why I do my own work

[airmike]

My trunk quit working the day I polished it. I guess it didn't like being pampered ..If the trunk wont work then of course the top doesn't either since it stows in there. I bought a tech II a while back just for this type thing. I spent several hours with it hooked up trying to diagnose this problem. I am an untrained rookie with this tool. I decided to take a look in the cubby hole where the pump is located since the trunk problems seem to have appeared soon after the top repair, which included a new pump. I saw a wad of wiring in there that floored me. Why none of it was replaced properly, I don't know. I grabbed a handful of the mess and pulled it out of the well and noticed a light come on or something that got my attention, not sure what exactly, but decided to try the trunk again. Yep hooray it worked. Don't know how to feel about that. Ecstatic that it works now, but quite the opposite feeling that I have that mess in the first place. I don't know which wire made it start working, so now I may get to deal with this again. I will give those connectors a lot of attention, hoping I can find the culprit. As the title states, THIS is one of the reasons I do my own work. I screw up plenty, but I don't get the pay to be a pro, and I REPAIR my screw ups. I would not approve if the car was just some ol junker taken to joe blow down the street, but this isn't some ol junker and that was the dealer.

Bruce I posted this on another forum, but I would like a few pictures from the well where the pump is, if you get a chance. I have 3 connectors that have the push pins that hold the wires in place, but don't know where they attach.

Not sure if you can tell what a mess this is, but these wires are just shoved in the hole.

[Cadillac Jim]

Sometimes a dealer is not the best place to maintain an old car.

I have heard of people who have a dealer that is happy to do oil changes and maintenance on an old Cadillac, so if you have such a dealer and such a relationship, be sure and treasure it, just like any other mutually beneficial relationship.

One thing you *can* do is to draw out the excess wiring and look for a bad connector, possibly a terminal shoved back into the connector housing and not making good contact. A wire broken inside the insulation sometimes causes a problem like that; I once had an electric window stop working in a year-old Corvette because of that in the wire that flexes with the door hinge. The dealer screwed that up so badly I had to have the job re-done at a body shop.

Once you have all the wiring hanging out and the problem fixed, then you can cut each wire and re-splice it, or cut off the excess cable and move the connector, and get a proper repair.

Be sure and take pictures of the Rapunzel wiring in all its flaxen glory and post them here. Send me a PNG or PDF that is at least 2400 X 3000 pixels and I will send you a bright, glossy 8X10" print that you can show your dealer the next time you stop by for a free cup of coffee and a chat with the parts department.

[Bruce Nunnally]

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r190/Caddyinfo/81B9B251-4702-484C-92DB-E69276FD7FA9.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r190/Caddyinfo/7CC094B0-8523-4505-9DEF-C5D899BEDC31.jpg

I am posting a short video as well

[Bruce Nunnally]

<p><embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid144.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr190%2FCaddyinfo%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F2015-08%2F20BE7F2E-8C41-48B3-8CCD-041E59413A9E.mp4&title="></p>

Direct link to video: http://s144.photobucket.com/user/Caddyinfo/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-08/20BE7F2E-8C41-48B3-8CCD-041E59413A9E.mp4.html

[Bruce Nunnally]

This one is properly linked to photobucket so you can click it to access the others and shows what cubby should look like once sorted.

[MrMagoo]

I can't offer help with the wiring, but in relation to your post title....

I'm about to turn 40 in a few days, and until a few months ago, I'd never have imagined working on my own car. I did two sway bar end links on my Accord back in June, and other than the hours it took (and trips to the hardware store for more Dremel wheels) to get the old rusted ones off, I couldn't believe how easy it was compared to what I thought it would be.

The clincher was when I bought my Caddy about a month ago, and a shop quoted me $130 to change the serpentine belt. No way I was letting them do it for that price!

And now, I'm thinking -- hey, I'll actually be able to afford most of the routine maintenance this way!

[Cadillac Jim]

I think that the yellow wire on the "pinned" connector looks flakey.

MrMagoo: If you have access to the serpentine belt and the tensioner and all the pulleys are OK, changing it will take only a few minutes. I once walked across the street and helped a desperate working guy change the serpentine belt on his van. I had to go home and find his engine on the Internet and print out a diagram of the belt, and it took two trips to the auto parts store for the belt and some other item, but he went on his way in time for his next job.

You will need a 1/2" drive ratchet or breaker bar to pull back the tensioner to loosen the belt and to make room to get the new one on. Other than that, you need to check out the car after doing the job. A Goodwrench mechanic has a charge rate on your invoice of over $100 an hour and they use flat-rate manual time estimates for the invoice, not the clock, and the job includes checking out the car when done. That's OK in many situations but if a car is out-of-warranty and you are capable of checking out the car yourself, and no Tech II or other dealer equipment or expertise is needed, then, sure, DIY. Even changing the tennsioner arm, spring, and pulley falls into DIY territory once you have done a few jobs.

[airmike]

Bruce I appreciate that very much! That is just what I needed. FYI, I believe if you don't log out of phot0bucket after posting here we can look at your entire photobucket library, or at least the album these are from. I watched your top go up and down ..etc..

Worked all day and off to give my lame (lately) attempt at playing pool tonight, so hopefully tomorrow I get to put that mess back in place.

[winterset]

I just want to add that i always thought the factory wiring behind the back seat of my '96 always looked like some kids science experiment. The wires are bundled in no order, some wires are taped up, and many are not. They are sticking out, up, and all over the place. Also, the way the relays are held in place by black electrical tape - instead of some kind of factory lock clip. Whenever i worked back there, i closed my eyes, and flipped the rack back up, and hoped for the best. I never had an electrical problem back there though, so looks can be deceiving. I remember under the hood, there was an attempt At the factory to tape up the wires. I never liks the way it looked, and removed all the electrical tape, and thought it better to let the wires roam free in the air which made ot look much cleaner under the hood.

[airmike]

Cadillac Jim, I don't usually take a car to the dealer for anything. Partly I do almost all my own work, and I also have a buddy that is a pretty good mechanic that I lean on a lot. However in this case, I have an extended warranty because EVERYTHING is expensive on this car. Having been on an xlr forum for some time also, it is general consensus to have them only worked on by a xlr certified mechanic. I don't really care for someone to practice/learn on my car and screw it up, and then still have to take it to a dealer. In order to sell an xlr, the dealers had to send a guy to Bowling Green to get educated on them. My dealer sold one and has one of those guys, therefore he got the job. They seemed to get the job done ok, with the exception of the returning the wires to the proper hangers. I wonder if the certified guy left the buttoning up to a helper? or if maybe he is just that kinda guy. I suspect maybe they didn't know how they went back, having looked at my repair manual for days, there is no picture/drawing I can find that shows all those wiring connectors in their proper hangers. I found schematics and end views, but not a routing/hanging view. The xlr guy is about my age and I don't expect he will be working there much longer and then my car will not be there in any case. I bought a tech II for that reason as much as my desire to learn more and do more for myself. I would prefer not to keep an expensive warranty for things I could do.

Thanks to Bruce and his picture I now have it all put back like it belongs and the trunk and top are working perfect!

Bruce I have a picture here for you now. I believe that you have one connector loose and I believe it goes in that hole to the right of the pump reservoir. Looking at the bends in my wires I believe it routes behind the reservoir, above those hydraulic lines. The single red wire is one to my windrestricer, not part of any loom.

[airmike]

Having the xlr finished I decided I had another car needing attention. I polished and polished, but no matter how much I couldn't rub that blue oval off ..at least I keep in inside so the neighborhood won't know I let a Ford in lol

[Cadillac Jim]

One thing that I have accepted after far too many years is that there are a lot of fine cars out there, and the everyone has their own tastes, and that's OK.

I never ruin anyone's day with my CTS-V. As a thing to do, that's just wrong.

There is the occasional unintentional thing, like the time I was cruising through a 270-degree freeway cloverleaf ramp and coming up behind a Mini Cooper - who was playing boy-racer.

I give people with nice cars the nod occasionally, including great Mustangs like yours.