Here's how I managed to replace the door seal spring/wire. By the way, this took two people to accomplish. You'll need a wide blade common screwdriver too. I used a stubby.
1. Lubricate the gasget where it slides over the front tabs and in the groove that the spring/wire fits. This was the key to my success with this.
2. With the spring/wire removed, slip the seal over the tabs around the door so it is fully seated. This was relatively easy to do but make sure it's fully seated all the way around.
3. Person one places the spring into the groove at the bottom of the seal. (Notice that the groove is different where the spring fits.
4. Person one holds the spring firmly in place for the duration of this operation. Next he starts sliding the wire near the spring into the groove up past the door hinge. He should be able to get about two-thirds of the way around before it gets hard to go any farther.
5. Person two now slides the blade of the screwdriver between the front of the groove and the wire while person one guides the wire on into the groove. Person two slides the blade along the wire lifting the front lip of the groove rubber letting the wire into the groove. Person one slides his finger along behind keeping the wire in place once it has slid into the groove.
6. Continue this until the wire is in place all the way around.
It may be possible for one person to do this by holding the spring in place with one hand while sliding the screwdriver blade along the wire with the other, but with two people it took us about five minutes. We had already spent half an hour trying other methods. When checking the internet for answers one person said it was like installing a bicycle tire. I remembered that we always used soapy water to make the tire irons slide easier.
I hope this works for you.
Peace,
Rob:-]
Rob:-]
August 2008
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