Broken speaker wire at driver's door hinge

Chris Lovell · 05-29-2006, 07:30 AM

My '88 911 Cab has intermittent speaker cut out on the driver's door. When the door is opened and closed, the speaker cuts in and out a few times. I suspect a few more open and close cycles will result in complete failure. So, this morning I am looking into finding the wire break and repairing.
I am assuming the speaker wire break is in the area between the the door hinges. I am at a loss how to get to this wire to repair. I am thinking this requires removing the front speaker to access the inside of the door and maybe doing something from the footwell side. Any thoughts which will help or keep me out of trouble?
Thanks,
C

RussianBlue · 05-29-2006, 07:38 AM

............... this stuff is minor

Most likely it is the wires right at the back of the speaker coming loose....

... second most likely is the speaker is going bad (for whatever reason)

Otherwise the entire wire from speaker to radio can be replaced relatively easily.

I'd like to explain in detail but remove that speaker first and see what's up.
Consider swapping speakers right to left to help you eliminate speaker vs wiring problem

Report back

Chris Lovell · 05-29-2006, 07:55 AM

Okay. Speaker removal underway. I suspect a lex point break because the speaker necer works whenthe door is closed, and works on and off as the door is opened.
I'll let know you know what find. Thanks for responding.
C

bell · bell's Garage

easiest way to pull a new speaker wire is to find the wire inside the car, cut it leaving as much as possible to pull through the jamb, you want at least a few inches to tape the new speaker wire to the old.
clean the stock wire before taping, i like to tape the stock wire first then stick the new wire to it and tape it to the stock. electrical tape sticks much better to itself that to the stock wire.....all about tape surface area. also make sure it is as "thin" as possible, meaning don't have a large ball of tape/knots.

the second trick is to spray regular armor all on the wire to be pulled through the door.....the more the better imo. the wire will pull right through with minimal effort once you get it past the tight bends, nothing else works like the armor all, i've tried it all

Chris Lovell · 05-29-2006, 12:17 PM

Yep. great advice. I tried pulling the wire from inside the door through both rubber gromets. Of course (there has never ever been a project I have done without complications) the wire quickly broke at the flex point (right in the middle of the door-side gromet, BTW). I then routed another wire though, soldering, used shrink tubing, snaked, and am all set. I think the key is a good lubricant (you used ArmorAll, I used dishwashing detergent) to get the wire sleeve sliding through both grommets and work from the foot well straight through into the door, and do not try to do much through the minimal hinge opening.
Anyway, I all set. Now the terrible stereo is less terrible.
C

murphyslaw1978 · 09-01-2006, 02:35 PM

I have the same car and same problem you have. I have tested the radio, wire to footwell and speaker and found the short to be in the wire from the door to the footwell. I know I need a new wire, but the question I have is - where can I find the original replacement wire? I'm sure I could just make one of my own, but the connector by the footwell is unique and I don't want to hodge-podge some homemade wire together.

My question is this: how did you do it? If you made your own wire, what did you do with the connection by the footwell?

Chris Lovell · 09-02-2006, 01:57 PM

I just used some wire I had around. Seemed like a good gauge and was flexible, not brittle. That probably doesn't help much but it is the truth.
C

911pcars · 09-02-2006, 02:21 PM

"I know I need a new wire, but the question I have is - where can I find the original replacement wire? "

Don't be hung up with a "Porsche, there is no substitute" wire here. Just make it neat and tidy the way the factory did it (or better with proper crimp connectors and heat shrink). Adhering to the factory color code is nice to have, but not necessary for the short length you probably need for the repair. At a minimum, I'd stay away from duplicating the same color wire that's used in the door (power mirror, windows, etc.). BTW, Porsche uses brown as the standard color for electrical grounds.

Sherwood