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1G Resource for wiring supplies, and injector plug replacement.

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oren hughbanks

Proven Member
266
27
Aug 4, 2014
prescott valley, Arizona
The time has come to tackle some wiring projects on my 1g. I'm looking for a source on some better quality wire, high temp jacketing, and auxillary plugs. I'm really tired of using low quality spade plugs and that crappy plastic wiring loom you get at autozone Napa etc. I'm looking into the weatherproof plugs, or "weather pac" style, just haven't tried them before. I'm looking to setup my rad fans and headlights onto their own circuits, and I don't want a nest of wires on the battery terminals.


I'm sure I'm not the only DSM owner that's plagued with crunchy broken brittle wiring. I'v replaced all the major sensor plugs with new pigtails, and the only thing left to do is the injector plugs. I have atleast 16 pigtails salvaged from other DSM at the salvage yard. I'm planning on clipping off the old plugs one at at time, then zapping the new ones on with a touch of rosin core solder, then a cover with heat shrink. I'm not sure if the solder is going to interfere with the resistance of the injectors, or if over time it can crack from vibrations and heat? If anyone else has gone through their harness before some pointers would be appreciated.
 
Solder will quite likely crack over time. It weakens the wire where you solder, and the wire will often crack just on the edge of the solder joint. Adding adhesive lined heatshrink or other coverings over it to strengthen the joint will make it last longer, but the best fix is no solder joint. just keep in mind that it won't be as flexible at the joint, and you will want to support/secure it somewhere so it doesn't flop around. The extra weight of the solder joint/heatshrink etc can lead to more wire breaks as the harness bounces around underhood.

Both the OEM connectors, and the terminals are available from my website, or other shops on here. Avoid Weatherpack connectors, they are crap. Metripack and GT150 connectors are better, or you can stick with the OEM connectors and styles. Waytek, Mouser are both good sources of those if you are comfortable looking up your own part numbers. Or places like Ballenger motorsports and Caspers sell Metripack and GT150 connector kits.

Here's a cut/paste on wire info from my site:

The mil-spec, tefzel, or aerospace grade(depending on who's talking about it) wire is great. It is very flexible, is rated for temps up to 150 C, and has a good sheathing. The sheathing is a good bit thinner than many, so it might not do as well on an impact or getting squished. But it is great aside from that. It just isn't cheap.

I have been using the wire used by most automotive OEMs in the US now. It follows SAE spec J1128. TXL(thinner wall sheathing) and GXL(standard wall thickness sheathing) are great options for wiring. They are much more affordable for wiring, and wire costs will add up if you are doing a lot of wiring. It is rated to 125 C, which is much better than the OEM, but not quite as good as Tefzel. Very chemical resistant, and flexible(with an exception below).

There are several sources for GXL or TXL wire(US automotive standard). But there are 2 limitations. Many do not offer striped wire without buying large amounts. And almost everyone selling the GXL or TXL, sell the lower quality version for 20 gauge wires. The 20 gauge comes in a 7 strand, and a 13 or 19 strand version. Aftermarket companies carry the 7 strand, which is less flexible, prone to breaking with any sort of stress applied. In the OEM harnesses I have examined, they use the 19 strand, which is much more flexible.

If you look at the OEM DSM harness, many circuits are 0.5mm wire which is close to 20 gauge. If you are recreating a harness, you will want to stay near the OEM size on most circuits, or else you will make the diameter of the harness grow significantly. This means using a wire that is both the same or near the same gauge, as well as using one that has a sheathing that is close to the same size.

I have 20 gauge TXL and GXL, in the 19 strand versions. Currently I mostly have GXL in solid wire colors, and a few TXL wires in stripes. I am working on getting stripes in to match some of the color combinations used on these cars. Contact me to if you are interested in these.

If you are going for the larger gauge wiring Waytek wire is a great source for the GXL and TXL in 18 gauge and larger. Their 20 gauge wire is the 7 strand type I would avoid.

For the tefzel wire, check out ProWireUSA. They have a lot of tefzel in a bunch of different gauges, and have many choices for the striped wires as well. They also carry a lot of the other components like Raychem tubing and Deutsch Autosport connnectors. I have not dealt with them personally, but the people I have spoken with that ordered from them said they were good to deal with.
 
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Awesome thanks for the info. I feel pretty competent in my wiring skills, and I'm ready to step up to good quality materials.

When I first bought my 1g, one of the main problems it had was that the headlights went out. The P.O. had spliced in a HID conversion kit, and used spade connectors jammed into the plug ends for the original headlights. He went to turn the headlights on for a morning drive to work, and poof! Headlights are gone.

Whatever the problem is, it took the
headlights, tail lights, running lights, and dash lights out. I've tried everything, switched out relays, and checked all the fuses over and over. Swapped out the switch on the column, and still no lights.

So for a temp fix (2yr temp fix) I put the
HID ballasts onto a relay, with a toggle
switch in the dash. On the positive wire to one if the ballasts, I spliced off a positive feed into the relay that powers the headlights, and now when I power up the lights, I get dash lights, running lights. I know not the best fix. . . But I want to avoid digging into the factory harness at all costs.
I know I'm just fending off the inevitable of
a total harness replacement, but I'd like to rebuild a little more dependable solution for now.
 
Adding to this; if anyone is looking to stripe there own wires to match the factory striped wires I have found a 3-D printed tool and a how to video on a Porsche forum that is perfect. I can't seem to add a STL file to my post so you guys can download it, otherwise I would. I had to go to the Porsche forum to get access to this free 3-D file.
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Adding tracer stripes to solid-colored wires

https://www.carpokes.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=927&p=9919#p9919

Finding 20 AWG 19 strand wire that had the correct stripes in small lengths was near impossible to very expensive. Finding 20 AWG 19 strand wire was not. Now I can add my own colored stripe to the wire.

-Richard Silva-
'93 Talon TSi
O.G. Talon Digest member 96-2002
OG SoCal Club DSM co-founder
1997 Club DSM factory tour participant
2004 5th gen ideas participant for Mitsu marketing, R&D, & engineering
 
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