I’m looking to replace the ugly plastic conduit in my engine bay. It’s all cracked and kind of ordinary to replace it with the same stuff. I have used the fiberglass wrap on many components in my engine bay and saw an advert for fiberglass sleeving. Has anybody used this or have ideas on nice looking thermally safe protecting for wires??

 

The only part of the harness that actually needs any kind of protection is the part that goes over the turbo..... assuming lhd.

dei makes sleeves that will fit over it. I would suggest getting the velcro version of the sleeve. You can use 3m super 33 on the rest of the harness with the nylon conduit under it and be fine for 10 or so years. When I re did mine, I pulled it after 3 years and it still looks the same as the day I put it in.

 

I got some DEI aluminum heat reflective tape wrapped around the part of the harness going from the firewall to the engine, that sees the most heat.

Good 3M electical tape does a great job for re-wrapping parts of the harness that have gotten brittle and bad looking from heat. The 3M tape holds up very well. Typically it's JUST the tape that's shot, the nylon corrugated tubing around the harness is typically OK. Sometimes it looks like the nylon corrugated stuff is having a problem but it's just the tape that's formed to the corrugation.

Make sure the harness is clean and de-greased, tape doesn't stick well to oil and grease.

Dale

 

Years ago I used the self-fusing silicone tape to re-wrap the harness while it was out. It’s a little pricey and in places I covered it with heavy electrical tape to avoid abrasion. But seems to be holding up well.

Silly question maybe, but wonder if the DEI sleeve would help turbo coolant lines last a little longer...or would it just hold heat in and make it worse?

 

Insulation will prevent heat transfer. So yes, a sleeve will help insulate the coolant lines against heat transfer. Silicone tape has a fairly high temp resistance (before melting), but not sure it's insulating properties.

 

The self-fusing silicone tape was never intended as an insulator. Like the OEM vac hose that I also replaced with a silicone version it was intended as something that tolerated the heat MUCH better than whatever MAZDA used as loom cover. That stuff turned harder than a *****’s heart from the heat and cracked in places as the harness was removed.

Next time I swap out the turbo coolant lines I may try some of that DEI insulator over them.

 

ROI may depend on how hard you run your turbos and how long you run them hard given the length of the coolant line (not that long) and the flow rate of coolant going through the line (it's not just sitting there). Much more effective to target the radiator which is expelling all the heat.

And *****'s have hearts too