Patching the harness, methods?

[RoadWarrior222]

Hi guys,

While digging into my voyager, I found a chafe in the harness where the insulation has rubbed through and a couple of wires have gone green and rotten :(

I am not sure what is a good way to fix this, because there's not a lot of loose wire to pull up to be able to splice them nicely. Not sure how far along the wires are rotted yet either, whether it's just what's visible, or whether it's crept 6 inches each way.

I do have soldering irons, but one is too powerful (90W) and the other two are too weak to work outside in any kind of breeze (15W and 25W) so soldering it would be a PITA... if I can pull enough together to overlap by 1/4" or so while cutting about 1/2" out...

I also have some butt splice crimp connectors, now those look like they'd work better when the wire is tight, because I don't need so much spare wire. However I have doubts about their durability, they're going to go bad real quick if damp gets in right? Wondering if you can fill 'em with silicone grease to stop that and if it works.

A third option is wire nuts, but I fancy their chances long term less than the crimps, and they're bulky and will need probably as much loose wire as soldering.

So how does anyone else patch 'em up?

RW222

[minigts]

Which wires are they? The reason I ask is because if you can find a good harness, just remove the wires you need and you're done. If there are any splices in the wires you can solder them back together pretty easily. But my recommendation would be to replace the entire wire if at all possible.

Now I have seen a few years ago where they were promoting on television a liquid that when applied would harden and be just like the sheath on the wire, but I've never seen it sold anywhere. If you can avoid using the butt connectors, I would.

[looneytuner]

Believe it or not there are two butt connectors on the side of the battery! J2 Z1 or something like that. They lasted about 20 plus years on an 85 Lancer.

[RoadWarrior222]

Well if I had a good harness, it might make more sense to swap the whole thing, rather than pull odd wires out. It's on the loom going into the front (Large) plug on the SMEC, the corner of the battery chafed on it, or it chafed on the battery. Will try and figure what circuits they are as I go, because I was having some issues with speed sensor, reverse lights, hazard flashers and TC lockup before I ran into further tranny issues, so I'm hoping I cure at least one of those.

Gah, thanks, you just reminded me I got a bottle of this stuff...
http://starbrite.com/sproductdetail.cfm?ID=1076

On sale a while back, hope it's still good.

[minigts]

Believe it or not there are two butt connectors on the side of the battery! J2 Z1 or something like that. They lasted about 20 plus years on an 85 Lancer.

I'd love to see a picture of a butt connector from the factory. Replacement harness maybe, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a butt connector used. Sadly enough, the best they did with splices is fusing the copper together and then wrapping it in friction tape.

If we're talking about the same thing (butt connector), would you mind posting a pic sometime?


Well if I had a good harness, it might make more sense to swap the whole thing, rather than pull odd wires out. It's on the loom going into the front (Large) plug on the SMEC, the corner of the battery chafed on it, or it chafed on the battery. Will try and figure what circuits they are as I go, because I was having some issues with speed sensor, reverse lights, hazard flashers and TC lockup before I ran into further tranny issues, so I'm hoping I cure at least one of those.

Gah, thanks, you just reminded me I got a bottle of this stuff...
http://starbrite.com/sproductdetail.cfm?ID=1076

On sale a while back, hope it's still good.

That's the stuff I was referring to or something very similar. Be sure to clean that copper before you fix it! :) Vinegar works wonders.

[turbo_III]

I redid the majority of my harness a few years ago due to the previous owner not taking care of the car and old age. I removed all of the wire loom and soldered in new wires wherever there was a break in any wires or any that looked brittle. Ever since then I haven't had any issues. I used a 30W soldering pencil for most of the wires. From what I remember I used my 80W on a few of the alt wires.
:D