Re: Those wires in the door jam...

[James Marriott <marriott@lesbois.com>]

Haudi,

>      I could really use some tips for repairing those wires in the drivers
> side door jam.  The alarm, window, etc...wires are badly eroded and are
> shorting out.  I decided to repair them as the dealer wants to add a few
> zeros to replace them.  I would like to know some ideas as far as how to
> repair them.

Can you remove the door panel, kick panel, and lower dash? That's the
best way; solder joints in the flex area (ie, inside the boot) will fail
due to concentrated bending stress. If you take the panels off, you can
R&R one wire at a time, and leave the joints in a static location (in
the door or under the dash). Radio Shack makes some nice "sensor wire"
(only 20 guage, though) that's _very_ flexible. Comes on a 20' roll or
so for a few bucks. Don't use any old wire here, it will see lots of
bending. If the particular wire you're replacing looks bigger than the
new wire (assuming the RS stuff), just use two to replace it. Do solder
the joints (after slipping the shrink wrap tubing on). If the wiring's
like on previous cars I've done ('87 5kt, '86 4ks, '87 4kq, '86 4kq),
not all of the wires will be broken. Why didn't Audi use the good wire
_everywhere_???

hth,
James