Driver's door wiring boot

[MontanaAndy]

Hello All. I'm "renovating" a '96 Eddie Bauer I just picked up at an estate sale. I am not getting power to the master window switch. I do have power to the door locks. Does anyone know how to get access to the wiring inside the boot at the front of the door? After reading around it seems that it is fairly common to find a wire break there. I have loosened the top edge of the boot, but cannot get it to move far enough down to expose the wires enough to find out if there is a break. so does anyone know if there is a better way to get access? Thanks!

 

[BKennedy]

The plug is under the kick panel. Check that first.

 

[CDW6212R]

The common point the wires break is on the truck side inside the rubber boot you see in the door jamb. Use a 10mm socket to loosen the connector bolt on top of that large assembly. Then the lower section that goes into the kick panel will be free, and you can begin to hunt for broken wires.

The window power wire is blue/black, mine broke last Winter the first time. I had to add a section when it broke again, to reduce the amount the original wires are twisting. I'll eventually remove that section from the truck(parking brake assembly has to come out), and fix them properly.

Take your time repairing any wiring there, a new crimp/soldered joint will be less flexible than the original wire. So be very careful of how you route, lay the wiring back in there, so it can still rotate/flex well. Good luck,

 

[MontanaAndy]

Thanks for the input... I will pull that connector in the morning and get after it. I'm up to hope this is going to be a good little winter rig, here in the mountains. I still have a couple of issues to fix (suspension and 4x4 actuation) before winter sets in. It's my first ford newer than the early eighties, and I have to say, so far, I like it...

 

[koda2000]

Tip: After separating the barrel connector halves, remove the driver's door (just four 13mm bolts) to give yourself room to work inside the boot. Removing the door is very easy and there's little-to-no adjustment when putting the door back on, so that's easy too.

Snip the wire-tie from the boot and just peel it back to access the wires. Just use a regular wire-tie to reinstall and seal the boot when you're done. It is not unusual to find a broken wire(s) inside the boot. Opening and closing the driver's door a million times over the years eventually takes its toll.

 

[MontanaAndy]

I pulled that connector this morning, but did not immediately find a break. Couldn't spend too much time at it, as I had morning chores and a "swing shift" this afternoon. I plan to pull the kick panel, tomorrow, and see if I have continuity through that connector before I go farther. That will tell me if I have to go further upstream or pull off the door... Again, Thanks to all....

 

[koda2000]

I pulled that connector this morning, but did not immediately find a break. Couldn't spend too much time at it, as I had morning chores and a "swing shift" this afternoon. I plan to pull the kick panel, tomorrow, and see if I have continuity through that connector before I go farther. That will tell me if I have to go further upstream or pull off the door... Again, Thanks to all....

Tip: To determine where along a wire you're losing power a good hack is to stick a sewing pin through the insulation and test with your VOM. That way you don't have to strip insulation or cut any wires.

 

[MontanaAndy]

The puzzle continues: I pulled the inner kick panel, found the proper wire and found continuity all the way through the door pass-through, to the terminal for the power wire on the switch panel. At the same time, I could NOT find a 12v signal anywhere along that wire. So, today I started pulling dash pieces to see if I can get decent access to the relays above the accelerator pedal, just left of the console. Could they have made that any more IN-accessible? At least for an old guy like me, at 6ft tall and XL shoulders! HA! Then I removed the radio to access the body control module. I have wiring diagrams to study, tonight to see if I can find where power comes in to the unit, and where it goes out to the switches and relays. Here is where I have to admit to being old school. Reading schematics and chasing electrons isn't my favorite sport. I'm fixing to run a search for threads on testing the BCM, and if anybody has any good ideas on testing that or other things to check, I would appreciate it!
To re-cap... No voltage to switch panel. I do have continuity from the wire under the internal kick panel to the switches, and all switches seem to be operating normally. I have checked good all fuses in the dashboard panel and in the power distribution panel under the hood... Thanks again....

 

[CDW6212R]

The window power all goes through the blue/black wire, and all ground goes through the one large black wire, in the LF door. The power comes from the dash wiring, the relay for it should be in the relay box above the accelerator pedal area, to the right of the column. That's called an accessory delay relay, when you turn the key off, and don't open the doors, you can still operate the windows for a while.

 

[MontanaAndy]

Puzzle solved! I stopped on the way home, tonight and spoke with the previous owner's nephew. He told me there was one fuse pulled because the interior lights won't shut off if it's in. Upon checking my wiring diagrams, I saw that fuse, no. 27, controlled the accessory delay relay. Plugged in a 10 amp fuse, and viola, windows worked. But that points to a failed battery saver relay, I think. Does anyone have an image or diagram that shows which relay is which inside that panel? Is there anything else anyone can think of that it might be? Again, thanks for your input...

 

[CDW6212R]

That's good, and quick. The relay is fine for sure, the lights staying on won't be the relay.

With the interior lights staying on, shut the doors and hatch. Then one at a time, open and close each door. There should be a chime made when each door(and hatch) is opened. If there is no noise, then most likely the latch for that door is not working properly. The latch isn't triggering as fully shut, to shut off the lights. Check the door strikers for each door and the two for the hatch. Those often are broken or missing, at 20 years old, the plastic bushing is very brittle.