Thread: CLeaning up underhood wiring?

Under the hood of so many gtps it always looks like theres so much less messy wiring around then mine. Is there any way to clean this all up so theres less wires blocking everything else? An way to hide them?

Funny you should mention this. I completely pulled out my engine bay harness for this very reason. Im currently getting all the connector information together and will rebuild my harness routing it wherever I want it to ultimately to go. Ive already ordered a handful of connectors. As soon as I get some wire and crimpers ordered I'll start putting things together.

That said, Im still a ways from that. But short of completely pulling the harness, taking all the split wire loom off and all the electrical tape I didnt see any way to organize things in any neat fashion.

The harness is relatively stiff and hard to move around until you get all that other stuff off there. I was not comfortable in just splicing in new wire so that I could get custom lengths, so I started digging up information on all the connectors, part numbers and sources for the wire that is used (its not the standard off the shelf wire that you get in the parts stores). Most of the engine bay connectors I can get without much issue and Ive found many of the others throughout the car just so that Id have the information.

So there are things that can be done, but Im still in the beginning stages of putting it all together.

TDC, Iam terribly sorry, I must have either not seen it or forgot about it. I dont hate you, I promise.

I'll go into a little detail here, but Ive been putting together a document with all the pertinent details and while I was hoping to finish that before posting it up, I may just put it up and make updates as I get more of it done.

But anyway, nearly all the connectors come from Mouser.com, but I have had to source stuff from other locations. I get all my connector information (part number, pin part numbers and stuff like that from Delphi who makes the Metri-Pack, Weather-Pack, Micro-Pack connectors used in our cars. None of the connectors so far have been expensive at all. Most of the connector bodies can be had for a dollar or two, the terminals are like just a few pennies or a dime each. The only expensive ones Ive found are the PCM connectors and thier pins. Being gold plated they are about $0.50 each and there is probably 100 there if not more (The PCM can hold 160 connections).

Im replacing them mainly because I want to custom route my wiring. Run it so that its not so nasty looking and I wanted to upgrade the wiring to the next size up if possible. Plus I found a new type of wire loom (well new to me) that should make things real nice and protect them better.

If you need more details I'll gladly provide it, but I hope to have the start of my document up before long that will tell you what the connectors are, where the pin outs go, what parts you need and all that good stuff.

No, I intend to completely rebuild the harness. New wire, new connectors, the works. I was originally just going to splice in the wire I needed and while Ive done a lot of wire splicing in my life, a ton of soldering (was a electronic and electrical tech for all my career until I went into telecommunications) I still had concerns about that process and isolating any potential issues should they arise. So I thought it better just to put in new wire, new connectors, everything.

The TXL and GXL wire that is use (more TXL than anything) is not incredibly expensive but you cannot get all the colors that are used in the engine bay at least not in small quantities, but you can get the primary, solid colors. So my plan was to just order the colors used for power and ground; Red, Black, Orange, Yellow, etc. Then use something like white for all the signal wires. I have a cable/wire labeler at home so it will be nothing to label each wire and heat shrink it.

Most of the wiring, as I have been able to determine is in the 18awg range and I was going to step up to the 16awg wiring, which is about the max you can do with the existing terminals used in the connectors, over that then you get into the terminals and such that are not widely available. Its not much of a step but it provides a tiny bit less resistance, is a little more hardy against the heat and the environment and such.

Ive already bought a few connectors and have sources for the wiring which is all info that will be in the document.

You can certainly drop to say 20awg on the signal wiring without much issue if any, it would be the power wires that I would have concern doing that with, particularly to such things like the O2 sensors since they have high current heating elements in them.

I highly doubt that harness will get tucked up behind the front clip. If you find a way to do that I would greatly appreciate pictures.

That harness is wrapped in so much electrical tape from the factory that it is nearly bone stiff. The lighting harness is already up in that area and could possibly be routed that way, but I dont see the main engine harness making it.

Once I got all the tape and wire loom off, it was a bit easier to work the harness but even then the wiring itself is something of a squirrels nest. The wires are still fairly entangled and not easy to straighten out.

What this is going to allow me to do is move that blasted PCM to a much better location and free up some engine bay space and make it a cleaner look along with custom routing all the other connections.

That will be great when you get it all completed.. Then posted for the rest of us. It will really come in handy on my KIT project. From all of us out here. Thanks for the info.