are locking clips every 6-7 inches or so. They
will pop as you pull each section out. Try to pry with the putty
knife pushed towards the clip so the door panel does not get damaged.
6) Once the panel is out, slowly pull way and see what wires are hanging out
there. he speaker wires can be pulled out of he speaker w/o removing the
speaker itself. Same goes true for power windows and locks. Mark the power
windows wires as some of them can be accidentally interchanged.
7) Set aside door panel.
8) Carefully remove plastic vapor barrier. If you rip them accidentally,
duct tape or thick plastic packing tape can be used to repair them
satisfactorily. Now you have access to the wires inside the door.
9) Nest step is to disconnect the wires from the fuse box. To accomplish
this, you need to remove the fuse box cover. Unhook the fuse block from the
two side perches after removing the screw at the bottom tab.
10) Look on top of the bulk head and it will be obvious where that black
hose thing comes out. Disconnect all the wires coming out of that rubber
conduit from the connectors that go in to fuse block. Don't forget to take
out the ground wires too which connect to a common ground on the wall to the
left of the fuse block.
11) One all the wires are out, carefully push the head of the rubber conduit
out and assist by pulling on the conduit at the hinge.
12) Once the conduit is out, you can pull at each wire set and check if any
will pull all the way out. Those are of course the broken ones. The wires
are taped in a bundle in one spot inside the conduit so pulling them out can
be challenging. Once you've determined which ones are broken, it's time to
repair.
13) It is nearly impossible to pull the rubber conduit out on the door side.
It will be slightly easier if you remove the door limiting strap by popping
out the retaining pin first. Don't forget the locking washer at the bottom
of it. Once open as far as possible, you can do the push pull technique to
get the conduit out. the other option is the cut the conduit open and
replace later.
14) Repair broken wires with appropriate connectors.
15) Replacing the conduit is the most challenging part of this exercise. You
can feed those wires in one at a time. It should be a no brainer just
requires a lot of patience.
16) Reverse the previous steps to reinstall.
As a word of caution, the above descriptions did not include disconnecting
the battery cable. It's always a good idea to do that anytime you are
working on something electrical. The power door locks are live all the
time.
Passenger door removal is the same except no side ground cables. Those are
all on the driver's side
Cheers,
BenT
