Engine wiring harness separate, or combined with the rest of the wiring?

Post by **gnalan** » 25 Aug 2020, 17:03

When I did my plugs, and boots, after I bought the car I noticed a lot of the plastic loom had pretty much crumbled to dust, and the wiring to the injectors is the same way. Is the engine harness a stand alone harness that can be replaced, or is it intertwined with the rest of the wiring under the hood?

I'm trying to rule out any bad electrical problems and wasn't sure if the harness would come out to go through wire by wire, or if everything under the hood would need to be unhooked to check the engine wiring.

Is this a common problem with the wire loom crumbling like that, and with nothing else to protect the wiring, or is it from a previous owner that caused the loom to crumble and then removed the tape, assuming there is any tape to begin with?

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 25 Aug 2020, 20:52

You can disconnect the Engine bay harness from the rest of the car. Remove the cowl under the Windshield. The connectors are at the left end.

The Split Loom Wire Conduit covering the wires can be replaced. Cut the tape on the old and remove. Cut new to length and tape on.

It is normal for the Conduit to crumble in the engine bay. Heat drys it out.

You can find it just about any place that sells automotive parts. eBay is probably the best place to find a deal.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 26 Aug 2020, 11:04

In my experience, you need to get wire loom and tape with high temperature rating - 300 F is best. Super 88 3M tape is good.
Volvolugnut

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 26 Aug 2020, 11:21

volvolugnut wrote: ↑26 Aug 2020, 11:04 In my experience, you need to get wire loom and tape with high temperature rating - 300 F is best. Super 88 3M tape is good.

3M Super 88 is good 0 °F - 220 °F
3M Scotch 35 is good 14 °F - 220 °F and it comes in 10 different colors.

Post by **gnalan** » 26 Aug 2020, 14:02

Is the engine harness separate from everything else under the hood? That's the only parts on the wiring that I see that needs to be checked, taped up, and loom added to it.

Anyone have a particular wire loom that won't crack/crumble with the high temps under the coil cover? Could I get by with just high temp tape for that area?

Post by **volvolugnut** » 26 Aug 2020, 14:22

IPD has the high temp wire loom in the proper size for the coil wires and injectors. In standard black color. It last several years maybe. The standard wire loom may last a year. Just tape does not have the temperature rating and may not provide a insulating barrier to the wires. If you need larger sizes for other wire harness, you have to look other places.
The engine harness is generally in massive sections with a few connectors. Few connectors are good in the sense that the connections tend to corrode and cause failures. Last summer I thought I had a wire harness problem and removed all wire loom and inspected all wires for bare spots. This took many hours and did not find the problem.

volvolugnut

Post by **gnalan** » 26 Aug 2020, 14:26

It's really only the wiring to the injectors, and under the coil cover, that don't have any protection on them. If it's that much of a hassle, and not really worth it, I'll just wrap those wires up.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 26 Aug 2020, 15:20

No, fixing the wire loom on the coils or injectors is not much trouble. What took many hours was uncovering every wire under the hood and replacing their wire loom. Sorry for the confusion.
volvolugnut

Post by **gnalan** » 26 Aug 2020, 15:23

volvolugnut wrote: ↑26 Aug 2020, 15:20 No, fixing the wire loom on the coils or injectors is not much trouble. Sorry for the confusion.
volvolugnut

No confusion, or need to apologize. What I quoted from your post is what I meant. I'm in so much pain right now my post may not have been clear.