So if anyone feels masochistic you can tackle what i just did. A week or so ago i was chasing a really rough running condition with an occassional full loss of power. I checked everything i could think of and everything was good so a few hours at a time this past week i pulled every single wire out of my car and eliminated everything not neccesary to running or smog(ca). I got a wire diagram of the ecu from a guy on pirate and i have that in email if anyone wants it.
So instead of spending spring break partying in mexico i redid my renix electrical system.
So long story short my car runs great now and i am posting to tell of tips from my headaches and that it can be done to clean up some unnecessary routing from the factory.
Things i eliminated overall(past and present work):
Air conditioning lines and all wiring involved.
Rear wiper and motor.
Dome light
Courtesy lights inside
All 4wd lighting and vacuum disconnect things
Parking brake and seat belt lights(i feel confident enough in my intelligence to know when my brake is pulled and my seat belt is secure)
All speakers except front doors
Knock sensor but kept everything if i need to put it in later.
Ac relay
Diagnostic connectors
And i have manual locks windows seats etc. so all that wiring is now gone too.
5 speed so anything auto trans related
Things i changed:
Rerouted all the wiring that goes in front of the grill (besides lights) to behind the engine to the passenger side. This eliminated an estimated 3ft off of every wire.
Eliminated every big connector because i dont ever need to take out harnesses that way again.
Redid every factory splice and crimp(most were corroded pretty bad under the duct tape)
Connected every ground closer to their origin instead of some ground wires being grounded over five away!
Covered every butt splice, crimp, ground connection in either real tape or liquid electrical tape.
Cleaned out 29 year old gunk from the firewall connection behind the fuse box.
Overall i found corrosion in almost every factory crimp under the duct tape. I also found a gross amount of black gunk in the firewall connector. I found a few bare wire spots that i never would have found by simply reading wires. I filled an entire five gallon bucket(stuffed not loose) with wire i eliminated. Every wire is now 100% waterproof and almost every connector is eliminated. The only connectors i kept was the sensor connections if i need to change one. They were all smothered in dialectric grease then taped to hopefully avoid any corrosion possibility. All i need now is to find a way to easily relocate my alternator and i can have some peace of mind when puddles appear.
This whole thing was so tedious i only spent a few hours a day before i was ready to scream. I worked for 6 days on it. If you know how to read a wire diagram and read wires with a multimeter and have supreme skills at conquering boredom this whole process probably could have been done in one long day. I did not take pictures as usual. But rest assured the engine bay looks way cleaner and less cluttered that before(it wasnt clean and neat like a lot of peoples).
Tips: label every connector or loose wires and if a label falls off dont think you will remember it even just for a minute. Stop what you are doing and redo or reattach the label. If you come across multiple origin splices like grounds or lights make a plan on what goes where or where you are changing the routing before cutting the splices. A few times there are two wires coming in one side and 3-4 on the other side and the second i cut the crimp the wires didnt drop neatly like i thought they would. They flew all different directions then by the time i found all the wires i forgot where i putting them or if i was just redoing the crimp. During the proccess i wanted to burn down not only my car but my parents house that it was in, but in the end it was worth it and i feel way more confident in the wiring and going over bumps and through puddles and mud. Good luck if anyone else feels up to it.
So instead of spending spring break partying in mexico i redid my renix electrical system.
So long story short my car runs great now and i am posting to tell of tips from my headaches and that it can be done to clean up some unnecessary routing from the factory.
Things i eliminated overall(past and present work):
Air conditioning lines and all wiring involved.
Rear wiper and motor.
Dome light
Courtesy lights inside
All 4wd lighting and vacuum disconnect things
Parking brake and seat belt lights(i feel confident enough in my intelligence to know when my brake is pulled and my seat belt is secure)
All speakers except front doors
Knock sensor but kept everything if i need to put it in later.
Ac relay
Diagnostic connectors
And i have manual locks windows seats etc. so all that wiring is now gone too.
5 speed so anything auto trans related
Things i changed:
Rerouted all the wiring that goes in front of the grill (besides lights) to behind the engine to the passenger side. This eliminated an estimated 3ft off of every wire.
Eliminated every big connector because i dont ever need to take out harnesses that way again.
Redid every factory splice and crimp(most were corroded pretty bad under the duct tape)
Connected every ground closer to their origin instead of some ground wires being grounded over five away!
Covered every butt splice, crimp, ground connection in either real tape or liquid electrical tape.
Cleaned out 29 year old gunk from the firewall connection behind the fuse box.
Overall i found corrosion in almost every factory crimp under the duct tape. I also found a gross amount of black gunk in the firewall connector. I found a few bare wire spots that i never would have found by simply reading wires. I filled an entire five gallon bucket(stuffed not loose) with wire i eliminated. Every wire is now 100% waterproof and almost every connector is eliminated. The only connectors i kept was the sensor connections if i need to change one. They were all smothered in dialectric grease then taped to hopefully avoid any corrosion possibility. All i need now is to find a way to easily relocate my alternator and i can have some peace of mind when puddles appear.
This whole thing was so tedious i only spent a few hours a day before i was ready to scream. I worked for 6 days on it. If you know how to read a wire diagram and read wires with a multimeter and have supreme skills at conquering boredom this whole process probably could have been done in one long day. I did not take pictures as usual. But rest assured the engine bay looks way cleaner and less cluttered that before(it wasnt clean and neat like a lot of peoples).
Tips: label every connector or loose wires and if a label falls off dont think you will remember it even just for a minute. Stop what you are doing and redo or reattach the label. If you come across multiple origin splices like grounds or lights make a plan on what goes where or where you are changing the routing before cutting the splices. A few times there are two wires coming in one side and 3-4 on the other side and the second i cut the crimp the wires didnt drop neatly like i thought they would. They flew all different directions then by the time i found all the wires i forgot where i putting them or if i was just redoing the crimp. During the proccess i wanted to burn down not only my car but my parents house that it was in, but in the end it was worth it and i feel way more confident in the wiring and going over bumps and through puddles and mud. Good luck if anyone else feels up to it.
