can I drive van with door harness removed
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On Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 02:34 PM, Spencer Allen wrote:
Will removing the harness affect any other areas like starting, driving or lights?Probably not (and it shouldn't).? However, if there are any broken, shorted, or chafed wires elsewhere, the current may seek an alternate path.? As an example, one fellow with a problem in the door harness noticed that his dash lights went off every time he opened the door.? Good old VW (over)engineering. -- Duane 05HD Rialta 227K Miles |
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I repaired this harness on my 2003, I found a design flaw, the harness has nowhere to move when door is moved, it’s clamped at both ends, inside door and in cabin. Since it needs to be clamped in the cabin, being behind fuse panel, I recommend not clamping it in the door. When you inspect the harness you will see what I found, where all the wires are breaking inside the rubber tube. I repaired by soldering in wire sections using heat shrink over the connection. It’s been holding for a few years now.
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Thanks for that info Bill. I haven't pulled the panel yet to see where the clamp is and where the wires are broken but plan to add about 6" of wire. Do you think that is too much or too little? If you don't clamp on the door side does the wire just hang or float inside the door? Thanks for the info. Spencer On Thu, May 30, 2024 at 8:40?AM Bill Wiggins via <billwiggins=[email protected]> wrote: I repaired this harness on my 2003, I found a design flaw, the harness has nowhere to move when door is moved, it’s clamped at both ends, inside door and in cabin. Since it needs to be clamped in the cabin, being behind fuse panel, I recommend not clamping it in the door. When you inspect the harness you will see what I found, where all the wires are breaking inside the rubber tube. I repaired by soldering in wire sections using heat shrink over the connection. It’s been holding for a few years now. |
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The OEM wire bundle is thick and doesn’t flex, so it bends into a Z shape and the wires begin to break at the sharp bends. I only replaced the section removed for repair and did not add any length. You will find that all the wires will not need repair. After repair I wrapped the bundle with the same type OEM tape, sticky fabric black tape. Exercising the door with wires in place before attaching the door panel will show you the movement path, it will be minimal and seems to be acceptable. When splicing in sections try to use like gauge. If you do one at a time you will reduce your chance of a mistake, I used a piece of wood to separate out the wire being worked on from the bundle, made it easier to do soldering, also did not twist wires but just a half inch side by side solder joint making it easy to slide over the shrink wrap. Good luck!
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Spencer Allen
Duane
Bill Wiggins