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Why NOT to use duct tape to repair wiring....

poorboy_616

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Vancouver, WA
Duct tape and it's adhesive can be electrically conductive, plus it melts at a low tempterature SO DON'T USE DUCT TAPE FOR ELECTRICAL REPAIRS!!!

Use electrical tape, shrink tube or rubber friction tape to make your repairs.

This is the underhood wire harness on my 87 renix......

0901081228-02.jpg

This was a seriuos bad case of DSPO (dumb shit previous owner)

0901081229-01.jpg


What a biotch....

It started with the fuel pump dying and snowballed from there.....

0901081227-02.jpg


Entire album Linky: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/poorboy_616/Jeep%20carnage/
 
thats as bad if not as worse as mine he had the elec. fan hooked to a switch the ac one so only hi and off and the radio was always on and the ac compressor was cut and had a switch to it. why cant stupid people just ASK FOR HELP sometimes it really pisses me off other peoples stupidity good luck with all the wires


let me ask you one question about the last pic which is the hi and lo side on the ac compressor, (sorry for the steal but i cant figure out how to post pics) the one thats the closest to the drivers side or passengers side Thanks
 
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I can't do a damn thing until tommorow....
Okay, I can stare in wonder and amazement that it didn't burn to the ground.....

SO far I need wire, butt connectors, electrical tape (i have some but not nearly enough), zip ties and shot gun to kill the PO with....

Hopefully I won't need a new ECU. Renix XJ's are rare birds in my local boneyard.

It smoked about three feet of the red power wire for the fuel pump circuit before I could get the cable off. But there is damage to other circuits wires, so it's not just a simple cut/paste job. Luckily don't have to replace the new fuse link....
 
If you go to a good electronics/electrical store you will be able to match all the color combinations but personally I would hit a JY and cut an old harness out, might save you time if you can find one, I would also invest in a good soldering iron and a jig with aligator clips on it to hold wires, that way you can butt solder them together instead of twisting and soldering which tend to leave voids.
I would also pick up a few feet of split loom, 1 or 2" size. Remember to stagger the splices so you don't end up with 20 of them in the same area if you can. Other option is go buy 4 20 or 30 pin plugs, I don't know how many are in the harness, 2 male and 2 female. I have shrink tubing in my kit that is 3" in diameter and I have a selection of shrink tubing in various colors and diameters in 4 ft lengths. Either way, boy what a mess. How difficult would it be to pull an old harness out of a wreck and just replace the whole thing ?
 
It doesn't look too difficult to pull the harness out. The only thing that keeps it in right now is the TCU wiring, MAP sensor plug, CPS plug and the bulkhead connector....


I am going to attempt to repair this one, if that fails then I will search for a wrecked Renix parts rig. Not a bad idea with the 30 pin plugs. My old boss at napa has a ford catalog with those plugs in it. Plus I am good friends with the local Ford $tealer parts manager, so I might get a deal on the plugs.

Once the parts store opens tommorow, I will be stopping in to by wire and connectors. All I really want to do is get the thing up and running. Then it's new harness time.....
 
fawk man, I HAVE a renix harness I could yank from the parts xj. i'd only be able to get at it this coming weekend. it's good, with OEM radio wiring etc. intact, and I don't believe it's been screwed with other than having a couple switch harnesses cut out, and the power window/lock harness removed.
 
All I hopefully would need is the underhood harness from the battery connections, to the bulk head connector for the ECU. The rest seems to fine......

I dig into it hardcore tommorow......(I might be able to get away with patching in new wire.....)
 
ever wonder why value goes down on cars?
this is AMERICA, where we are free to fuck up our vehicles, and sell them to some schmuck when we're done smelling our own B.0. on the seats.

GOTCHA BITCH! srsly though, its an 87, let us know when you find acorns or alligators
 
what is up with the acorns in the jeeps this is the 2nd one i have herd of?????? and i thought one was weird. and what does this really mean
because self righteous ass hats so often jump in their ass about searching and starting flaming them...????
 
t-frady said:
let me ask you one question about the last pic which is the hi and lo side on the ac compressor, (sorry for the steal but i cant figure out how to post pics) the one thats the closest to the drivers side or passengers side Thanks

Ya know, I still havent figured that out......

Usually the high side has the smaller diameter hose, but mine seems to have the same size on each end......

I will be hard at it in the morning, so I will look then.
 
I don't think you can blame the previous owner for all of it. The factory used quite a bit of duct tape in the harness. In particular, it was used around many of the crimped connections, some of which were just bare wires crimped together without a typical sleeve.

I looked through your pictures. My 89 and most of the junkyard Jeeps all had grey duct tape in the same places, plus a lot of that sticky black tape. I'm not convinced the adhesive would ever conduct enough to make a difference.
 
lawsoncl said:
I don't think you can blame the previous owner for all of it. The factory used quite a bit of duct tape in the harness. In particular, it was used around many of the crimped connections, some of which were just bare wires crimped together without a typical sleeve.

I looked through your pictures. My 89 and most of the junkyard Jeeps all had grey duct tape in the same places, plus a lot of that sticky black tape. I'm not convinced the adhesive would ever conduct enough to make a difference.

I haven't come across any duct tape to date, I've done a lot of pokin and troubleshotting too, 89 xj
 
I know a guy that wires up all sorts of things in his car....just twists the wire together and then ductapes them.

I keep telling him the best way is to solder and use electrical tape or at least use those crimp-style connections. He's fixed on how it is just fine to wire that way. There's only so much you can do to make somebody aware that duct tape and twisted-together wires isn't right.....they'll have to learn from experience when something burns. He's just been lucky that nothing has happend thus far.

Just my experience with that sort of BS wiring.
 
It may just be me, but EVERY RENIX I've worked on had duct tape on the loom somewhere. Usually around the splice/junction of yellow wires and some around the splice/junction of black wires. Or anyplace some felt the need to 'add' something in 'professional' manner.

Can anybody else confirm this? Was this a factory thing?
 
I found duct tape at the ground splices (which is okay) and at the yellow splices (I think sensor grounds, also okay to use there). All duct tape has been replace with e-tape, just to avoid future problems.

I got the thing running tonight! Which makes me VERY happy!

I ended up being suprised by which power wire it was though. The TCM memory power wire was the one that was shorted. The fuel pump and the TCM share the same fuse link for power, but use different wires once past the link.....

The ENTIRE wire from the TCM plug to the battery connection was fried. So after a new wire being spliced in, she now runs and drives.

What a PITA!!

As of this moment the loom is still laying on top of the engine so I can inspect for further FUBAR....

I did drive it the 3/4 mile home with no issues, even with the loom out in the open....
 
Cool. Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Was your splice of the black ground wires up on the passenger side of the firewall just crimped without a sleeve or anything as well? I thought that was pretty weird when I found it. I had the loom open when I spliced in a TCU and found much of the same gooey duct tape mess. I redid all of the questionable crimped joints with solder and heat shrink, and either friction tape or electrical tape to rebundle it.
 
I found the ground splice in the middle of the harness. I also found the yellow wires spliced and covered with duct tape....

I have since stripped the tape and put on E-tape....

I will be re-looming it all tommorow morning in preporation for Rod Run this weekend. My moving is all done, so now it's time to relax and have fun......

www.funbeach.com and click the sidebar Rod Run links. Might be under slow drag though.....

I was hoping I could show the brother-in-laws 1967 Dodge Polara, but he decided not to put it in the show. :(
 
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