Door pillar wiring connectors - stuck!

[cheesebox]

I'm struggling to take apart the connectors in the door A-pillars. Various technical guides tell you to push the two lugs together and pull on the wiring. But nothing seems to budge, even with a bit of levering with a screwdriver. I think if I pull any harder the wires will strip out of the pins! Am I missing something? Any advice on getting it apart?

[DaveD]

give it a soak in wd40 ...but thats how mine came out...it took a bit of pursuading though

[Martinaston]

Pull the white rectangular bit of plastic out first

[cheesebox]

Thanks for the tips guys guys, will give it another go tomorrow.

[Brianmoooore]

For an akward one, I remove the rectangular piece of white plastic, hold the two lugs inwards, and grab the plastic in the middle where the rectangle fits with a pair of pliers. I then pull hard.
The plastic stands up to the abuse of being gripped and pulled by pliers suprisingly well.

[robmpulse]

yes, it is a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS.....but the directions above will work.

[cheesebox]

Brilliant, thanks for the encouragement. Everything I'd read so far made it sound like a piece of piss, which it obviously isn't!

[Brianmoooore]

When you put it back together after cleaning everything up, give everything, especially the sockets, a good coat of SILICON grease.

[cheesebox]

Sorry guys, what's this rectangular piece of plastic you're talking about - can't see anything that fits this description. Here's what I'm looking at (from e30zone central locking tech guide):


Cheers

[DaveD]

you've lost yours ...it should clip in the middle...have you soaked the edges of the plug in penetrant/ wd40 if you squeeze the lugs and pull the wires it should come apart,,,,try a bit of prising with a scewdriver

[rickk]

Yeah, they suck... the pins corrode and effectively rust both parts together. Combine that with the plastic becoming brittle and you can have a lot of 'fun' trying to remove it.

You can try dissolving some of the rust with an electrical contact cleaner, and but there's really not much of a technique apart from swearing a lot

Good luck,
Rick

[eko]

if you look indide the plug you will see a hole in it.
In the past i used a screwdriver bent to a hook shape at the end,located it in the hole and got it out that way,plenty of WD40 too!

HTH

[Brianmoooore]

I've never failed to get one of these plugs apart by grabbing the piece of plastic in the middle that forms three holesin a line with a pair of pliers and pulling, while holding in the tabs that you have arrowed.