How to repair your Wiring Harness

[Joe Guilbeau]

Here are some how to tips on repairing the wiring harnesses and how to go about it.

The connectors that were used on these old GS's were predominately Molex connectors. Time has improved the technology and I will share a link with you.

The following source is a pretty cost effective way to replace those pesky Molex connectors (White, Green and Blue) that tend to crumble with age.

Use General Motors Delphi division's WeatherPak connectors, weather-proof with seals. These can be had (for a bit of a steep price) with the pigtails included. That is there is a connector that already has the wire crimped to the the connectors and seals and these are already seated into the connectors for you. You will pay extra for this... OR

You could go to this website and pay for the crimping tool, the extraction tool and the separate components.

http://rjminjectiontech.com/?p=12

You basicall slide a seal over the end of the wire that you want to terminate, then strip off 3/16-inch and then terminate that wire with the crimp tool, then crimp the seal with that same crimp tool and insert the Pin/Socket into the proper housing and Pin/Socket position.

This WILL cure the majority of your wiring problems.

These same connection can be had a a pigtailed pre-assembled package and you would simply cut your Molex connectors out of the harness and replace with the respective WeatherPak connector by using bare metal Butt Splice connectors, crimping into place (after sliding Heatshrink tubing over the individual wires). After crimping I solder the connection making sure that the solder is wicked into the Butt Splice Connection, and then apply some liquid electrical tape to cover all metal exposed parts, Then heat shrink this extending 1/2-inch out from the ends of the Butt Splice connector. You are good to go.

Here is a link for the pigtail WeatherPak connectors....

http://www.whiteproducts.net/pigtails.shtml

For a one stop connection there is an eBay outfit that will sell a kit for all you need for one bike

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Weat...oryZ6763QQihZ023QQitemZ360067230797QQtcZphoto

and the crimp tool

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Weat...oryZ6763QQihZ008QQitemZ180261856810QQtcZphoto

The two links above will suffice for most of anything you might need to fix any problems with wiring harnesses.

Not exactly cheap, but peace of mind is worth something.

[edit] Some (legitimate) concerns were raised in this thread and so I thought that the easiest way to add to the knowledge base was to edit this post and offer some additiional methodologies for splicing wires together.

Namely Tyco's Soldersleeve

Here is Digikey's Catalog Page...

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T082/P2121.pdf

No crimping required, simple and straightforward process, clear shrink tubing allows inspection at later dates if desired.

There are many ways to skin a cat, if done properly most any of these methods will work for you, if done improperly, most of these methods will fail for you.

I will simply add to this post from time to time to give the dear reader options that should suffice to get the your particular job done to your satisifaction level.

For instance, the Soldersleeve's work quite nicely with regards to integrity and reduced bundle size. By the way, Microtorches work very well on these kinds of repairs, you can take some of these splices with you in your tool kit, and be the darling of the techno geeks when some poor slob has a wiring melt down on the side of the road. Whip out the ultra cool torch, a bit of wire, your handy dandy T-Stripper ( http://www.mytoolstore.com/ideal/ide11-03.html ) and volia!

Triple Distilled Polish Potato Vodka cocktails all around!

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. Joe Guilbeau,

Great product. You'll probably never need to replace these connectors. Thanks for sharing.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[GavinJuice]

Nice post, but i see no reason to crimp the connection, then solder. A good crimp is better than a soldered connection.

Now i know everyone will have a hissy fit about this one, but on a bike with a lot of vibration, it's a good spot for something that has now been weakened to break and cause an intermittent connection.

 

[J_C]

cool product! Definetely something I would have considered when i had the harness off the bike. Now I suspect it'd be a pretty big pain in the ass to do, but hey, there's always someday.

 

[Guest]

those connectors should work well even on a submarine with exposed wiring
they have the price to match too

 

[Joe Guilbeau]

Nice post, but i see no reason to crimp the connection, then solder. A good crimp is better than a soldered connection.

Now i know everyone will have a hissy fit about this one, but on a bike with a lot of vibration, it's a good spot for something that has now been weakened to break and cause an intermittent connection.

Did I catch your intent right?

I am thinking that I read your post as not supporting the idea of soldering a barrel crimp?

What would the argument be for this position? The vibration of where the solder has wicked into the strands of the conductor?

If so, then I would like to point out that I also recommend slathering said connection with Liquid Tape and as a final precaution heat shrinking 0.5-inches beyond that.

If you can get that to flex... standard procedures in prototyping automotive harnesses. I also got my experience from downhole tools at Schlumberger where the envoironment is 500 degrees F and there is just a wee bit of vibration.

Working in the New Product Development Division of the Schlumberger Austin Design Center on 620 in Austin, Texas we aslo found that this was a very good way to secure wiring harnesses, actually we would crimp and then solder pot the crimp by dipping the entire crimped section into a pot of molten solder.

I would agree that flexing a cable where it has some solder wick is not optimal, but I will stand by my methodology as it is a proven design practice. You are indeed correct on this point, but the harness is tyrapped to the frame, and flexes very little at this juncture.

Flexing of stranded cable where solder has wicked up inside the insulation is not a good thing, and if this is what you are describing, then I wholeheartedly agree, lets not flex this junction, failure will eventually result.