348 Door Wiring Connector Repair

Nice job and I'm sure it alleviates many of the potential gremlins for door electrics but......what a son of a b its going to be if you or anyone ever needs to get the door off and back on in the future!

I think I would prefer to resolve by finding some upgraded connector method

 

My connectors are fine at the moment but I've got a set with gold plated pins in the pipeline (same manufacturer as stock). That combined with some electrical grease to keep out moisture should be better than the standard tin coated ones.

I'll not swap them until I start having trouble though.

 

Nice Job! and thanks for the pics.
I'll be visiting this shortly and this post will be a big help!!!

 

Nice Car color as well!!

 

I hope you soldered the splices instead of using crimp connectors?

Have had the crimp connectors fail in the past

 

Brilliant work Jeff. That is on my list of things to do on my car. I bet the windows race up and down now. My windows are so bad I have to pull them up while holding the switch down. As for the doors coming off, who cares. The only reason for the door to come off is if it gets munched. I think this is the best solution for the stupid connector problem. Great work.

 

OUTSTANDING!! If I had a heated garage, I'd be out there right now!


Ernie -

My windows are similarly slow. They start the upward path just fine -- like a normal car. The last 2 inches however, are painfully slow and require me to "pull" the window up. I'm not sure why that would be an electrical issue rather than a mecahnical/tension issue somewhere near the top of the path. Jeff -- prior to your modification, did the windows crawl near the top of the frame? What's the speed like now?

-Daniel

 

Yes interested - is the speed better now?

 

I like the rewire option but is there anywhere I can find the female terminals because I have only 1 wire broken at the terminal and no corrosion on any others. Also how do the terminals come out of the door side connector. thanks

 

chrisx666 you say you have gold plated pins but will not replace until you have problems could you please help me out in where i can find those pieces to fix my 94 348 spider

 

A crimp connection is far superior to a solder connection anywhere vibration or movement might be encountered.

A soldered connection will eventually fail at the end of the solder due to fatigue.

I really should say a PROPER crimp connection, as there are many ways to improperly crimp a wire end, and only one correct way.

The correct tools are a must, as is the correct size ends for the wire, but at least as important is the orientation of the ferrule in the crimping tool.

On a non-insulated wire end the split in the ferrule must face the side of the crimper with a protrusion. On insulated wire ends the split side must face one side in the tool.

If this is not done the ferrule is simply folding around the wire with the crease opposite the split, and is much more likely to pull out.

Those who will disagree, as I’m sure there will be, should be aware that crimped connections are specified by NASA for the space shuttles.

In the attached pictures the split in the ferrule is up at 12:00
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Well, it's a sunny warm mid-January day in Texas, and my thoughts of putting the top down and going for a spin during lunch just got turned upside down...

After running a number of searches here and checking the cost of a new wiring harness, the hard-wiring option is a winner! Looks like I will be somewhat tied up on Saturday. Jeff, thanks for starting this thread!
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this thread has helped me out sooooooooooooooooo much every problem listed with the door electric issues in this thread and every one was right on!!!!!!!!!!! thanks to everyone who has worked or owned the 34great and shared their problem solving skills! just plain AWESOME

 

Jeff (Miltonian) the OP is an incredibly valuable asset to FChat. He has an uncanny ability to diagnosis problems, via the Internet, and offer solutions. In sum, he's one very intelligent man.

 

I like that

 

Well said Scott, I couldn't agree more

 

So very very true! I had a LONG list of things to try and fix while mine is all pulled apart for painting. In well over half the things on my list that have been corrected so far, I noticed that Jeff/Miltonian posted either the final fix or started the thread.

There is no way ownership of this car would be possible without the resources available here and from the brotherhood/community. Rather than pulling my hair out in frustration, I find that doing the research, reading, and thread search is half the fun. The other half, of course, is actually FINDING the needed info and implementing the proper repair. God bless that famous pointer featured in multiple pictures.

 

For those that don't want to go the hard-wiring route, it is a relatively straightforward job to remove the connectors from the plug and replace the pins - there is enough wire in the loom of the door to be able to cut all the wires back and crimp on new connectors.
As for the connectors, I found this:-
http://docs-europe.origin.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/0b0a/0900766b80b0aa5a.pdf
Which is an engineering drawing of a suitable crimp pin replacement - these are made by Tyco with part no. 1-66100-9 which can be bought from Digikey in the USA or RS components in the UK (as well as many other suppliers). These fit the plug correctly, are the correct size for the pins in the socket and the correct size for the majority of the wires - the heavier gauge electric window wires are a little bit of a stretch to crimp on and the pins would preferably have longer tabs (i.e. through the sections A-A and B-B) to be perfect if anybody else can find the right ones, but these do work.
You will note they are available with gold plating too if required (see part no.s on the drawing).

 

Any idea how much they cost?

 

+1....yep, Jeff recently diagnosed a rather difficult issue for me as well.....

 

Hi, I am new to this. I have owned a 1994 348GTS for 6 years, with no problems, until 3 days ago. The windows strted going up and down very slowly, the door mirrors have stopped working and the speaker on the drivers side door has also stopped. The brake lights have stopped working and the glove box has also stopped. I have traced this down to the wiring between the door frame and the door. Several wires including the two thick yellow ones and the thick black one, and various other ones are undetached. Are the wires on the door pillar side the same colour? Can I repair the socket without having to take any more of the car to bits? Where would I be able to buy the pins for this joint?
Any help you could possibly provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanking you in anticipation, moffydh7

 

I took 3 shots of this and I hope this is readable. These are the tools for the door connectors and the tool works great. These amp connectors are also used in the connector above the left rear wheel of the engine compartment. My experence has been that a crimp connection with the correct tool (not the cheap crimps) is better because solder doesn't allow flex in the wire, something needed in a door hinge area. Replacing the door connector with soldered connections like this post is a bad idea. FWIW.

Jeff Pintler
89 348tb, 86tr, 99 360 3-pedal
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