Chevy & GMC Vans

The speakers in my drivers door have not worked since I bought the van used over 5 years ago and the passenger speakers cut in and out. I figured the speakers were shot and maybe the wiring was shot. Well, turns out it was both. The speakers were rotted around the cones. I replaced the speakers only to find that they still didn't work. #-o Dammit! So out comes the meter and I start probing.....no continuity between more than half the wires routed through the door.

I pulled the harness and found this:



Great. I thought I was gonna just be replacing speakers today. I was in a hurry, so I figured I'd half-ass it and just splice in some new wire into the existing harness. This break is right were the wires feed thru the rubber boot between the door and the body:



I contemplated splicing in some wire:



But then I thought to myself...."I have just spent the last three months overhauling and replacing every worn out part of my steering and suspension...why start cutting corners now?"

So I gathered up some uber expensive silicone "wet noodle" wire that I had extracted from cable scrap at work. This stuff is super flexible and can carry a decent load. It has slightly higher resistance than the friggin house wiring GM used originally but for the intermittent use it will see in the door it's perfect.

Silicone wire:



I was too lazy to measure and whatnot so i just started stringing the new wire along-side the old stuff to get the lengths right:





Once I had the correct colors and lenghts sorted out I separated the two:



The old harness was wrapped in electrical tape and was a nasty sticky mess. My harness is shielded in plastic corrugated wire sheathing:





Nasty:





I transferred over the boot:



Then I transferred over the harness fasteners:





Old and new side by side:



All that was left to do was transfer over the connectors. It takes some patience but those connectors do come apart and you can extract the pins:



I didn't bother trying to spread open the entire pin, just the part the tightens around the sleeve. I then soldered on a new piece of wire from my new harness:



The orange wire that goes to the power lock switch had a joint inside the wrap. I copied that bridge and made a T wrap joint:



I left that wire out of the sheath just in case it was intended for use with power windows or mirrors or something I don't currently have but might want to add in the future. Then I wont have too tear to deep into my harness to get at that wire:



Both ends complete:







The new harness all done and ready for installation:



Mostly installed. Nice and tidy! No sticky, ratty looking crap:



I plugged in my new speakers and Viola! I heard sound in my driver door for the first time ever! I'm sure a bunch of other stuff will work now too....just need to get some Dynamat and new mirrors on the door and then I can plug everything back in and see! I'm thinking my power door locks might also work and I may even get the neeto little light to come on in the door lock button! WooHoo!

Now I just gotta do the passenger side. Ugh.

I know, this wasn't some ginormous feat of electrical ability. And that's sorta the point. Anyone can do this. So get to it. I'm sure just about everyone has broken wires in their doors by now.

I love how everything you build or re-build has as good or better quality as the factory stuff! The attention to detail is awesome! Wish I had your patience to make everything neat, tidy and clean! =D>

Nicely done, solves the problem and makes the part better than oem, thanks for sharing how you did it...

you sir are awesome.

superb repair work and recorded and photographed with great detail for us numptys.

keep em coming.

Very well done. I expect nothing less from you.

Good Job! =D>

Nicely done, that is something I might have to do since my power mirrors and windows won't work and I've already changed new switches...but it seems that electrician never has time to fix his own problems

Haha! Yeah probably. All I do at work all day is repair electronics and design new electronic crap. Makes is so that my van has all sorts of cool welded goodies and tons of electrical work unfinished.

Coming from a goldsmith of 25 years, I would like to say, excellent attention to detail! =D>

If my wires ever break, I'm going to add some connectors to the door wiring harness, so that I can unplug it. It will make removing the door much much easier. (for things like hinge bushings).

Thank you for the compliments gentlemen.

The wiring harness does unplug right down near the bottom of the side footwell near the parking brake. It is not to bad, just remove the cover plate there and unplug two connectors and the pull the boot out of the body along with the wires. The harness is maybe only a foot long past that boot as it goes into the van.

Wouldn't you know...I just got new power mirrors with heaters...and I have no wiring in place to control it! So it looks like I may be be redoing this harness. At the same time I might just add some extra wiring and switches for future use....hidden electronic sputter horn button (like police and fire trucks), mini guns and missile launcher controls, etc. At least I still have the door all apart since I have been dragging my ass putting the Dynamat in. I started that over a week ago and just finished today. Even though I'm in CA its cold outside and the Dynamat is super stiff. I put it inside the door too.....very difficult the get up inside there.

97CargoCrawler wrote:The wiring harness does unplug right down near the bottom of the side footwell near the parking brake.

#-o wish I knew that earlier.

I know this is an old topic. I'm guessing 16 gauge wire?

Tonka wrote:I know this is an old topic. I'm guessing 16 gauge wire?

I honestly don't know what OEM was, might have been 18. A FSM schematic would have that info.