Wiring to the door(s)

1987 328, US Spec

Finally found the root cause of my intermittency with the driver's door lights and the central locking unit. If I move the section of the loom I can see near the door hinge, things will start working until I let go. I've even narrowed it down to the blue/red wire using my continuity tester. According to the wiring diagram, this powers the door lighting and the door locking actuator.

Door panel is already off, and all the grounds are fine. Window operates as does the mirror. Just the lights and the door lock are being troublesome, so I'm guessing there's a splice that has let go (probably an el-cheapo plastic butt-splice).

Anyone had the joy of repairing the door loom before? I'll probably end up pulling the whole mess of wires to inspect and repair. But geez, the clearances are hideous...

Thanks in advance!

 

The failure point for mine turned out to be a splice on the power line. This splice (1 into 3, if I recall) was positioned in the tightly wrapped bundle that S-curves between the door and dash. Over time, this flexed the wire just enough to cause an intermittent break -- in this case on the wire that lead from the splice to the door lock actuator. Why the splice wasn't in the door-proper is a total mystery. I kept saying to myself: Hand-built; these cars were hand-built; probably by a guy getting ready for his 4 hour lunch break.

Tips:
Patience. There's so little room to work you'll drive yourself nuts. Most of the time you're working by feel instead of sight. In the end, I opted to rebuild the whole loom between the dash and the door. Kept the wire gauge the same as that removed, but tried to find wire that would be more naturally flexible. Same with the outside weather covering. Built in some slack, which the original just didn't have. Where connectors and/or splices were needed, I used high-quality parts versus the crap used originally, and made sure they were positioned in manageable places.

Oh, and document everything!