To clean stranded wires before soldering you can use 99.9% pure IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and a Kim wipe. Before soldering you should use a non-insulated crimp butt splice (either barrel or tang) to mechanically hold the wires together. Wire connections should not rely on solder only (although I have only seen one fail and this was clearly due to vibration). The tang style is attached to the wires with a connector pin crimper. The Tang butt splice is very compact, much more so than twisting the wires together. Soldering stranded wires together without a butt splice is way to fat. The go to flux would be RMA liquid flux (do not have to clean the flux off after soldering). The solder wire would be Eutectic Tin-Lead. If you want a very robust high temp repair you can use stranded silver coated copper wire (MIL spec) with a Teflon jacket. The Teflon jacket will not melt when soldering. The Teflon jacket is also very thin (but durable), high heat (it is used inside the transmission) and impervious to virtually any liquid (oil, road salt spray, road calcium magnesium acetate spray, anti-freeze, etc.) underneath a car. With the Silver coated wire I like to use solder with 2% silver.
That's a mean looking car with a weird problem. Great diagnostic and thought process! That chewing pattern in the wires doesn't look like normal rodent bites. This car had such weird problems, that the window problem could also be weird :-) Or just water intrusion.Very interesting video!
Really top shelf work on the wiring repair, great job! What is / where’d you get that slick looking black cloth wiring loom that you wrapped he wire bundle in when you finished it up? And thanks for the video, it helps us all learn and improve our skills.
Hey Jake. If some work was done on valve cover gaskets there is a chance that some critical grounds in the ignition circuits were not re connected! I have seen some euro cars lose ECM function (ignition driver failures) when those grounds are forgotten! I am not sure how long the ECMs will last with that kind of issue. Great job on the diag so far...
Theres a TSB about door module software causing window issues. It has to do with eronious motor temperature readings. I've seen it numerous times on one or even all 4 windows.
i go to salvage yards and cut off old wiring harnesses and cut into 24" pieces where when i splice i can most of the time match size and color where the next time it will be easy for whoever works on it.
Pull cam sensor connector, see if oil is in wire connector. Mercedes cars have issue where oil leaks inside cam control and position sensors wicking up harness causing issues notably with oxygen sensors. Also check connector at ECU for oil. I cleaned mine and put new sensors and dielectric grease in plugs.
I know a lot of people are in love with these European cars. But as someone doing electrical diagnostics, they make me sick. Everything about them is made to make you work harder. I simply don't work on European cars anymore, no exceptions.
I really enjoy watching your video and how you pay attention to the details. Keep up the good work.
Awesome case study, i love to watch your gears rolling around in your head!!!
Nice vid Jake glad too see you figured out what happened nothing drives me crazier than unintentionally fixing a problem and not knowing what I did
I dont know why but they put the same connector for both actuators that is crazy, Great video thank for sharing😀
To clean stranded wires before soldering you can use 99.9% pure IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and a Kim wipe. Before soldering you should use a non-insulated crimp butt splice (either barrel or tang) to mechanically hold the wires together. Wire connections should not rely on solder only (although I have only seen one fail and this was clearly due to vibration). The tang style is attached to the wires with a connector pin crimper. The Tang butt splice is very compact, much more so than twisting the wires together. Soldering stranded wires together without a butt splice is way to fat.
The go to flux would be RMA liquid flux (do not have to clean the flux off after soldering). The solder wire would be Eutectic Tin-Lead.
If you want a very robust high temp repair you can use stranded silver coated copper wire (MIL spec) with a Teflon jacket. The Teflon jacket will not melt when soldering. The Teflon jacket is also very thin (but durable), high heat (it is used inside the transmission) and impervious to virtually any liquid (oil, road salt spray, road calcium magnesium acetate spray, anti-freeze, etc.) underneath a car. With the Silver coated wire I like to use solder with 2% silver.
That's a mean looking car with a weird problem. Great diagnostic and thought process! That chewing pattern in the wires doesn't look like normal rodent bites. This car had such weird problems, that the window problem could also be weird :-) Or just water intrusion.Very interesting video!
please keep up the videos, they are awesome
Really top shelf work on the wiring repair, great job! What is / where’d you get that slick looking black cloth wiring loom that you wrapped he wire bundle in when you finished it up? And thanks for the video, it helps us all learn and improve our skills.
Hey Jake. If some work was done on valve cover gaskets there is a chance that some critical grounds in the ignition circuits were not re connected! I have seen some euro cars lose ECM function (ignition driver failures) when those grounds are forgotten! I am not sure how long the ECMs will last with that kind of issue. Great job on the diag so far...
great video as always man .. good job ,top diag
Legitstreetcars just built one of these! Fun stuff!
Theres a TSB about door module software causing window issues. It has to do with eronious motor temperature readings. I've seen it numerous times on one or even all 4 windows.
great video thanks for sharing
what the nice video . great job
Interesting. Plugged in backwards. That'll definitely have you chasing your tail.
Nice one!
you need to listen to the Kenny Rogers song Gambler because you don't know when to walk away
great video tks
nice soldering job, Was there a cover missing on the underside, If so i think it might be one I would be looking to replace if it was mine. 👍👍
i go to salvage yards and cut off old wiring harnesses and cut into 24" pieces where when i splice i can most of the time match size and color where the next time it will be easy for whoever works on it.
Pull cam sensor connector, see if oil is in wire connector. Mercedes cars have issue where oil leaks inside cam control and position sensors wicking up harness causing issues notably with oxygen sensors. Also check connector at ECU for oil. I cleaned mine and put new sensors and dielectric grease in plugs.
Hey is that the one I just fixed? 😆
👍🏻👍🏻
have you seen the rodent proof tape that Honda makes Yes Honda has a rodent proof tape $40.00 roll
looked like the wiring diagram showed you which connector was which. you never know what you might find when someone else was there before you.
Almost looks like stretched chain.
I know a lot of people are in love with these European cars. But as someone doing electrical diagnostics, they make me sick. Everything about them is made to make you work harder. I simply don't work on European cars anymore, no exceptions.
Just what I thought, it's broke.