348 - Door release cable and electrical problem solved ... $10. | FerrariChat

348 Door release cable and electrical problem solved ... $10.

Discussion in '348/355' started by 348steve, Sep 30, 2020.

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  1. 348steve

    348steve Karting

    Jul 18, 2018
    149
    Full Name:
    Stephen G
    Thought I would share an interesting thread about the 348 door release cable, how it caused me from being able to open the door, how I replaced it for $10 and how the fix actually solved an "electrical problem".

    I had started other threads on the various situations as they occurred but thought it would be good idea to bring it all together here in case others have similar issues.

    It all started one day when my battery was dead after an outing at Home Depot. I had a feeling it may have been the notorious door wiring harness as I had not restored the passenger harness as I did the drivers side. My thought was specifically directed to the potential of the door lock wiring as my wife had recently said she heard the door lock mechanism triggering during our ride? After getting the car home and the battery all charged up, I pulled the fuse for the door locks until I had time to dig further. It seamed to work.

    Two weeks later, also in a parking lot, the now manually locked passenger door could not be opened. In fact the door lock pull knob would not budge, it was stuck, and thus the door could not be opened through any means, inside or out. I tried all the tricks on the forum, reaching down through the space between the glass, etc..etc.. but in the end I had to resort to removing the inner panels while the door was closed to get in there and release it.

    With the door finally opened I removing the entire latch mechanism and tried for a long time to diagnose the problem. I was finally able to deduce that the inner door latch cable was partially seized. This caused the cable to partially keep the inner door lever on the latch mechanism minutely swayed off its end travel, which causes the entire latch mechanism to loose all function once the door is locked. I have a video of this which shows exactly what I mean if anyone is interested. But in essence the fact is this ... if the cable from the inner door release is even slightly taught on the mechanism, the entire assembly will lock you out of the car, inside and out. It will also indicate to the electrical solenoid that the door lock is not in an open or shut position and will intermittently cause it to trigger, thus draining the battery.

    This was good news in that all I needed to do was buy a simple cable assembly. The bad news was there were none available and looking through the forums I could see I was not the only one needing one. There was one supplier noted, but the silly cable would have arrived at my door for approximately $300 all in, taxes and duties.

    So I simply made a new one using the actual bits that came off the original. The key was realizing that you can actually remove the end hooks from the original cable, pieces which are highly unique. This is accomplished by carefully opening the crimped end using a vice or other "gentle" means. See photo below.

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    Aside from that little trick all you need to do is procure cable, outer casing and casing ends from a bike shop (less than $10 bucks for all, and of much higher quality than the old Italian parts). Cut the cable to the exact length of the original, replace the ends by crimping them back on the cable and of course re-use the original vernier adjuster. More picture below.

    So there you have it. A simple cable failure that caused an "electrical problem" and locked me out of the car in a bad way!

    Hope this helps anyone in a similar position.

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    ernie, Ferrarium, jqpd99 and 4 others like this.
  2. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,675
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    What a great write up, thanks for taking the time. Unlike some things on fchat, things like this is what makes this forum great.
     
    348steve likes this.
  3. allandwf

    allandwf Formula Junior

    Aug 27, 2011
    267
    Scotland UK
    Thanks for that, as I am having issues not being able to open the passenger door from the inside. I have picked up bits and pieces to do the job including the cable, which Maranello parts in the UK tracked down for me. I just need to get round to doing it.
     
    348steve likes this.
  4. Ferrarium

    Ferrarium F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 28, 2018
    5,624
    Central NJ
    Full Name:
    Eric
    on the inside of the door where the ldoor latche is there is an adjuster so you can tighten up the cable much like you would a bicycle brake and take up the slack and then you can open the door it's usually only when the cable is snaped that you need to replace it.


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    allandwf and Qavion like this.
  5. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 19, 2001
    22,574
    The Brickyard
    Full Name:
    The Bad Guy
    Nice work!
    Thanks for sharing.
     
    348steve likes this.

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