Hello everyone,

I'm definitely shouldn't be alone in this: my electrical connectors are falling to pieces. Two of the two-pin connectors (the ones that have the flat contacts arranged in a "T") shattered and fell off, one of the six-pin connectors is on its way out, and I wouldn't be surprised if more were preparing to jump ship of SS Rotary Toaster Oven. It doesn't help that I'm in Arizona, where the heat and dryness is killing the plastics. I don't have the time and motivation to remove my dash to pull my entire harness and rewire everything, but that's still on my bucket list.

Anyways, what do you guys prefer to use if you need to replace an electrical connector in the engine bay? I hear "GM" or "Ford", but I don't hear part numbers and applications. Who makes the most durable? Which connectors are the least frustrating to work with? Are there any reasonably small connectors that lock with a screw instead of those brittle lock tabs that always break and stab your fingers?

Extra internet cookies available for connectors that are common and available.

 

Deutsch

 

This is what I'll use when I start my harness, most likely:



There's a connector for every budget and a correlation in price vs no. of reliable connection cycles.

 

HEY NOW!!..keep the language down..lol!

(I'm lazy,I just replace the old harness with another used one!)

 

Yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Are these rated against heat and oil? If so, this might be exactly what I'm looking for. You said you were planning on using these, so you technically haven't yet? I'd like to hear from someone who has. Those seals are a big plus though. I might have to save my pennies so I can hoard a bunch of these.

And honestly, I don't mind paying up for good connectors. It's a weird quirk, but I like focusing on trifling details like this. That, and I f-cking hate working on old electrical connectors.

Oh I wish. If I were to get my hands on another used harness, I'd probably mangle it just trying to put it into the car and be stuck at square one all over again. That being said, a brand new harness from Mazdatrix is $767.13

 

there are a few places that sell replacement stock connectors..

 

Err... Where?

 

I've built a couple harnesses from scratch using the Deutsch connectors, and they are very nice indeed. Only thing "better" would be full aluminum housing Mil-Spec stuff.

 

lms-efi

Connectors

Fuel Injector Connectors, Nippon Denso Fuel Injector Connectors, Automotive Pigtail Connectors, Bosch Fuel Injector Connectors, Delphi Fuel Injector Connectors,Delphi Packard Multec2 Connectors, Honda Fuel Injector Connectors, Toyota Fuel Injector Co

between the 3 of them, you can practically get every connector in the car

 

Holy smokes, aluminum? Where on earth would you source those?

But yeah, I'm thinking Deutsch. Or maybe even a variety. The one thing that gets me is always having to figure out which one of 8 identical connectors goes to a specific plug. Provided they were all quality connectors, I might just use a variety of styles so I wouldn't mix them up.

Looks like I need to work on my internet hunting skills. Thanks!

 

GM weatherpack connectors, and they are cheap too!

https://www.google.com/search?q=gm+w...ed=0CAcQ_AUoAg

 

When you're making your own harness, you can do things like alternate male/female connectors and/or combine what used to be a few one/two wire connectors into a single 8 wire connector. Wiring's not so hard if you take your time with it.

 

Will never use a weatherpack connector by choice, Deutsch is where is at

 

The aluminum connectors mentioned:

Deutsch Autosport
https://www.rbracing-rsr.com/wiring_ecu.html

 

That's an awesome webpage full of all kinds of awesome stuff.

 

Straight up overkill. Wiring doesn't need to withstand nuclear attack. Military application and aerospace, hell yeah, but not in a freaking car!

 

Yeah. You can replace all the harnesses and connections between wires and you still end up with the regular stuff on solenoids, actuators, motors, sensors, etc.

It never ceases to amaze me how far people will go to make something reliable, and ignore worse offenders in the process.

Don't mean to **** on the thread, just trying to keep a balance.

 

Street car, yes, but that website is dedicated to racing. Losing a race due to a shitty electrical connection is unacceptable to a professional team.

Also, racing. Very few race engines use stock solenoids, actuators, motors and sensors.

The link is not particularly relevant to this thread, but it does discuss the mentioned weatherpack and deutsch connectors, so it has some merit.

 

this one time, i went to an air show, and there was a helicopter there with a bunch of stuff in it, and i was excited to see how the military wires stuff. we hear mil spec all the time, so it must be cool right?

turns out they put rafters in the helicopter, and just tossed the wires over it, no harness, no bundle, no protection for any wires at all except the insulation.

so they need to have special wires and connectors because they use those to secure the thing, where in a car we have a nice harness with lots of clamps and supports and stuff

 

/thread

 

What I found interesting about that racecar wiring page were the loops to take tension off of the wires and the fact that the connectors they use are rated for lots of connect and disconnects. That does make a lot of sense, there are several crappy connectors on OEM cars that have failed with just a handful of removals. I never thought of either of those points when shopping for replacement connectors. If you have something you remove a lot, it may be prudent to get a connector with a higher rated use. If you aren't going to have little slack in your harness, that little loop may help with longevity.

 

Every class 8 truck I have ever worked on was like that and all the wires are either white or in some trucks they are all yellow. No loom, no colors and just dangling with the exception of the engine compartment and underbody harnesses.

 

Getting mixed messages here... Any reason why you would use either? From what it sounds like, the WeatherPacks are silicone sealed, rated to 10 cycles of disengagement, and are fairly cheap, while the DTMs are the same, but rated to 50 cycles, probably better built, and are more expensive. Is there something I'm missing?

Good information, that'll help in the future. Thanks man

Well, I mean, why the hell not. Modifying your car is about doing what you want to it. If I wasn't broke, I'd put a massive aluminum connector at the firewall for the loom since I hate removing the dash to get the harness out. If nuclear-proofing your wiring is your thing, then by all means, go for it. Hell, considering the way most FC owners drive, they might as well be nuclear-proof anyways.

That's a valid point. It's just that when you've addressed everything else (like the fuel pump, electrical grounding, precat, wastegate, cooling, etc.), this information is handy. I plan on redoing my wiring loom (among many other things...) when I do a battery relocation anyways, even if it's a while off in the future.

 

For the Weatherpack vs Deutsch, it comes down to how often you think you'll me taking them apart in my opinion. Now, if you have less money Weatherpack are great connectors. So, if it's a case of under dash, or for lights, or anything that won't get messed with as often then you can go Weatherpack. Anything in the engine bay that will get clipped on and off a couple times a year you can go Deutsch. Me personally, I'm going Deutsch through out. I'm a piece of mind kind of guy, and knowing I'll be using what a lot of professional drivers use helps.

It is true though it's all in what people want. You can buy a connector off a Geo and as long as they connect together then you have a connection.

 

I would also add looking at the actual connection with the wire. When you use the Deutsch tool and the higher end pins, it's a full circle type crimp and is much easier to keep the consistency crimp-to-crimp. I've only seen the split type crimp for the WeatherPak. Nothing worse than trying to troubleshoot an electrical gremlin to find it's in the connection between the wire and the pin going into the connector.