rear hatch wiring, 525 touring

[Bruce Kennett]

all,

i have a 1992 wagon, bought it in april, so haven;t yet gone through a winter. when i open the rear door, i can see the wires in upper left channel are not just frayed, they are fully parted. the central locking doesn't work, and i imagine the rear window defogger doesn;t work. wires on right side are intact. rear wiper works.

so . . . here's my question: can i get away with a spliced repair here? replacing the harness element is certainly the thing to do long term, but i don;t have time or funds to do that right now. i look at the disposition of the wires, and where they have to go when the door closes, and i wonder about something stiff right at the point where the original wires frayed and separated.

has anyone done this repair? i'm thinking that instead of using a rigid connector into which i shove and crimp the existing wire stubs, i may try to weave a running splice with the wire strands, flow in a tiny amount of solder to pin things together but preserve flexibility, tape it carefully and hope it holds.

thoughts? warnings?

thanks,

bruce

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Slide @ 20mm of heat shrink tubing on each line, interweave @ 6-8 mm of stripped wire and solder them back together, slide the tubing down over each repair and heat.

Re warp the harness with tape.

Then sing Deutschland Uber Alles

[Ross]

I suggest splicing inside the hatch and under the headliner both so the less flexible repair isn't asked to bend with each opening of the hatch. There is silicone insulated wire available that is super flexible.
My touring hasn't suffered this yet but I expect it will after reading about everyone else's failures. The double splice is my plan. Plus it is an invisible repair.

[Bruce Kennett]

There is silicone insulated wire available that is super flexible.

where does one get this? thanks ross, bruce