Advice needed on feeding cable through door please

[davekmoore]

My iPhone/tomtom cradle sits in the quarter light on the front of the driver's door. The power cable to it is still ok but the audio cable from inside the door to inside the cabin has failed somewhere and needs replacing. The door panel is off and all I need now is some advice please on how to feed the replacement cable from the door, through the concertina'd rubber thingo, and into the cabin near the fuse box. Is it a bent coat hanger or something more subtle to help avoid damaging other cables or the rubber thingo?

[KevGoat]

Ah yeah, this one ...

Only way I found was the trusty coat hanger, but was a PITA ... just fed it slowly mm x mm through the tubing. Once through, it was still hard to pull through and I recall thinking I was going to rip all the wires apart to get the new one through.

Maybe someone knows a way, but can't recall ever finding any decent "how to" anywhere ...

Good luck

[davekmoore]

Wondering about cable ties?

[Smacca]

I've had the pleasure of this exact experience on my NA when installing new door speakers and wiring. Kev's right - it is a PITA!

With my NA I found it was much easier to first pull the concertina tubing away from both the door and the A pillar. With the tube off at both ends I found it now a lot easier to feed the new wire through gently with a coat hanger or similar. The factory wiring still runs through the tube and this limits how far you can move it away from the door jamb, but at least now the tube can be temporarily straightened from its original S-shape when installed. Once you've run the wire through the A pillar hole, tubing and door hole, just pop the tubing back into place at both ends.

Hope this helps...

[Lokiel]

See:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=369276
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?p=7334038
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?90091-How-to-pull-Front-door-speaker-wire
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=421153
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=281235
http://www.mikewalsted.com/bosectomy.html

[davekmoore]

Great advice. Thanks. Scarily, some of these posts involve removing the door.

[hks_kansei]

if you do remove the door make sure you have a friend with you.

The job is easy enough, only 4 bolts from memory, but you'll need an extra pair of hands to hold the door in place while you start off the bolts when putting it back on the car

[bruce]

I look at it and it a super tight fit. I can only suggest patience and a bit of lube.

[davekmoore]

By lube, do you mean beer?

[davekmoore]

Fortunately the people who installed the original cabling put the high quality cable with the choke on it mostly in the door so I was able to trace the fault to the last piece of surprisingly cheap and nasty cable within the door and just replace and reinforce that with better cable. Pandora can now continue.

[Lokiel]

:
Pandora can now continue.

Is that what you've renamed your car to?

[Mr Morlock]

radio installers auto elect and mechanics have their methods. My gut feel would be something flexible but strong enough to push and pull- a cable tie of suitable length might do the trick - also welding wire which is pretty supple and thin may be a go as well- a coat hanger is not so flexible.

[davekmoore]

:
Pandora can now continue.

Is that what you've renamed your car to?

Interweb radio. Plays through the iPhone cradle to the head unit.

Car will always be BARMY. Nothing to do with the cricket. Entirely to do with my odd state of mind (if any).

[taminga16]

I find that a length of HD brush cutter line is perfect, and I use hair conditioner as a lubricant. (Smiles and waits for the hairdresser jokes).
Greg.