About a week ago the power windows quit on our '99 Fartster, so while I had it in for a regular lube, oil and filter, tranny flush etc. I had the wrench look at that.
There was no juice to the switch panel in the drivers' door, so he started back-tracking the wiring to find out why. While he was jiggling the harness as it goes from the door through the door frame smoke started pouring out from the kick-panel next to the drivers' leg.
If he hadn't been quick disconnecting the battery we'd have probably lost the car. With the kick panel off you could see where the harness had been chafing on a sharp edge of sheet metal to the extent that it had worn through the insulation on about 4 wires. A substantial portion of the wiring there has melted down and is now replaced.
There were no signs of either the wiring harness or the sheet metal ever having been chafe-protected in there, so presumably the potential hazard is there with all the '99 Foresters and perhaps others.
I was lucky in having it smoke itself while in the shop. Could have been a real problem a long way from home or even in my own garage.
KH