HELP! Found burnt wire!!

[Omie01]

I was cleaning up my wire harnesses yesterday and found a wire that had melted a foot and a half back from the plug terminal!! It is a red/light green, which is one of two that go into the same terminal in the boot. I think one goes to starter solenoid and other goes to coil? I need the boot/connector with about 6" of the wires to make repair, but I forgot who on the forum here specializes in selling the wire stuff for our cars. Can anyone point me in the right direction to get one of these boot/wire connectors?

 

[midlife]

That's me.

You'll need to describe which part of the harness this is: is it the engine gauge feed harness, the headlight harness, or the underdash...

 

[Omie01]

I believe the underdash, It comes from the main harness that comes out of the drivers side firewall, then the bundle that goes over toward the trans wiring stuff. Its a straight line 4 pin terminal that looks like a stock trailer wiring plug (4 terminals, 3 female, 1 male). My electrical manual says its 14290, C-8, "Engine compartment on dash at rear of engine" The wires are as follows: Black with white dash marks, Red/light green (2 wires), white/red, Red/white. I need the connector with about 3-6 inches of wire on it or more. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!!........Omie

 

[midlife]

That's actually from the headlight harness. PM or e-mail me, and I can probably provide that plug with a pigtail with the correct wires for $10 plus a couple for shipping.

I'd be concerned that there might be more damage further down the line under the tape. Also, any idea how the short occurred?

 

[Omie01]

I have no idea how it occurred, I think it may have happened when the PO tried to wire in a new distributor. Right now I have all the wiring in the engine bay exposed, and I can follow that wire back about 3 ft, only about 18" of insulation in melted off. I will follow it back as far as I can, And will repair any damage with similar guage wire. I just need the boot with some lead so I can make repairs, the one side of the burn goes all the way to that boot. The wire never broke, just melted the insulation. The car was running and functioning when I got it.

 

[Omie01]

OK, I just went out and looked at it again, cut it back a few inches from where the insulation was melted and the rest of the wire is fine going the rest of the way back into the car. As far as I can tell there is no damage to any of the other wires. So I should just need the one boot!! Thanks again for the help!!!

 

[MotoArts]

But, have you found what CAUSED the melt down?

There's high resistance somewhere.

I wouldn't be good with just replacing the bad section if it were mine. Wiring faults (in my experience) can be tough to find, but worth the effort. Check all connections in the circuit for corrosion; clean, (silicone) grease and reassemble just to eliminate the easy stuff...

 

[Omie01]

The wire was melted before I got the car, the car was running great when I got it, I'm pretty sure it melted when the PO put the aftermarket distributor and coil in the car because they messed with all the wires of that connection to install them. Looks like the wire had a bare spot and grounded to the motor. I have cleaned and traced every wire under the hood!!