EFI Wire Harness Solder / Splicing

[dave w]

So I did some wire harness work today. I took some pics with my cell phone camera, mostly to learn how to use the camera feature. Nothing special, just twist and solder wires together. I use two layers of shrink tubing after I solder the wire splice.

Soldering saves $$$

dave w

 

[dave w]

Here are some pics of a factory wire splice. I needed to remove one of the gray wires. Amazing how the factory uses duct tape!

dave w

 

[4X4HIGH]

Any electrical connection I make is done exactly like you've done including the heat shrink (except I only use a single piece).

 

[eagle mark]

I went the expensive route! Actually they are very cheap, crimp conections with no cover. I slide the wires in and solder them and shrink wrap. No crimp...

 

[dave w]

I wanted to upgrade to a new style Fuel Pump Relay. I'm on a budget so I got the parts from a salvage yard. I could not source the connector ends locally, and I wanted to get things done! So I soldered the wires to the old connectors. I also reused the seals to the connector.

BTW ... any comments on the pic quality of my cell phone camera?

dave w

 

[eagle mark]

Very nice pictures from a cell phone! Actually good pictures period!

 

[dave w]

I went the expensive route! Actually they are very cheap, crimp conections with no cover. I slide the wires in and solder them and shrink wrap. No crimp...

I use the method described above for a splice, or adding a wire to a circuit. I crimp the connector to allow hands free soldering. I leave some wire exposed past the crimp connector to allow solder to flow into the connector.

dave w

 

[eagle mark]

Good tips Dave!

I do those things without even thinking about it, I guess from years of practice. Most of my wiring is done on the bench even more so now that I set up an EFI test bench. There I have a soldering station we (my son and I) bought years ago when we were into building RC cars, mostly rock crawlers.

The soldering station as it's called has a long cord to the handle/tip with heat control. It's a great way to make an average solder'er an excellent as the heat is almost instant recovery when touched to the object being soldered.

But it's not practical for soldering on a car so I recently bought a butane soldering iron with a pen tip. Although not near as excellent as the bench top soldering station it works excellent for remote locations.

Another tip some guys don't realize is electrical noise caused by a crimped connections. It may not be noticed when wiring in a car. But when dealing with EFI a soldered conection will not create this noise or grounding current loss. This is a major siiue with Wideband O2 sensors.

 

[dave w]

An update on the tools I have for working on wiring.

dave w

 

[1BEATK5]

i have a couple of paperclips with an alligator clip soldered to each end.
the gators hold the pieces together while you solder, and the paper clip part makes its adjustable. kinda like a 3rd or even 4th hand to hold the wires in the right place for repair.
i repair alot of door to body harness wiring, and those things are a huge time saver.

 

[eagle mark]

i have a couple of paperclips with an alligator clip soldered to each end.
the gators hold the pieces together while you solder, and the paper clip part makes its adjustable. kinda like a 3rd or even 4th hand to hold the wires in the right place for repair.
i repair alot of door to body harness wiring, and those things are a huge time saver.

that's a great tip! Kinda like this one on my bench but portable to go with my Berzomatic portable soldering iron.