I want to rewire the entire harness

[shelbytuner]

Just like it says. I want to rewire the entire harness, engine and body, in my 86 GLH Omni. I figure if I do it very carefully and with the diagrams, it shouldnt be to difficult. My question is, Will I be able to find new terminals for all the different sensors? I want to find the exact style terminal so I can use the same connectors. I am going to take out the whole harness and go to my local electrical store, I might get lucky. Any thoughts?

[86LaserXE-XT]

You are one brave person to undertake a challange that big.
seems the time, money, headaches involved would be overwhelming.
I'd hate to know the cost of all the connectors brand new.
if I was going to do something of the sort I'd take apart all the connectors I can and pry the crimps apart and reuse them with new wires.
probaly take a couple extra harnesses from other Dodges to get enough to do it. and a few connectors do not come apart.
I'd also just reuse the wires that weren't exposed to the elements or chaffed or cracked. as far as wrapping the harness back up, you can use friction tape or go the more expensive route and order the wrap from EastWood.


you can try
Terminal Supply Co.

just look over thier catalog they carry the largest selection of terminals and connectors that I know of.

good luck with your project, and deffinetly keep us updated on what you find out.
Pictures gotta have pictures

[GLHNSLHT2]

why? do you have electrical issues?

[moparfwdsleeper]

I have been thinking about doing this myself lately just to clean the rats nest the factory installed up

But I was thinking more on the lines of a couple of factory harness', soldering gun, and heat wrap...

[shelbytuner]

Electrical Problems, not really. I really need to redo the grounds. But thats when I thought about redoing the entire harness.

Ive had this GLH for about 7 years now. All Ive really done to it, is enough to keep her running. That in itself has been a never ending process. So, now I am going to do everything right. I started working at a body shop, so Ill be doing body work soon. While everything is apart ld figure to do interior too.

This just turned in to a full on resto. Hey I love this car, it deserves it.

Thanks for the site 86. Thats a lot of stuff they have. Also, thats not a bad idea, reusing the terminals. I might just do that.

One last question, Is there any benefit in going bigger gauge wire?

[moparfwdsleeper]

it doesn't heat up as quickly as small wires do. I'd stay with the stock size, they built them to last this long. We build harnesses for our buses we build, there is alot taken in before a new model of the same harness is made. The factory wires wont just melt from overheating unless there is an issue within the system somewhere.

[shelbytuner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moparfwdsleeper it doesn't heat up as quickly as small wires do. I'd stay with the stock size, they built them to last this long. We build harnesses for our buses we build, there is alot taken in before a new model of the same harness is made. The factory wires wont just melt from overheating unless there is an issue within the system somewhere.

Makes sense

[ButchSuppe]

I reworked my wiring harness when I did my LM to SMEC conv. added fuse panels to eliminate fuseable link, ran ALL grds to batt. eliminating about 20' of wires. Extra body + eng. grds, seperate hot wires fused to coil, O2, fuel pump etc. Keep in mind sensor grds. are on the same circuit as computer grd. I like the idea of new terminals which I should have done but didn't.

[moparfwdsleeper]

Pics please! It sounds like something to be looked at

[kermit]

I don't know if this is any cheaper or if it even has all of the right wires. If I was going to something like that, I would probably look into this, and reuse all of my old connectors.

MegaSquirt Wiring Bundle - 12' Long DIYAutoTune.com

[86LaserXE-XT]

well for the underhood part sure the MS wires would be nice. but unless they are loomed tightly the markings wear off in a short amount of time. I personally would keep with the factory color code for the year of car your working on so anytime in the future you could just look at the original wiring schematic and at least know what wire your looking at. or anyone else that buys your car later down the road. could be the difference in the car going to the scrapyard and someone being able to fix it.

[moparfwdsleeper]

I agree 100% with ^

[dalek]

I have helped a friend rewire his entire Honda Civic with a junkyard harness (his 91 was TBI and for his engine swap to work he needed a multiport one. We found a 91 Civic with multiport injection in the yard, which according to him is a rather rare find), as in from bumper to bumper. I am also going to do something similar to a 87 Integra (upgrading to 88 harness so I can drop the engine and ECU from that year). I've learned that it is a wise idea to label the connectors so you know where they are supposed to go to. Also, as you mentioned, having the schematics is very useful.

But, those projects are using factory harnesses. If you are doing your own, I would suggest to group stuff by function: keep the fuel injection stuff in one loom and the ignition in another and so on. That can actually make the bundles you have to deal with much smaller and easier do diagnose.

Also, if you want to spend the money but get what IMHO is the best wire you can get, get aircraft-type wire. It is silver clad and teflon coated, so it not only has much less resistive losses but also can survive fires much better than normal car wires.