If one welds the door off the car, do they have to remove/disconnect the door module? I think I read this once, but wanted to verify.

I wouldn't want to get caught in the old "birds on a wire" assumption. (Folks are often amazed that birds can rest on high voltage wires without incident- they are not completing the circuit so = safe. I wonder if same is true with that module)
Thanks, John

 

I have been looking into this for another vehicle.
From what I have read it depends on what type of welding you will be doing.
Mig and Tig welding is the worse. High frequency waves can travel back through ground loops in the car back to almost all of the control modules.
I have spent hours researching and still don't have a definitive answer.
- I read that shops weld on vehicle chassis all the time without disconnecting any control modules. But I read that they have grounding straps and a frequency meter where they ground to an "earth ground" outside of the vehicle, and that they also place the welder ground as close as possible to where they are welding. (I haven't been able to find these for purchase, and/or a detailed description of what shops do.
- Most of the postings I have read are split on what to do. Conservative posters say never to mig or tig on a car without disconnecting the ECM, BCM and other modules closest to the weld job. Others write that they have welded without even disconnecting the battery and haven never blown a control module.

In my case I have figured out how to make my welds off the vehicle. But I would still like to know what the minimum protective measures are.
(If it is a hard to get door module, or expensive, I would take the effort to isolate it.) If they are readily available and inexpensive I might go ahead and weld and see what happens.

 

If you are going to the effort of removing the door, it's not really any additional bother to unplug the module. I'm not sure it would really matter, but no harm in taking the additional precaution.

 

Think I'll play it safe. Thanks guys!

John