nopiston_racer

iTrader: (2)

im getting ready to rewire my dash lights...mainly the guague cluster as it caught on it fire....how exactly this happened im un certain but right now im just going to try and cut wires and reconnect good wres to fix the burned/melted wires....is there anything i should look for when doing this?....is there any way i can just get a new harness and install that or would it be a lot easier to just remove the bad wires and replace them.....also i need this done as fast as possible b/c im supposed to be on the road by tomorrow

another thing is with my rat's nest removal....do u have to have the belt that they call for...the 3L220...or is it just an item that would be nice to have?....pretty much im asking if without it..will the car still start and drive fine....thanks for any advice....parker

Fire85GSLSE

iTrader: (29)

First you don't have to have the belt. It makes it nice to have two of them witht he dual alt pulley if you run up above 5k alot.

As for the wiring, well first thing is to find out why it happened. Alot of people add wires, when hooking up aftermarket stuff, to places they should not. And then use the wrong wire. And then use those stupid crimp connectors.
They should hook everything direct to the battery and use a relay to switch it on and off.

Here is what I would do if you dont have another harness and or time to pull the dash.

Try and find the reason (so it don't happen again). Replace all the bad wires with the same wire size (not the insulated size but the actual wire). Get the heat shrink tubing for that size wire. Cut one wire at a time (Battery D/C'ed), then cut off the bad section. Slide on a piece of heat shrink tubing on both ends. Strip the wire back about 3/4 of an inch. Do the same with the replacement wire. Twist one of the ends together with one of the new ends. Soldier that joint together cutting off any extra. Slide the heat shrink tubing over the joint and use a heat gun (or hair drier) to shrink the tubing over the joint. Make sure the tubing covers the joint and some of the good wire. Then I put a small piece of electrical tape over that.
Complete all those stepps to every bad wire.

If you have any thing wired to the fuse block, spliced into the factory wiring (like fog lights), remove that wire and run it to the fuse block. Wire in a 30 or 40 amp relay and use a switch or a factory wire to switch the relay on and off.
This way what ever your running is getting direct power from the battery but can be switched on and off either by the key or a manual switch.

Good luck. It really is not hard, be very important to do the wiring correct. I have seen several cars burned up from bad wiring and I have had to redo alot of other peoples wiring nightmare!

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Actually Fire85GSLSE is wrong about the belt.

Perhaps it's because he has AC or Power Steering (I'm not sure because I don't have them), but if you lack these, then you have to have the 3L220. If you look at your belt setup, the Air Pump belt goes around the water pump and the e-shaft pulleys. The Alt belt also *touches* the water pump pulley on one side. If you don't have the air pump belt, then the only thing driving your water pump is that half-touching Alt pulley, which is prone to slippage.

If your belts are slipping on the water pump, then your engine gets no coolant flow. I hope don't have to tell you what that means.

If you decide "well I'll just crank the Alt up really tight to solve it" you're causing even more problems, because you're putting undue stress on your alt and e-shaft pulleys. There was an article I read somewhere (I think it might have been at fc3s forum, but don't take my word for that), talking about the problems with overtight belts on the e-shaft pulley.

Get the 3L220 belt or get a dual-belt alt pulley. Or leave your Air Pump hooked up for the belt but not pumping air into anything. It won't hurt it to be randomly pumping air in your engine bay and if you need to be on the road by tomorrow this would be the fastest/cheapest/easiest way to keep your engine safe.

Jon

Fire85GSLSE

iTrader: (29)

Jon is right, so I am only half wrong. I forgot there are people that remove A/C just because it don't work instead of fixing it and having cold air. Then when they sell the car later people like me stay away for it.

I do have AC and PS on my GSL-SE and my GSL so sorry I forgot.
I do agree with vipernicus42 on the belt if these items are not there. I have used that belt before (12a with just an alt and water pump) and was glad to get my dual pully because that belt is thin and a pain in the rear to get on and off when working on the car. I would leave the air pump on and order a dual pulley before I ever go back to that belt.
And yes over tighting the belt is a no go.

Alway remember when working with these rotaries either have a back up car or another 7 for parts. I have 3 7's and two back up's (03 Z-71 and 77 FJ40). Always working on one of them, not because there junk but because I alway want more.

nopiston_racer

iTrader: (2)

alright thanks for the advice on the belt....hopefully i can grab one tomorrow at one of the stores....

as for the wiring i was told that ur not supposed to solder the wires together that are behind the gauge cluster....that u are supposed to use butt connectors and crimp them on b/c of the fact that the solder compound actually changes the resistive values of the wires which can cause melting once again.....so with that being said i think im going to just cut the wires and reconnect them with butt connectors so that i dont have to mess with another melt down....

thanks for the adivce and if there is anymore advice just throw it out at me....parker

Fire85GSLSE

iTrader: (29)

Well, I guess someone had no clue as how to solder or what they were talking about. I have soldered my fuel injector wires with no problems. I once had an old truck that the whole harness from the dash to the motor had to be rewired due to a fire. But I do have an electronics degree so I guess I knew what I was doing.
Good luck with the butt connectors. I probally repalced 10 of those a day wheni worked for GE Medical installing and repairing hospital equipment.