Kahdmus

Today I went to replace my passenger door (right handside) interior light switch in the door jamb. I very carefully unscrewed and pulled out the old switch. I then carefully proceeded to clamp the wire and remove the switch. I successfully removed the old and installed the new and was just about to screw it all back together when disaster struck.......the wire snapped as I undid the clamp and is now lost inside the hole!

No amount of fishing around could apprehend the lost wire. I figured I could probably access via the wheel well so I removed the wheel and the liner but found to my dismay that I could not access the cavity from here nor could I access it from the interior panel or inside the luggage bay.

Can anyone advise? I'm sure I can't be the first to experience this bit of bad luck...or can I?


--H


PS. if bogiwhatsis still slums it over on this board, please...no rude remarks, sarcasm or caustic comments! :P

jimq

I did the same thing on my 911S. After spending a lot of time trying to fish it out I finally gave up and sold the car The bad part is there isnt really any slack in the wire which makes it even worse. Sorry I couldnt help

Kahdmus

No, there is no slack whatsoever and it is a total PITA! Thanks for the empathy Jim!

Anyone know a way to access the cavity or any handy dandy hints for finding and securing the end of the wire?

John Boggiano

Oh dear. So many times I've worried about doing that very thing!

Hope you get it sorted, Howard.

P.S. Sorry - I know when we post something like this, every time there's a reply we expect it to be a solution...

Kahdmus

Ah..there's a reply! JB has the answer.....WAIT!

Thanks John. What sucks about being afflicted with this particular syndrome is that it only strikes when you have really been very careful and taken painstaking steps to avoid the very pitfall that then bites you on the bum!

Hope all is well mate. Best to you,

--H

John Boggiano

How about (very tricky to get at) via the instruments, H? Maybe if you take one out (the tacho might be the best as although it's further away, you might be able to find someone with a very thin arm...) - there must be access into there somehow and that seems to be the only place left.

Edit: Oh - it's the other side isn't it? Well how about taking the glovebox liner out and having a look-see?

John Boggiano

OK, let's get inventive now.

If you can locate the wire at the light itself, you could splice it and run a new one down the front drain tube for the sunroof. Assuming that you can locate the latter and that you can feed a wire inside without making it leak (spot the next problem... ). This tube exits from further down the same panel as the light switch, so it kind of gets to the right area, though you'd still need some ingenuity to make it all work out.

P.S. I only just spotted the PS in your original post. Ha ha ha.

Kahdmus

I don't 'think' you can get too it that way can you? I did try from the panel that covers the alarm (where the hammer plugs into) but its not possible I don't think. I had honestly thought the wheel well was the way to go until I proved myself wrong!

Maybe its just not accessible!?!

I am sure that someone must have had a similar experience (syndrome or nay) and found an easier solution?!

Now we ARE getting inventive!

haha...I thought that's why you had responded! Too funny. You rock sir!!!!

Indycam

Bore O scope ?

Kahdmus

..a pun? Not sure I follow....

John Boggiano

Now you've got me at it - seeing a post from you, I thought you'd found a way!

Bearclaw

That's the first thing I thought of - basically a laparoscope with a grabber at the end. Some shop has to have an industrial version - or do you have any surgeon friends?

Kahdmus

Anyone got one that could be borrowed and tested for this application?

foxford

If you can see it, you can probably snag it. Do you have a dentist's mirror
and a flashlight? Blindly fishing about may have moved the wire from view,
but I'll bet you can bounce some light in there and have a look. Maybe if
you snap a picture of the opening, other's can visualize the task better.

I'm going out to look in my car for reference.

Fred's 964

Howard, I just now changed my driver side switch. I used a hemostat to keep it from falling in. It definately has no slack. I don't know if it helps, but the wire goes up from the switch, not down. I'll bet it enters the post from behind the dash. The wire was too short to even tell what color it is. I soldered a 4" piece of wire onto it to make the installation easier, then put a piece of shrink tube on the splice. If you locate the wire behind the dash, add a short piece to it before you thread it into the hole.