Rewrap Harness
 

Who here can rewrap my harness for me? Im bad with wiring. Thanks

You are in luck!! This is great oppertunity for you to do something you aren't good at. Now be an enthusiast and man up ;).

Re-wraping a harness is extremely easy. But it can be intimidating for someone who doesn't keep things organized. All you have to do is follow these simple steps, and you are home free.

Tools:

Razor blade
Electrical tape (2-3 roles)
Zip ties
Wiring loom 1/2" & 1"

Steps:

1. Remove the harness (you would have had to do this anyway, so no excuse here)
2. Take a razor and slowly cut away at the old tape
3. Remove the wiring loom
4. As you remove the loom, place a zip tie around the harness wires every 6 inches, and at every wiring branch from the main piece. This keeps the same shape as the original harness. Now you have a wiring harness that is bare wire, but in the exact same shape as it was.
5. Now re-loom the harness. Cut small lengths for each branch. Cut a long length for the main piece. The loom slides right on.
6. Wrap the loom with electrical tape. Put extra wraps around the joints of the branches where the loom meets. As you get to the end of the branches where the connectors are, wrap the wire up and add a small zip tie to keep things tight.

DONE!!

+1

Kudos to xlr8 on taking the time to write up...this should be in newb technical section.

Tedious but not difficult. I hung it from peg board above my bench and worked on it a couple hours at a time.

+1 Nice write up. Another option instead of the split loom is cable sleeving. mcmaster.com sell a lot of different types in a lot of different sizes. When I redid my harness I used fiberglass coated sleeving to help keep out some of heat, mostly where is goes over the exhaust.

Very nice writeup. I appreciate it. I was reading that some people don't re loom it? They just use high temp silicone tape? I also have one broken connector that needs fixing and have to figure out how to fix it.

If you send Ray at Malloy about $900, he'll send you a freshly wrapped emissions harness.

No problem.

Personally, I would add loom or the sleeving. The more heat protection the better. As wires see constant heat, the shielding will become brittle and crack. Of course this exposes bare wire allowing shorts & other nasty things to happen.

If you have ever troubleshot a shorting harness you will know its a freaking nightmare and time consuming. This is also a great time to check continuity on all those connectors as well. Ray does sell individual connectors as the originals crack and break down.

Oh he does sell individual connectors? I rather not buy a brand new one since im going to rewrap it anyways. Whats the materials that you all suggest I use? So rewrap harness with high temp silicone and add wire loom? XLR do I keep those zipties on when I rewrap? Like under the silicome?

Im not good with electronics so how do I check the continuity?

Thanks, I think ill tackle this myself.

I used the silicone fusion tape. In my area the local chain hardware stores all carry it. It's great in the high temp enviroment and seals well against moisture. But it doesn't tolerate rubbing against other things, so you need to cover it with something....friction tape, loom oover etc.

Just get a cheap multi-meter from Sears to check continuity.

IIRC, IR Performance sold the injector pig-tails.


FWIW...if you haven't removed the harness from the engine yet, I found a quick spray of PB helped alot with connectors that are stuck on from years of heat and dirt. It's electronics friendly and they damn near fell off afterward. It avoided the temptation to pry them loose which frequently breaks them.

Nope

IMO, I would start with a known good harness. In fact, I did that myself. I ordered a new emissions harness, took off the stock wrapping and re-wrapped it using something "more modern" (I do practice what I preach). You end up with something you know works and will last.

XLR8 says Ray sells connectors. My harness is already out because I just got it from a forum member. Im restoring a FD, I'm just prepping it for my Rotary mechanic to come over and we can build. Where do you source the new wire loom?

Also can I check continuity with all the shielding still on? How do I test it actually? I thought it needs to be a circuit?

Sorry wiring is not my expertise lol.

Anyone want to chime in?

i rewrap every engine harness unless they are in excellenty condition upon removal.

i found it's easiest to just wrap over the original looming with cloth friction tape, since it is self sealing, weather and heat resistant, cheap and easy to get at most hardware stores. i've also had nothing but good results using it on harnesses that i removed a number of years later and the harness looked as good as it was when i put it in.

reason i wrap over the original looming is easy to explain: unecessary pulling, bending and tugging on the harness usually results in broken or frayed wiring. the friction tape acts as a splint to keep the wiring from moving excessively while you manipulate it back onto the engine. time is money, but if you want to be more thorough then completely redoing the harness isn't a bad idea, i just can't devote a full day to a $100 at max job.


i would offer to do it but it's really not worth spending $100 to ship to and from just to wrap a harness that anyone can do.

shielding will not affect a continuity test so yes, you can check it while it is out.

Thanks karack, do you have a link to that cloth tape? I don't know what to do about the broken connector though and what about the part of the tape that I have that is brittle and breaking. Do you just wrap over that?

You will have to call him to confirm on each connector. I had a friend pick up a new TPS plug from him so I know a few are available.

I'm not sure which plug it is. It's a small grey connector. I'll take pics of my harness once I'm home.

don't have a link, it's just called "friction tape" which is usually right next to general purpose electrical tape. orchard supply hardware in california has it as well as some other chain hardware stores.

a picture of the plug would be helpful, without guessing.

After pulling my harness and seeing the poor condition it was in I purchased a "low milage" I am considering making harnesses I am an electrician I am fully comfortable with doing so and have all tools to do so I know just about all of us would like a new harness wrapped in heat relfected tape as long as we can get the connectors

some of the connectors are basically nonexistent, some found from various suppliers and others can only be bought in bulk(like crate size by the thousands).

some if you do not have terminating ends like the smog pump connectors, you can simply replace both ends of the connector and replace it with something more common like GM/Delphi weatherpak connectors which you can just about find at grocery stores.

This should be stickied somewhere since I didn't see much threads on rewrapping harnesses since they cook so much. Karack I messaged you a while back on engines I think lol. I wish u were still in the Bay Area.

sometimes i just get too busy to respond and of course replying to month old messages is like calling someone back in that same timeframe.

there is actually a couple of people who do harness tune ups on the forum for a few bills, i couldn't find enough suppliers to feel comfortable doing it for people without knowing whether i could salvage them or not.

Looking at everything more closely looks like quite a bit is hurt on this harness. Perhaps will send it off to get patched up. Heres what I found.

This is the connector with the broken off wire
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...%20RX7/sss.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...%20RX7/asd.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...photo_1asd.jpg

The red wire in this pic doesnt go to anything and im trying to figure out where, Its on the same break in the harness as that green connector but doesnt go to it.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...photo_1asd.jpg

This connector has wires cut
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...X7/photo_4.jpg

Some of the parts of the harness has exposed wires but dont appear to be broken. I assume I have to take off all the tape to do continuity test. SR Motorsports is close by, maybe ill have them look at it. I might just have Manny redo the harness for me.

1st pic is of the smog pump clutch connector, 3-4 no idea can't see the wire, last pic is of the knock sensor connector.

you can pop the pins out of the connectors with a small pick and heat shrink over the breaks in the insulator without too much effort.

On the smog pump connector can that be repaired without sourcing new connector?

I think on the knock sensor the actual wires are semi cut.

Probably would be best to remove all the loom and electrical tape so I can see whats damaged and get repaired, kind of wanted to avoid doing that and just rewrap over like you said, would be easier.

This red wire

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...7/IMG_0475.jpg

the knock sensor doesn't really require many strands of wire for the signal but it does need good continuity so no corrosion for the best accuracy. still doesn't look like a big issue with that one to me.

the red wire below looks like the 110C auxiliary water temp sensor wire, it's the single pin connector just below the water thermosensor on the back of the water pump housing.

the smog pump connector can be replaced by cutting the connector off the smog pump and replacing both ends which whatever 2 pin generic connector floats your boat. some auto parts stores will have both ends of various connectors in the electrical section.

most of those connectors are first to fail due to their location, same connectors broken here:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/name-plug-game-999580/

Ahhh okay, thanks Karack. Where can I source the 110C? Its a water temp sensor or a fan sensor? The thread u posted you said its a fan sensor.

i, too, have a harness with those same broken connectors.

i replaced it with a new harness though.

I want to avoid getting new harness since I just bought this one.

Would ray have that connector for the red wire?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkhIP...&feature=g-upl

bring a friend :D

Just kidding, the video isn't just re-wrapping, I actually cut all the old wiring out and replaced it with brand new wiring, basically just kept about 3" of wiring at each harness and soldered new wiring on. the wrapping part (near the end) took virtually no time at all.

Okay im going to start taking off the tape and wiring loom here soon. Just to clarify a few things on rewrapping.

1. Going be ziptying every 6 inches and at the branches during tape removal, Do I wrap over the zip ties or take them off when rewrapping?

2. Do I use tape under the loom as well? I guess extra protection wont hurt.

3. What tape do you use? Silicone? Anything high temp will work? I have read friction tape is what karack uses but doesnt say anything about it protecting against high heat?

4. Would this loom work well? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RFW-ZL12 Would you recommend a high temp flame retardant wiring loom?

5. Also is there a way to really protect the ends of the wiring where they go in the connectors? Seem so easy to break plus their semi exposed.

TIA

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=Fusion
Personally I liked the silicone fusion tape. But there are options/opinions.

i guess i still am of the opinion that unless you replace the brittle wiring i wouldn't go that far. bending the wiring that much and making the harness more pliable is the reverse of my goal.

grab a 12 pack and a hammer, you may need both.

It's tedious, but checking continuity is pretty simple.
Not alot of experience, but on my harness (~90k) once I removed all the crispy plastic and tape, I found the wires themselves were still pretty pliable and in decent shape.

Why hammer? hahaha

Your idea is still recommending not taking off the old tape? And just wrap with the friction tape over orginal harness? Kind of feels fragile with some of the brittle plastic breaking when squeezed.

I guess the main question is how can I test continuity without taking off all the tape? Bundled part of harness seems too thick and I just dont know where to touch with multimeter. One goes on a connector pin? and one goes where?

Can I just take off and rewrap all the branches? thats where the brittle parts are.

Im just trying to figure out best way. If I did take off old wrapping id replace the wiring that looks like would need replacing.

bump

anyone haha

2 methods, 1 is to wrap over the original looms, other is to carefully strip all the looming off and rewrap the whole harness over again. the latter would probably require more attention paid to the engine connectors as a few of them will likely have insulation showing after working on the harness cutting it open.

heat can also play a factor in working with the harness, if it is brittle in some areas then lay it in the sun before working on that section and it will probably make the wiring insulation pliable enough to work with temporarily.

same applies to working with the vacuum lines when replacing them and trying to avoid breaking the solenoids.

Okay, can I check continuity with all the tape still on? I just want to take apart to make sure all is well but don't want to damage at same time. Im going be having a second JDM harness that I can take wires and connectors from actually.

The JDM harness should be in better shape but I don't want to deal with trying to get it to work.

Im thinking of using this BTW http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

You may want to find a source for those small male and female pin contacts inside the connectors. A few years back I googled "japanese electrical connectors" found a motorcycle shop in West Virginia that sold these as well as the seals.

Where do the solenoid connectors ground(b/w)? I've looked at the wiring diagrams, think its the ground under the coils but I dont have continuity there. While you have this out can you check and photograph the end?

Thanks Karack for identifying the knock sensor connector.

I haven't worked on the harness yet.

Im going have a JDM harness also so I'm going to salvage all the connectors I need from that harness.

What is that you want a pic of? You want the ground where the solenoid connectors are?

black wire white stripe. each of the 8 like kind solenoids have one. only able to find continuity back to the EGI relay on driverside fender.

illustration in wiring manual has it grounding closer to the engine either near the air conditioner and vacuum chamber. I havent found a ground point with continuity there.

Since you had it apart and was embarking on wire repair. I thought to ask if you could check if your terminated at the ground under the coil. or if you found it terminated some where else.

the place I got the electrical contacts was motorcyclecarbs.com out of Kennesaw, GA. I have quite a few I'll never use them all, If you PM me I'll mail you some if you want.

What electrical contacts are you talking about?

Im not sure where the ground came from because im restoring a rx7 and I bought the harness off a forum member. So were piecing it together, my friends with more knowledge on this would be able to answer probably.

no idea since all the solenoids are powered up by the black/white wire, not grounded by it.

I think I got confused with 2 things seeing a B/W wire on the ground under the coil, and misinterpret the circle 15 by the egi relay as a ground in the wire schem.

So on these solenoid leads I check b/w for continuity back to the EGI relay, and the other colored lead back to the slots on the ECU?

Taking this harness apart today.

Okay I got busy and ended up not doing harness. I really dont want to take it apart and hope to just wrap over existing harness.

Now I want to make sure theres continuity. Im having trouble understanding the diagram so to check can I just touch a connector wire and just touch and go through all the wires at the ECU plugs and hope for a reading?