My Wire Tuck and Engine Bay Clean Up Part 1

[Blurred Talon]

Over the past couple of days I removed all the loom and electrical tape from the OEM harness. This is a super messy job, went through a couple pairs of nitrile gloves.

First day, I got up to the DRL/High beam relay bracket done (that's what those relay rust things are). I'll likely be doing away with the bracket as it's pretty pointless and HUGE to mount two little things. I'm also looking into rewiring my DRLs.

Day 2, I got all the way up to the fuse box. You'll also see the pile of loom and tape that's come off so far.

Day 3 (today), I started by removing the bracket from the fuse box and then removing the bottom from it.

From there I finished up the forward chassis/fuse box harness.

Then I turned my attention to the engine harness, this one went by pretty quick in comparison. It's 95% done, I left the loom on somethings for now.

Pile of garbage.

Over the weekend I'm going to depin and remove the wires I no longer need. The list is:
Everything AC related.
Everything ABS related
Cruise Control
Fuel Pressure Solenoid
EGR Control Solenoid
Brake fluid level switch
Theft Alarm Horn
EVAP Solenoid
Front and rear O2 Sensors (I have a wideband and via ECM Link I can simulate narrow band functions)
Fog Lights
Oil Pressure Gauge (dash one, replaced by an aftermarket)
Hood Switch
MAF connector (leave the wires needed for IAT sensor for Speed Density)
Fuel Pump Check Connector
Engine Speed Detection Connector
Ignition Timing Check Connector

I'm also going to order the Deutsch HDT-48-00 crimper and some DT series connectors to start working on the harness itself. I'll be using a 12 pin connector to make a Fuel Injector harness, another connector will replace the wiper motor one, one of the fuse box (will be mounted where the passenger air bag was) and another to mount into the firewall.

 

[airmail96]

Sounds pretty awesome, I would love to take on something like this, I just don't trust myself to take the time and pay enough attention to detail .

 

[Blurred Talon]

It's all in the planning. I've got a note book here that I'm taking all my notes in.

 

[1995gstr]

Good stuff man, I was going to take my hand at wire tuck/removal, I got as far as removing the wire harness from ecu to engine bay then waited a week and put it all back.

 

[andyb2637]

Very nice! Now the question is whats the price for me to send you mine so you can make it nice n clean like that???

 

[DSM_love_GST]

Can you go more in depth. I have my motor already out, and want to start my tuck but idk where to start. Please pm me if you can help! awesom work btw!

 

[Boostinsideways]

Its pretty simple once you get down to it. It basically consists of removing the harness, peeling off the loom/tape/gunk and then removing the stuff you don't need.

You do need a few small pics and flat tip screw drivers, as well as a pair of good needle nose, and some tweezers to de-pin the connectors. Its rather hard to explain de-pinning. But if you look at the connectors, there is a color locking collar that holds the pins in place. You want to pry that out, then pry the pin catch forward while you push down on the pin.

Just make notes or take pictures as you take the harness apart.

I've found that it helps if you plan out how your going to route your wires with some rope or string.

I ran my #1 injector, #2 injector, crank/cam sensors, and noise ground together all the way to the other side of the intake manifold.

I ran my injector resistor seperate from everything.

I ran my #3, #4, coil pack, ignitor, ISC, and TPS together under the heater core lines and along the bottom of the manifold.

I ran my Coolant Temp Sender, Coolant Temp Sensor, o2, and knock sensor together underneath the shifter cables.

I ran my MAF, Reverse Light, and Fusebox connector together along the passenger frame rail.

The Coolant Bottle sensor is ran by itself. My coolant bottle is relocated to the firewall.

I ran the Firewall grounds bythemself. The wiper motor connector is by itself.

I looped my throttle cable underneath my manifold and deleted the cruise.

PM me if you have a specific question.

 

[Blurred Talon]

I can't give a ton of info as I haven't done too much yet.
You MUST have the FSM Electrical book, get on eBay (where I got mine for $20 shipped for both books) and buy a set of FSMs for your year of DSM. They are so much better then any thing else.

I highly suggest you pull the dash out.

Start by labeling all your under hood connections. There's 2 harnesses in the engine bay the engine control harness and fuse box (front chassis) harness. Label every single connector.
This thread will help you figuring out what is what: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...047-2g-engine-bay-electrical-connections.html

From there pull the engine harness. I disconnected all the plugs, then pulled the boot from the firewall (it's got 4 tabs that need to be pushed in, flat head comes in handy). Then move inside and unplug the ecu connections, MPFI relays and rear O2 sensor connection. You'll see 3 or 4 connectors that go to the dash, these need to be removed, I unbolted the dash bracket first. After all that is done the engine harness can come out.

Chassis harness, pop both fenders off. You'll see more of those boots, take them out. Driver side has 4-6 connectors inside the fender/cabin; passenger side has 2 plus the ABS stuff. Then just undo the wire clips and connectors to pull it out plus unbolt the fuse box.

When I start depinning stuff later today I will get some pictures of how to do it exactly. I've misplaced my jeweler's screw drivers and have to buy more.

Boostinsideways; Thanks! I've got some good plans in place already. My harness will be complete modular and similar to what turbosax2 and 16g-gsx have done with their cars. I'm going to be ordering the Deustch stuff by the end of the weekend.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Just made a big order wire Wirecare.com;
Deustsch Connectors and Crimpers
Flexo F6 Braided Sleeving
Various sizes of 2:1 heat shrink
Various sizes of 3:1 adhesive walled heat shrink
Hot Knife!

After I come home from work I'm going to order a new soldering station.

 

[TheMadCheshire]

Looks sweet. I hope it turns out good. I would recommend keeping the fpr and/or egr wires incase you want to use them for like methanol injection or such. They tuck away nicely if you keep them seperate

 

[Blurred Talon]

I won't be using them in the future.
However I will be holding on to the removed wires. That's the great thing about depinning wire, it's easy to stick it back in place.

 

[Boostinsideways]

Blurred, its "Tank" from DSMP. If you have any specific questions or would like any photos of how I routed my connectors PM here or on DSMP.

I just did an engine bay tuck and relocated my fuse box to the trans mount. I do plan on Building a full on milspec harness in the future, but I had to figure out a solution for the rats nest of wires I had as the previous owner had ditched the intake manifold loom and I just a total clusterf#%k of wires.

I am planning out my milspec harness atm. But that will be further down the road. I need to get some DSM-link and fuel first. And then probably paint.

Really like how your going with your car. Seems like we both have a lot of similar interests in mods on our cars. I'm not really trying to build a 9 second quartermile warrior, or a roadcourse car. Just a really clean tastefully done 2gb Talon.

 

[Boostinsideways]

Oh hey, I was wondering if you still planned on doing the Big single connector at the firewall? Any clue of how to pull that off?

 

[Boostinsideways]

Here is a write up that was allready done. It is for a 1g, and its only the engine bay harness. But this is basically how I have my stuff routed.


http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...g/364498-rerouting-engine-wiring-harness.html

I didn't even read this write up beforehand. It just seemed like the best way.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Hey man. I will certainly PM you, I'm a while away from trying to fit things in/under the hood. I need to buy a manifold and my MAP and IAT sensors first.

I'd love to go mil spec but not on this shell, I'll wait till I have a cleaner one. I'm building the car for how I want it to be, doesn't need to be the fastest or best looking, I just have to like it.

As for the fire wall connector, I'm not 100% sure yet. I'm thinking of putting it behind the motor if I can find something to plug the OEM harness hole. I dunno if Mitsu lists a plug for it, I haven't found it yet in ASA. I'm wondering if something from a Honda might work but I need to know the size of our hole first. Could you maybe measure yours for me?

 

[Boostinsideways]

Sure, I can pop the harness out pretty quickly. I modded the firewall plug for easy removal. I will get some measurements later on today.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Thanks man.

Also, couple other questions; where did you put your Fuel Injector Resistor box?
Your Engine Speed Detection Connector (blue plug), did you shorten the wires down into the harness and just connect them or?!

 

[TRBOBLU]

I started doing work on my fusebox/engine bay harness about a week ago. I have some pictures that show how to remove the pesky retainers in the back of the fuse box and also some pictures that will show how to de-pin all the connectors on that harness.

If you have any problems or think you might be interested in the pictures let me know.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Thanks! I've had no trouble so far but I haven't touched the fuse box harness yet.

Did some more work on the harness over the weekend.
A set of picks works great for depinning the various connectors, these things only cost me $7 maybe.

I started by unpinning the Red/Blue wire and black wire from the MAF plug. These are for the MAFs IAT circuit, I will be using these for speed density. I still need to reroute it up around the injector harness.

I rerouted the Injector Resistor box connector to the interior.

Here's everything I removed; MAF connector, Fuel Pressure Solenoid, EGR Solenoid, Fuel Pump Check Connector, Ignition Timing Check Connector, Brake Fluid Switch, Theft Alarm Horn.

 

[TRBOBLU]

Nice gloves! Messing with these harnesses is nastier than working on a DSM with a bad oil leak. Some of the black crap that comes off I swear is permanent.

I will have to look into those tools. Where did you get them? I could actually see those being more useful than the small screw driver set for de-pinning.

 

[Blurred Talon]

I got them from Princess Auto which is the Canadian version of Harbor Freight.

You're right the harness is nasty, the FPS and EGR connectors were filled with this nasty brown crap, not sure what it was.

 

[TRBOBLU]

Blurred Talon. I bought my engine bay harness online and have one connector that I have not been able to identify easily. Since I do not have my car in front of me and it appears your harness is well labeled I was hoping you could help.

The connector is the 3 wire connector pictured(the smaller connector). It is right next to the main combination connector that connects the 2 main harnesses together. It is within 12-16 inches of the engine bay fuse box. Here are the pics.

 

[TRBOBLU]

Sorry to clutter up your post. I found the answer(Thanks Turbosax2). It is here if anyone else is curious.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/402040-omron-relay-broke.html

 

[Blurred Talon]

Np, I was going to say the only thing over there is the Alt Relay.

 

[DSM4LIFE-AWD]

You're f*****g slow Anthony ... Haha just kidding my friend ! Nice work so far.

Just for your information chek the dash harness for fun, I know your car is MT and the dash harness is the same for AT so you'll see that there are many wires there that are not even connected. Chek out the connector and match the wires. You can't believe how much wires I removed that way !