[joetho]

I have a 2005 ext and the passenger power sliding door intermittently started to stop when the door openedapproximately 6". I would then manually open the door therest of the way. Then when closing the door via power it would stop about 6" from close. I went to the dealer with an estimate of $750 to replace the wire harness and motor. When I asked which was the problem the harness or motor I got the "deer in the headlights" and was told both. Not believing them I decided to do some of my own diagnosing. I do have an advantage when dealing with automotive electrical systems because I installed remote starters and alarms for 10 years. Little pat on the back there. It seemed to definitely be some kind of electrical issue. I couldbelieve the motor if there were some kind of limit switch but the problem acts just like typical door harness circuits whena wire fatigues because of repetitive bending. This problem could be diagnosed easily two ways.
1. Swap passenger side for driver side harnesses and see if it worked
2. Use multimeter to test continuity between the ends of the harness.
I opted for number 2 because I didn't want to tear our two harnesses which isn't that difficult but I am lazy. Disconnect the battery. I proceeded to unplug the harness on the car side which is behind plastic panel attached to the pillar between the front seat area and back sear area. I then unplugged the harness on the motor/door side. Put your meter on ohms or continuity and test between both ends of the plugs all wires for continuity. Slide the door shut and open for each wire. There were approximately 8 or 9 wires in the plug as I remember. Most of the wires were smaller and there were 2-3 that were larger gage. The wire that was broke in my circuit was a larger gauge solid black wire. approx. 14gauge. I carefully removed the harness the rest of the way from the car to work on my bench.
The flexible conduit is fastened with "christmas" style pins to the uni body sheet-metal so just pry up. If you don't have a "panel popper" use a pair of wire cutters to pry them up. To disengage it from the door. There is a little black plastic plug/pin thing. Pull it back and push down. Here is where you need to be meticulous if you want to replace the one bad wire. Carefully with a razor blade cut away all tape. Before you do this mark with a paint marker on the harness and special wire protectors where tape started and stopped. This way you can get the harness to lay back in the van correctly. I started by figuring out how to pull apart the special electrical plugs so I could use the ends and completely replace the wire. Just stop here. I got them apart but the problem was the special crimp ends were crimped down so much I started to ruin the end trying to get them off. So just don't do it. You will never find someone who can sellyou these special ends. Instead back up from the plug ends about 2-3" and cut the wire. Use the bad wire to pull a new wire through the flexible wire loom. I was definitely able to see a break in the wire. I almost wasn't able to pull the wire through because of it and got lucky. Don't panic. If it breaks just take your time and some tweezers and get it run through. Solder the new wire to the old ends. Make sure your new wire is cut exactly the same as the old. Add the length of the wire coating you stripped off each end of the plugs though. This way the harness will role and move in the track the way it was intended. Carefully using all of your paint marks realign all of the special looms and tape up. Reinstall and it should work. I suggest taking pictures of the harness in case you get confused putting it back together. Or look at the other side. Good luck. It really only took me about an hour or two to do.