Cleaning a Harness

[Captain Chaos]

I just received my wiring harness yesterday and it has some greasy sludge build up from years of use. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[JamesL]

Engine degreaser, followed by a very hot soapy bath, followed by a good blow dry and inspection. Repeat as needed.

[ShelGame]

Simple Green and a plastic scrub brush is how I cleaned mine. Then I pulled the old nasty tape off and re-taped it...

[minigts]

Simple Green and a plastic scrub brush is how I cleaned mine. Then I pulled the old nasty tape off and re-taped it...

Yep, that's what I do. When you get to the terminal plugs, just be careful not to remove the grease inside where the pins are. It's there for a reason. Just use a nylon brush to thoroughly clean the outside of them and it will look like new. :)

[Captain Chaos]

Thanks for the replies guys.

[Mopar318]

If you can find it, get some SD-20. This is a industrial grade degreaser. Also krylon makes some very good electrical cleaner. Spray on the SD-40, alow to sit, wipe off. Then you can spray the electrical cleaner and you should be good to go.

Also here are three cleaners than will take off pretty much anything. You have to test which one you want to use, so that you dont melt your insulation on your wires.

1. Ditzo (or other wax/grease removers)
2. Acetone
3. Isopryl Alcohol. (Probally wont melt anything with this)

Wear gloves too, I use these chemical pretty much everyday at work, and Ditzo will even melt gloves, so guess what it will do to your skin.:thumb:

https://store.airstream.com/images/small_SD-20%20All%20Purpose%20Cleaner.jpg
http://green-path.net/img/krylon1.jpg

[Captain Chaos]

That stuff looks bad ---. We have some Simple Green here I will probably use that. We have an environmentally friendly parts washer, I was thinking of using it. Any thoughts? Its supposed to be citrus based. Didn't do a great job on the mount brackets so I figure its not too caustic.

[Mopar318]

That stuff looks bad ---. We have some Simple Green here I will probably use that. We have an environmentally friendly parts washer, I was thinking of using it. Any thoughts? Its supposed to be citrus based. Didn't do a great job on the mount brackets so I figure its not too caustic.

I wouldnt use anything citrus based because the copper wire gets corrosion pretty easily. Anything citrus likes to eat away.

[ShelGame]

Yep, that's what I do. When you get to the terminal plugs, just be careful not to remove the grease inside where the pins are. It's there for a reason. Just use a nylon brush to thoroughly clean the outside of them and it will look like new. :)

Actually, I do remove that greas. It's usually old and crusty and won't help much. I always re-grease the connections with di-electric grease, though.

[Captain Chaos]

Actually, I do remove that greas. It's usually old and crusty and won't help much. I always re-grease the connections with di-electric grease, though.

Yes, we have some here at work that I was going to use. The stuff in this harness is like wax.

[kuzman83]

I'm in the process of re doing a harness right now and I have been using purple power and a tooth brush to clean the dirt off. I also decided to re tape my harness, i put electrical tape down first and then put friction tape over it, then i went to home depot and bought about 2 miles of black convoluted tubing and put that over top of the friction tape. I hate messy wires so i think that tubing is going to make everything look nice and put together.

[Captain Chaos]

I'm in the process of re doing a harness right now and I have been using purple power and a tooth brush to clean the dirt off. I also decided to re tape my harness, i put electrical tape down first and then put friction tape over it, then i went to home depot and bought about 2 miles of black convoluted tubing and put that over top of the friction tape. I hate messy wires so i think that tubing is going to make everything look nice and put together.

Whats friction tape?

[Mopar318]

Whats friction tape?

Its what they used in the factory harness of old mopars I think. I got a few rolls to redo parts of my harness. It only stick to itself, there is no adhesive, so it wont gum up with heat.

[kuzman83]

you can get it at home depot it looks exactly like athletic tape. Its like a fabric tape. Your harness should have some on it, its the really crispy sh!t that breaks off because its super old. You put it on because it is more durable than electrical tape, however it doesnt stick very well to wires so i put the elec tape underneath first. www.empiretape.com/images/webfrictiontape.jpg

[Mopar318]

Oh, never mind thats not the stuff im talking about.

[Captain Chaos]

you can get it at home depot it looks exactly like athletic tape. Its like a fabric tape. Your harness should have some on it, its the really crispy sh!t that breaks off because its super old. You put it on because it is more durable than electrical tape, however it doesnt stick very well to wires so i put the elec tape underneath first. www.empiretape.com/images/webfrictiontape.jpg

I have some Audi tape thats seems similar. It sticks like crazy to itself. Once I pulled a piece loose it didn't feel that tacky. Thats what I'm using on my harness to re-wrap. It kind of "looks" like what you'd wrap a hockey stick handle with I guess.

[135sohc]

That audi tape is the right stuff. Friction tape works ok but after a few months it does break down and dry out.

I use use a rag and some simple green for a majority of the cleaning. Holding the rag soaked with stuff and pulling each wire through individually with a little force. I figure if its gonna break or crumble insulation I'd rather find it then and not after its all bundled up.

[Captain Chaos]

Cool, thanks. I agree, find flaws now not later.

[minigts]

I have some Audi tape thats seems similar. It sticks like crazy to itself. Once I pulled a piece loose it didn't feel that tacky. Thats what I'm using on my harness to re-wrap. It kind of "looks" like what you'd wrap a hockey stick handle with I guess.

Where did you get that if you don't mind me asking?

[Captain Chaos]

Where did you get that if you don't mind me asking?

I work at Audi. PN#000-979-950 13.50 list, 9.00 my cost.

[minigts]

I work at Audi. PN#000-979-950 13.50 list, 9.00 my cost.

What is the layperson cost? Please don't say $25.

[Captain Chaos]

What is the layperson cost? Please don't say $25.

Depends if the VW/Audi dealer in your area wants to be a dick, but its $13-23.00. I'll sell it to you shipped for $13 maybe less if I send it USPS.:thumb:

[135sohc]

I just looked it up and found $10.77 was the average price online...

[Captain Chaos]

I just looked it up and found $10.77 was the average price online...

:thumb: And there you go. Hell I'll trade you a turbopalooza shirt for a roll of it. :eyebrows:

[minigts]

:thumb: And there you go. Hell I'll trade you a turbopalooza shirt for a roll of it. :eyebrows:

What size do you wear? :)

[Captain Chaos]

What size do you wear? :)

Double fat, triple medium, or XXL however you look at it.

[minigts]

Double fat, triple medium, or XXL however you look at it.

ROFL, so 2XL is good? You want a short sleeve or long sleeve and black or charcoal? I can get another color, but it will need to be a dark colored shirts as we are only printing white ink this go around.

[turbo84voyager]

I did quite a few harnesses. The last one being Matt's ( Moparzrule ) turbo van. I found that soaking them in a bucket with Dawn diswashing liquid / hot water and a tooth brush for the stubborn stuff. You have to be careful with cleaners because it can make a mess of the insulation. I always rewrap with 3M friction tape. Dont use vinyl electrical tape unless you want a mess in the near future. Every harness I did was a mess to start with and looked brand new when finish. When reinstalling it puck up a tube of electrical grease and put it on the connectors.

[turbo84voyager]

BTW 3M friction tape is about $3 a roll and availiable at your Home Depot

[Captain Chaos]

ROFL, so 2XL is good? You want a short sleeve or long sleeve and black or charcoal? I can get another color, but it will need to be a dark colored shirts as we are only printing white ink this go around.

Yes, 2XL short sleeve, and charcoal.:thumb:

[Captain Chaos]

I found that soaking them in a bucket with Dawn diswashing liquid / hot water and a tooth brush for the stubborn stuff. You have to be careful with cleaners because it can make a mess of the insulation. I always rewrap with 3M friction tape. Dont use vinyl electrical tape unless you want a mess in the near future. Every harness I did was a mess to start with and looked brand new when finish. When reinstalling it puck up a tube of electrical grease and put it on the connectors.

Thats actually a good idea. Because everyone knows, "Dawn takes grease out of your way", or something, lol. Thanks.:thumb:

[jrsoct24]

the dish washer cleaned some old gm heads i had once i wouldent see y it wouldent clean a wiring harness

[kuzman83]

^^ I suppose that would work so long as you make sure the harness does not get wrapped up in the moving mechanical parts of the dish washer and that the harness doesnt fall down too close to the heating element in the bottom and melt or start on fire. Hub caps in the dish washer however is wonderful, by far the easiest way to clean the 10000000000000000 spokes on the chrysler wire hub caps.

[minigts]

Just make sure you don't want to use that dishwasher for dishes anymore! hehe I'd be a little leery of washing off grease and grime only to have it set on the inside of the dishwasher. If you do go that route, just get the majority of the harness clean and then use that to finish the job. I'd also consider wrapping any connectors in plastic bags and seal them with tape. There's no need to wash out the grease in the terminal connectors.

[TurboII]

just throwing a newbie question. what about soaking the harness in a cleaner then power wash it? (my power washer has a low setting). Also wraping the connectors before washing?

Joey

[Reaper1]

I used CRC Electromotive Cleaner on a rag and pulled each wire through individually. Very time consuming, but it worked AWESOME. It's supposed to be safe for all the different plastics and wire insulation, so that's why I used it. It took off ALL the nasty stuff as well as made the terminals look like new! I made sure to regrease them with new dielectric grease.

To rewrap I used friction tape that I got from Eastwood. I kicked myself for doing that after I saw that the stuff at Home Depot was pretty much the same and cost about 1/2 the price. One thing I did notice is that even though that harness never saw the light of day, it started to fade in a little over a year. I also use all new black convolute tubing I got from Automotive Engineering. A whole bag is a decent price and about what is needed to do the entire engine bay.

[raccoon]

^^ I suppose that would work so long as you make sure the harness does not get wrapped up in the moving mechanical parts of the dish washer and that the harness doesnt fall down too close to the heating element in the bottom and melt or start on fire. Hub caps in the dish washer however is wonderful, by far the easiest way to clean the 10000000000000000 spokes on the chrysler wire hub caps.

error!


I found that soaking them in a bucket with Dawn diswashing liquid

use a bucket!

[moparloper]

I found that the best thing to clean my wiring looms, weatherstriping, spark plug wires and any type of vinyl or soft rubber is with a nylon brush and "Waterless Hand Cleaner". Get a big tub, the kind without grit. Grab a handful and wipe it on. Wait a minute or two then wipe it off with a towel. It helps revitalize and condition the plastic or rubber without harming or corroding any of the metal connections.

[minigts]

Captain, just a note to say that tape you sold me was friggin' awesome! Works great and I can't wait to kinda clean up the rest of my harness and use that stuff. It's like friction tape made from Velcro without any mess. Thanks again!

[Captain Chaos]

Captain, just a note to say that tape you sold me was friggin' awesome! Works great and I can't wait to kinda clean up the rest of my harness and use that stuff. It's like friction tape made from Velcro without any mess. Thanks again!

:thumb: Just ordered my 4th roll, should finish up the harness, lol.