[Closed] Advice on the best way to splice some wires.

what could go wrong?

[img] ?12%2F06%2F2011%2017%3A44%3A06%3A725[/img]

Not sure on this but I do have the same problem on my zafira. I was thinking of going to the scrappy and cutting the loom out and the rejoining it probably by soldering and heat shrinking. I would also suggest to add silicone before shrinking to improve water sealing.

I don't know the layout of the various wiring looms in the Zafira so can't offer any specific advice but i've had to do a similar repair on my neighbours 04 plate jag where the wires pass through the front drivers door jam into the door skin as he had a similar problem with the wires getting pinched to such an extent they eventually snapped/broke.

I traced all the wires back to the loom entering underneath the dash/front right footwell area and spliced in with a soldering iron/very flexible coated wire (correct grade for application)/suitable heatsink sleeving to cover soldering joint and then cut the loom and partly soldered my new wires all onto the old wire loom leading into the door - i removed the door card and inner membrane and located the wires inside the door and pulled them all through with the partly soldered new wires attached and then detached them and correctly soldered them onto the wires running to each component in the door ensuring i had fitted the heatsink tubing onto them first.

Quite a convoluted way of doing it but at least i now i will never have to repair it ever again, all in it took about 3-4 hours to do as it was extremely awkward to get access without dismantling half the dash.

I'd solder them, personally.

Chocblocks?

Solder and shrink sleeve from Maplins. And protect the bendy bit with sleve as well.

Cheers for input so far folks and I am looking at the Maplin site for the necessary bits.

I am thinking of investing in one of those Butane soldering pens/irons, is this a good or bad idea? in terms of right tool for the job I mean.

Regarding the butane soldering irons do not buy a cheap one as the heating element's are not as well regulated/lack of temp control and the gas cartridge will need constant filling - i basically rewired my old Mk2 Golf when i rebuilt it last year and i bought [url= http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=145942 ]this facom model[/url], most of my other mechanics tools are facom so yeah...i'll admit i'm a tool tart but it is a joy to use, i guess it may be a bit overkill for your needs so perhaps something [url= http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/weller-wp3eu-butane-gas-powered-soldering-iron ]like this weller[/url] would be more suitable

I have one of the maplin soldering pens it is very good, easy to use and ideal in hard to reach places. Careful where you point it if using the mini blow torch end the flame is hard to see in bright sunlight I used it for a similar car loom repair as well as heat shrink. I use it in preference to electric. They have gone up in price loads since i got mine though.

I used to use the Maplin-style gas soldering pens to do wire-jointing and heat-shrinking - they're great, but it's a bit sketchy in tight spaces.

I eventually caved and bought a proper gas heat-shrink gun with reflector that just takes normal disposable lighters. This is a lot safer if you're working near lots of other wires as it's less likely to set the rest of the wires on fire while you're heating the shrink tubing.

Thanks, some useful advice which I will take note of.

I have just bodged a splice in for now to get the door lock working but I fear the design is fundamentally flawed because of the constant articulation of the wires in the loom. Having had a good look there are a number of wires where many of the strands have fractured and the insulation is split.

I think I will periodically need to repeat this process unless I can improve on the existing set up in some way. 🙁

Solder and shrink sleeve from Maplins. And protect the bendy bit with sleve as well.

This. It's not difficult, just be sure that you get a clean solder join and all of it is shrink wrapped nicely with a lighter.

Our zafira did that, only the way the wires shorted meant that the door still locked, but if you pulled the outside door handle on that door when it was locked, the whole car unlocked.

Anyway, I soldered the snapped wires and cut a bit out of the middle of the rubber boot to relieve the tension a bit. Been fine ever since (3 years ago)

I believe there is a repair section you can buy too.

[img] http://solutions.3m.co.uk/3MContentRetrievalAPI/BlobServlet?lmd=1332246721000&assetId=1319223613831&assetType=MMM_Image&blobAttribute=ImageFile [/img]

Scotchlock connectors are great, i'm never using choc blocks again.

[url= http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M/en_GB/ElectricalMkts/ElectricalSupplies/products/scotchlok-wire-connectors/ ]Clicky[/url]

Sorry for dragging this up but I've just finished fixing mine and it was a bit of a bugger! About 10 wires had snapped leaving about 10mm lengths of cable in the multiplug. There was also damage inside the rubber boot!. Long story short, it took me about an hour with heat shrink and solder to rejoin it all and I'm reasonable with a soldering iron!. My advice would be to get a plug from a scrappy with plenty of cable and re do it all. There is very little room so you will need to heat shrink it all. Oh and yes my door now works as it should!

Through crimps.