Apple395

So one of my windows did not work (driver)
I bought a new regulator and motor and it still does not work...I tested everything (switch,motor,wires) and its all good, I'm pretty sure it's a bad ground, cause don't both the windows and locks all share a ground? (Cause none of the three are working now)
When I bought car passenger door worked and power locks worked, I messed with the engine grounds (battery,AC,valve cover)a little but fixed them to how the were before...so I am stumped

If I bypass and make a new ground the locks work and motor...

So where is the actual ground for the locks and power locks located?

And what is the ground by the kick pannel ( two gold connectors) and what are this three wires for... I tried to check them and they worked once for the locks but I'm not sure it was because of that...

Please please help!!!!

I have a 96-00 PDF repair manual if that may help,and for anyone who offers advice

ezone

Look for wires broken in the door jamb harness where they connect to the door. Will probably only be one or two of the bundle that are broke right now...
They get broken off dang near flush with the door plug and quite a PITA to repair.

phreich

Other than saying it is a PITA to repair, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to tackle a wire broken off flush with the connector?

Is there a "secret" to releasing the metal contacts inside the connector so that the wire can be reconnected to it, and then pushed back into place?

In my case, there are 7! wires broken loose -- causing the power windows, door locks and mirrors not to function. It's a '96 EX coupe.

I found a copy of the factory service manual and it has a diagram of what wire goes to each "port" in the connector, so I can map what goes to where now. The manual calls this connector C556.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to tackle repairing the broken wires at the connector.

ezone

Gotta figure out how the individual terminals are locked in. There are several different designs used throughout the cars, each situation requires careful study.

Some can be figured out easy....and others just suck. Each terminal type could have a different locking design too.

Sometimes it seems like destroying the first one may be the quickest way to understand how it works LOL


Get the plug out where you can work with it (disconnect it and feed the harness back through to the interior of the car), solder fresh wire (needs to be flexible to withstand repeated door openings) directly to the pins without removing from the plug? (Not really the best idea IMO as this melts plastic.)

phreich

I found this technical bulletin that identifies how the various individual connectors inside the plastic connector housing are locked in place and how they can be removed. I hope this helps others.
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/di...15_a95-023.pdf

I contacted one of the local automotive electric repair places that I know and trust and he told me that they have seen many cars with broken wires at this location. They repair them by either soldering the wires back onto the connector, but using just a dab of solder so it doesn't flow up the wire and turn the wire stiff (which would lead to future breaking), OR they take out the connectors that the broken wires were connected to, and route new wires through the holes left by the connectors. Both solutions are a PITA.

It turns out that the Honda Service Bulletin above mentions part numbers for the individual connectors -- if the dealership doesn't have them in stock, you have to buy them in packets of 25 for about $12.50 (about 60 cents each). This is the route I am hoping to use if I can get the connectors out of the plastic connector housing. Then I can simply crimp the slightly shortened wire into the new connector and it should be good for another 10 years or so. I'll update this once I've gotten the job done and let y'all know what method worked for me.

ezone

Nice find! Hope it helps.


I still haven't found that document on Hondas tech site.

I found this one though: PDF LINK



Sometimes I hate the way Hondas information is hidden. You almost have to know what year the info was released in order to find it, they don't link a lot of relevant information to other cars it can apply to.

phreich

You likely won't find the Service Bulletin I posted on the Honda site anymore -- the one you posted supercedes it. However, they look very similar, and the PDF quality of the first may be better than the later one you found -- go figure....

Thanks for posting the link to the later version.

BTW, does this forum have any way to store files like this and allow pointing to them? I am concerned about the links becoming dead over time.....

ezone

I really don't know.
I DO see dead links here quite often in old posts.

I hotlink in posts here, knowing it only works as long as the links remain good.


When I did a simple search under your year of car, it only returned a single page bulletin from 1991. No significant value IMO.

phreich

I started to take the connectors out of the housing, but, after looking more carefully at the rest of the wires, discovered that most of them were ready to break as well. The design of this connector at the door jamb is very poor, and has been eliminated from later models. It's a known issue -- if repaired back to factory specs, the wires will break again at the connector.

So I decided to eliminate the connectors altogether, and used butt connectors to splice the wires together between the floor harness side and the door harness side of the connectors. The wire sizes seem to have been reduced on the door side harness, but the colors matched up. There are two black only wires can be matched by choosing the different wires sizes (one is larger and one is smaller).

I taped up the bundle of butt connectors and the wire a few inches back on both sides to keep the wires from moving individually, and stuffed them through the hole left in the door by the door harness male connector. I protected the wires from the opening in the door by the tape mentioned earlier (multiple layers used), and by stuffing the rubber boot through the opening as well. The wires now will be able to move when the door is open and shut and shouldn't break any more. Note that I did cut the zip tie on the door harness to allow it be pulled out further from the door when doing the connections. I looked inside the door and determined that it could be left untied without interfering with the window (it's behind the window track), and purposfully left it loose to allow more flexibility when the door opens and closes. The other attachment points on the door will prevent it from moving into any bad positions.....

There is one drawback to my solution -- if the door needs to be removed and taken off the car, the wires will need to be cut because there no longer is a connector at the door jamb. However, it doesn't take that long to put new butt connectors on....

Note, I thought about using "bullet" style connectors instead of butt connectors, but they can work loose especially when wires are moving as is the case when the door opens and closes, and so I went with the butt connectors. Soldering and shrink wrap would have been an okay solution too, but would have taken longer. I double crimped and tested each joint on the butt connectors as I went along -- so they shouldn't come loose.

The power windows, mirrors and door locks are again working! That's my solution to this problem. I hope this helps others who have to deal with this bad connector design.