Rear driver door lock.

[lil red cummins]

As i mentioned earlier, be careful making any kind of repair/splice/connection that makes the wire stiffer. Solder or splice couplers tend to be that way. That is why i completely replaced the wires from inside the door to the connector. Those methods are only temporary, as i learned, and complete wire replacement is a better fix.



With a special tool, i was able to remove the pins from the connector and solder directly to the old pin body.



i also used a higher strand count wire which is more flexible.



yes, this is a crappy design!!!! it stems mainly from the fact that the bulkhead in the door post is very nearly in line with where the wires go through the door.



If the two pass-through areas were 3 to 4 inches vertically AWAY from each other, there would be mainly twist only and less "pinch" flex.



Realistically, i don't expect even my repair to last for ever, due to the amount of bending these wires go through.



I am glad my original post is helping fellow TDR members. That is the main idea of this forum



Jim

 

[rashwor]

Jim,



so are the wires soidered in the plugs? I was hoping the wires were just pressed into the plugs and there was a little secret to unlocking the wires in the plugs. Then I could easily replace the wires in my existing plugs and be good to go for a while.



I appreciate the insight you are providing! Thanks!

 

[lil red cummins]

The pins can be removed from the connector. unfortunately i did not take a picture of the pins when removed and my truck is in storage right now. Worse yet, i forget the exact method i used (old age). i think i used a molex pin extractor tool similar to THIS. It could have also been the design where there is a small tab you depress on the side of the connector to pull the pin out.



Sorry my memory is so bad on this detail.



When i removed the pins, i cut off all but 1/8" of original wire sticking out the back of the pin crimp area. i removed what was left of the insulation and soldered my new wires on to the original wire. I basically ended up with an 1/8" overlap of new to old wire. When i pushed the pin back into the connector, there was no bare wire hanging out. I used this method as i couldn't open the original crimp without damaging the pin.



The photo that Bob took in post 18 of this thread shows the connector still plugged into the door post connector. Once you unplug that connector, the pin style will become obvious.



I will try to get out to look at the truck on the weekend to refresh my memory.



Jim

 

[rashwor]

Jim,



Thanks again. Don't go to a bunch of trouble. And again, I really appreciate your input as you have already dealt with this.



I will check with some of the auto parts stores to see if the harness is available (and price) in the aftermarket world and let everyone know what I find. I suspect this is a dealer only item, but you don't know till you ask.

 

[CarlStevens]

I too, have experienced this problem just recently with my driver side passenger door. It started a few months back with the door lock not working and progressed on to the speaker and window. I use the back doors very seldom so this is disappointing to say the least that the wires broke. This should never have even been possible in my opinion and is a black mark on this design. I understand things on all vehicles will break and some are even designed that way sadly but this unexceptable. My picture looks also identical to lil red cummins posted above. Ordered new harness for door but the dealer said they are on back order. Imagine that!

 

[RMachida]

I had this same problem with my rear drivers-side door 3 years ago, fixed it then last winter the rear passenger door had the same problem. When disassembled, all of the wires were broken in both cases. I was hoping that others here may have found a cheaper source for the replacement loom. I ended up soldering in about 3" of additional wire in to make a larger loop. Of course, I had to lose the nice rubber loom in the process but I haven't had any more problems.

I had originally assumed that the problem was associated with our cold temperatures but it's more likely to be just a poor design...