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Resolved swap 4G37 for 4G63 n/t - wiring/harness

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sacrileger

Proven Member
288
43
Jun 26, 2016
Orillia, ON_Canada
I am taking my 4g37 engine from a 1990 Laser and replacing it with a 4g63 n/t 6-bolt motor from a 1992 Talon. The '90 Laser has no A/C, cruise, etc. The Talon does. I already took both engines out and noticed that some of the connectors dont match up, i.e. the O2 sensor. I figured I might as well swap the engine bay harness - just to be sure. And here I ran into a problem. I am trying to unplug the harness from the interior harness at the firewall on passenger side. The plug says "push" so I am "pulling" and turning to dislodge it with no success. I am hoping to plug the 4g63 harness to the interior 4g37 harness at the firewall. I searched a few post and it would appear that once I swap the ECU, and apparently the cluster as well, sigh :( , I dont need to do anything else on the inside since I am not installing A/C and/or cruise control. Any idea as to what the secret password for unplugging the harness just at the firewall is? I am attaching a pic of the "plug/connector"
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as well as some additional pics for you guys who enjoywatching garage porn.
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There are a few tabs that secure an inner plastic retainer that's right behind the rubber grommet material... gently pry the rubber around from the back of this white plastic liner, and you'll see the clips that help hold it to the firewall. These clips push towards the center of the plug, to release it
 
You can pull the rubber back from the inner plastic retainer. It has a rim around it that keeps it tight and two longer tails that go further down the harness inside that are taped to the wiring to secure it. But you just have to pull it off the rim enough to get at the plastic lock tabs.
 
thank you for replies above. I have pulled the rubber back but I still cannot see the male/female connector that separates the engine bay harness from the interior harness. Can the connector/plug be accessed from outside? I looked underneath the glove box and did not see anything that can be disconnected at the firewall so that I can pull the engine bay harness out.
 
It's not a connector, at the firewall location, but only a place where the harness passes through it... you will need to dig deeper to find where the harness terminates, at the various locations, with the majority of them being at the ECU and/or TCU (if equipped)
 
thank you for replies above. I have pulled the rubber back but I still cannot see the male/female connector that separates the engine bay harness from the interior harness. Can the connector/plug be accessed from outside? I looked underneath the glove box and did not see anything that can be disconnected at the firewall so that I can pull the engine bay harness out.

the connectors are a little higher up the under dash.

just removing the glove box usually won't do. it is even higher than where the AC unit sits under the dash.
 
you won't have to pull the dash to get the engine harness out, I have pulled many of these out, but the heater box has to come out at the least, and you might have to loosen the a/c evaporator box, if it's a/c is discharged I'd pull it out... I happen to have a full harness that I'm working on so heres some pictures of all the connectors on the dash side of that firewall grommet, I count 12 connectors including the ground ring terminal that gets bolted to the stereo frame [my harness is an automatic if yours is a 5 speed you will have a few less connectors].
 

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I did this swap many years ago, but swapped to the turbo engine. It is possible to swap the harnesses without pulling the dash as mentioned above, however, after struggling upside down and in a contorted position, I found it easier and more time efficient to pull the dash and then swap the harnesses.
 
you won't have to pull the dash to get the engine harness out, but the heater box has to come out at the least, and you might have to loosen the a/c evaporator box, if it's a/c is discharged I'd pull it out....

I am trying to get the harness out w/o pulling the dash, I got four screws out a the top and three or four at the bottom plus two clips. The entire unit is moving away from the firewall, it feels like it wants to come out but no more than one inch away from the firewall...it feels like there's another clip (or something) that is holding it down. I dont want to use force and start breaking something. Is there another fastener or clip or bracket that needs to come undone for the whole thing the come apart or drop? Is there something under the console that needs to come loose to give me more clearance? Here is what I am looking at the floor...
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...and the entire assembly
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I disconnected the harness from the ECU and the channel/tunnel is visible...it runs partially along the floor and then diagonally up towards the plug into the engine bay. Do I need to cut the underlay to get to the clips that hold the harness in place?
 
the blower unit can be separated from the condenser housing.


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in this pic, there's one more nut on top of the tranny cable that you need to remove. [leftmost part of the pic]
 
the blower unit can be separated from the condenser housing.


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in this pic, there's one more nut on top of the tranny cable that you need to remove. [leftmost part of the pic]

Actually that nut on top of the tranny cable supports the heater unit and does not need to be touched. The condenser unit is the one that would not come out and the reason for that was a rookie mistake - not disconnecting the rest of the air conditioner lines in the engine bay. It was hiding under the rest of the harness (see pics in first few posts) and I simply forgot about it! Once I disconnected the A/C lines, the whole condenser unit popped out like nothing! You can see the A/C connectors thru the hole in the firewall.
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Once that is done, access to the harness is easy - all one has to do is to roll down the underlay.
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@mitsubishikid and @kronus are correct. If one can avoid making rookie mistakes, personally, I think this is the way to do it. Had I not got stuck with the A/C lines, it was a 30min job for me. I consider this task done and solved.
 
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looks like you got it man, sorry for the late response, you can add a few wires and wire connectors into that and you should be set to turbo it, but even if you don't decide to go Turbo, the dohc motors they are a lot smoother then the 1.8 SOHC, so even if you don't turbo you should be happy with the ether setup over it.
 
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