Removing Interior Trim To Pull Up Carpet?

[vinylcafe]

Hello all,

This is my first post, but I have been lurking around on and off for a couple years!
We inherited a 2000 SE from my father-in-law a number of years ago.
To date it has only 67,000 miles on it!
But it leaks and the usual electrical gremlins have taken over.
I need to get at the splice under the drivers seat and lift the carpet.
Hoping not to remove console.
Once the seat is out, can someone tell me how to remove all the trim?
Did I miss a post? If so just a link would help.
I am talking about the front and rear drivers side sills and the column trim between the front and back doors.
I figure that will get me to the spilce.If more is involved school me.
I do not want to ruin anything, or break clips, etc.
How does all this stuff come off, and is it easy to put back on?
Many thanks for any input..

[00Beast]

You should be able to pull the sill plate and maybe the B-pillar trim and move the carpet back enough to get in there. You might get lucky and be able to get at it through the slit for the seat wiring and stuff after you get the seat out. You shouldn't have to remove the console.

[2003 SSEi]

the carpet is in 2 sections, a front and rear. It is divided underneath the front seats. Either way the front seats, plastic door sill plates and center console must be removed to remove the carpet

[00Beast]

the carpet is in 2 sections, a front and rear. It is divided underneath the front seats. Either way the front seats, plastic door sill plates and center console must be removed to remove the carpet

To fully remove from the car. He's just interested in getting at the splice underneath to fix the corrosion.

[vinylcafe]

Thanks all for your replies!
Can you walk me through removing the necessary trim?
Is it just a matter of getting a slim pry bar under the plastic edges and applying force?
I will have to remove the back door sill trim and the pillar trim at minimum.
I do not want to break any clips or the trim itself, and obviously want it off in good enough condition to replace.
Any insight into proper trim removal techniques much appreciated!

[00Beast]

No, if anything you'll be removing the front door sill trim. That splice should be under the front carpet? The sill plates pull straight up with just your fingers.

[vinylcafe]

10-4
I was under the impression that the splice was about 6 inches back of where the wires come from the floor into the drivers seat.
Is it actually 6 inches forward of that position?
I do feel a lump to the aft under the carpet, perhaps that is something else?

[MKMike]

This link, (taken from the 2000+ Common Problems sticky), has pictures of the location
http://imgur.com/a/ex8w6
To remove the B Pillar trim, after the seat is out, pull back the edges of the ft & rear door seals, then you can get a grip to carefully remove the trim.
There are 6 clips holding it in place and it's best to pull on both edges simultaneously near each clip, if possible.
The B pillar trim is in 2 sections, but they're glued together, so it needs to be removed as 1 piece.
There's one clip near the top of the top piece, one at the center of the top piece and 1 near the bottom of the top piece.
Then, there is one 8 inches below the seam and there are 2 clips 8 inches above the very bottom

The issue that causes the splice to corrode is interior water leaks.
The rubber carpet backing soaks up water like a sponge and often you don't even know the floors are getting drenched.
Best to seal up all the leaks --and there may be a number of them (sunroof tubes, door seals, etc)--and dry out the carpet before putting everything back together.

[redfury]

this is the splice you are going to be after.

This is the location of the wiring behind the drivers seat. It can be accessed through the rear seat carpeting. You'll need to remove the rear seat bottom by lifting it up, and then pulling the plastic trim loose or off the center pillar between the doors ( requires pulling the seal away around the door ). It's one piece all the way to the roof, so be careful not to break the connection where the top and bottom are joined. All of the interior plastic pieces are pressed in place with rectangular posts that taper down to a metal clip, so when you are prying them off, do your best to pull them with even pressure.

As far as splicing the 4 tan wires, you will need to cut back far enough to find good copper again. I had to cut back about 4 inches. You can splice all 4 wires together, so you really only need 2 butt joint connectors, a piece of 18-20 gauge wire and something to seal your connections so they are water proof. I use liquid electrical tape and heat shrink tubing whenever I can find them in my mess of parts.