I ended up removing the fuse box to access the connectors that the door wires went to.
With one end of the wires removed, It made it easier to repair the wires in the door - but it was still a pain.
I had to do this because one of the power-lock wires was cut, causing the doors to always unlock themselves.

I still have not managed to get the silly rubber boot all the way back in the door!

I wonder if you wrapped some thin foam around the wires inside the rubber boot if that would help
keep them from failing?

Todd
'88 WEsty

BRENT CHRISTENSEN wrote:

 

Yesterday I finally got around to fixing my dead left front speaker.  Sure enough, the blue speaker wire had been severed by the action of the door.  (The break was located inside the rubber boot that runs from under the dash to the door at the hinge).  First of all, this was a major PITA to work on - the break was located deep inside the rubber "conduit", and I could not see any easy way of removing it.  I actually had to pull it back very forcibly, and then hold it there with some hemostats (medical clamps for blood vessels) so that I could get to the break point of the wire.

Unfortunately, the wire was so filthy that I could not get a good solder joint (and I couldn't strip it back any farther).  I ended up using a solderless butt connector.  :-(

While I was inside the rubber conduit, I noticed that several of the other wires were beginning to give way as well (cuts or breaks in the insulation).  I could not get at them to repair them, even though I removed all the door panel and trim.  I even pulled all the cable ties that were holding the wire bundles and removed the "vapor barrier" (plastic sheeting)., but I still couldn't move the wire bundles to a position that would allow more flexibility.

Has anyone ever successfully re-wired their door in order to replace these broken (or breaking) wires?  What needs to be done in order to get to the wires inside that piece of rubber conduit?  I am planning to replace the 4" Alpine font speakers with something else bigger soon, and I want to replace the old broken wires. I prefer to run the wires inside the existing loom if at all possible, but it looks to be a MAJOR PITA to get that rubber conduit moved out of the way...

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA