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Date:         Fri, 9 Oct 2009 07:22:32 -0400
Reply-To:     Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Brocken wires
Comments: To: Janne Ruohomäki <janne.ruohomaki@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

This is a somewhat common problem, from what I've read here. My pwn '87 Westy had a patch on every wire, due to some DPO/ mechanic deciding to splice every wire right at the flex point. What a pain it was to repair that mess. A wire is a conductor, a conductor can be solid (like home wiring), multi-stranded (like automotive wiring) or fine multi-stranded (like speaker wiring or the battery ground strap on a bug). I haven't found an easy fix for this problem.

Mike B. ----- Original Message ----- From: Janne Ruohomäki To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 5:44 AM Subject: Re: Brocken wires

On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 9:30 AM, Arkady Mirvis <arkmirvis@gmail.com> wrote: > Fellow listees, > > How common is the problem with wires breacking between the driver side door and the body? In my 1987 Westy > the left door speaker isn't working and the window motor in the passenger side door doesn't operate the > glass. I do suspect the wires are broken due frequent door on and off during many years. Recently I was > offered by my friend to take any part I wanted from a burned down Westy. I took off the part of the harness > between the driver side door and the body. 10 wires were broken! The insulation was hard as a rock! It is my > opinion that the rubber around the harness is too short and should have been longer and going down. That way > the harness would twist and last much longer. This can't be changed easily. I suspect that VW installs wires > with same insulation for hot and cold climates. In the North, at sub-zero temperatures the insulation will > crack and in that place the wire will break very soon. VW installed cheap wire with a few conductors. The > right design would have been a fine, multi-conductor wire with flexible at all temperatures insulation. > Does anyone knows of the best type wire for eliminating wire breackage problem? If anyone had the problem, > what was the method to correct it? Thank in advance.

I took mine off from 1990 model van and rubbers were not broken, maybe a little harder than they originally have been, but nothing significant. This vehicle has been driven in region where it is very cold during winters. All the wires were OK from this point of view. The reason I took it off was that some of the wires had been damaged by PPO who installed speakers and used some kind of cutting tool for making hole in the door panel for them. I replaced them with wire that has very fine connectors. High quality speaker wire to be exact, meant for car audio systems. I would assume that this could take low temperatures better than the indoor home versions of similar wire.

You can test Your wires before installing by putting piece of it to freezer for a day and then do some twisting. Use several types to make comparison between them.


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