door light wire lost into abyss

[michael pagano]

I was replacing the switch in the door jam today that turns the courtesy lights on and off when you open the door and lost the wire. When I was installing the new one the wire snapped and went missing into the abyss the door jam area is. How can i retrieve that wire to reconnect to the switch. I tried reaching into that area but all seem blocked and the carpet doesn't seem removable, any ideas?

[moneymanager]

I would think your only hope is to get a flashlight and a piece of wire with a hook on the end and hunt.
Or go to the other end of the wire and try to figure how you'd replace the whole thing. Possibly you can wiggle it at the other end and get a clue as to its location.

[LJ851]

The same thing happened to me, i remember manipulating the wire from under the dash while shining a light in the hole you are trying to get it out. It was not as difficult as i thought it was going to be. good luck !

[Poor-sche Lover]

Yep, it's a trick, but I used a wire coat hanger with a hook bent into it. If I remember right, I think I even magnetized the end of it to help me find the wire. Be patient, and good luck.

[tcar]

You can get a cable 'grabber' tool at auto parts store... not easy...

Magnet won't help at all, it's copper wire.

[bfunke]

Yup try the coat hanger and the grabber. IIRC you may be able to remove the kick panel and get to it. I used some tuner cleaner from Radio Shack on my old switch and then a dab of dielectric grease and that brought it back to life.

[michael pagano]

ill give it a go tomorrow, thanks.

[schumicat]

you can access the wire from under the dash. you have to get your head under the dash to see it near the door jamb. you may be able to get the switch back up to the hole by pushing the wire around.

[86 911 Targa]

I made up one of these.

[rokemester]

Kind of a long story but I lost the wire on the passenger side of my 87 Targa. Pulled the switch and there was nothing on the other end. BUMMER. For future reference there is ONLY one way to tackle this problem. First of all the wire doesn't drop down into the abyss, it feeds from above. My natural instinct was to think the wire would drop down, and that's where I started fishing around with a wire. Did that for a while and the fishing wire broke and then I had a loose piece of fish wire in the door frame. I'm going backwards fast!

After checking out this thread I made a trip to the Harbor Freight (purveyor of all cheap tools that you use once in a blue moon). I found a package of two flexible neon lights and some magnets, things are getting desperate.
The light was really useful...for fishing out the old fish wire. I was able to place it into the switch hole and shine into the door channel...and there she was. I was able to fish it out with a coat hanger. Next the primary objective, the switch wire. The real key here was to remove the carpet panel to open access to a hole that leads to the door jam channel.

It actually is pretty open on the passenger side and it was pretty straightforward to fish a coathanger through the door switch into and through the opening, tape to the wire to the switch wire, and pull through. Success!!!!



Got the switch cleaned up with a dremmel knock off from HF and we were good to go. Thanks for all the great insights from this forum. Couldn't have done it without you.

[Dsroth10]

I am attempting to do this on my car.... and came across your post... any tips to getting the rubber nipple back on?

[917_Langheck]

Turn it inside out then overlap the rubber lip over the rim in one place, hold that tight, then manipulate the rest around the rim.