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Painless TBI harness...??? any one used one

shady

shady

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Is it worth doing... $460 seems like a lot, but since-

1. I've already had 1 major harness failure causing me major headaches till it was found.

2. My truck still seems to have an electrical issue, even with all components except harness already being new (due to trying to find/fix #1:rolleyes:)

3. Due to the previous fire, and the TBI fire recently. 3/4 of the plugs are melted to some degree.

4. Why go through the hassle of putting a used harness in when literally everything else is new :dunno:

My main questions i guess are,....

A. Has anyone ever used the painless harness?

B. Do they fit and install as good as they advertise?
and
C. Is a harness swap as bad as others have told me? (doesn't seem like it would be overly hard on these trucks to me. :dunno:)
 
Howell is identical and a little less expensive. I have used both and they are plug and play. Worth every penny. I have stripped harnesses before, these save a bunch of time and are clean.
 
I used a painless wiring harness on a 62 corvette,not near as complicated as a tbi harness,but it fit perfect and had all the correct ends,a very good way to go
 
I'm curious about painless harnesses as well. Except mine would be for a carbed k5. Are they pretty simple to install?
 
76k5blazerr said:
I'm curious about painless harnesses as well. Except mine would be for a carbed k5. Are they pretty simple to install?
Click to expand...

The TBA is separate from the truck harness. Both are supper easy to install. The truck/body harness is labeled along each wire for location. Idiot proof.
 
I suppose it depends what part of the harness you are talking about doing.

If just the engine bay side, pretty simple. If you are talking about fuse panel+, then it's not simple. Not impossible, just have to gut essentially the whole truck. The dash area is the big one.
 
ktmoutfront said:
Howell is identical and a little less expensive. I have used both and they are plug and play. Worth every penny. I have stripped harnesses before, these save a bunch of time and are clean.
Click to expand...
Thanks,:thumb: that's a question I never thought about...
D. Who makes similar alternatives? I'll have to check that Howell out

Mastiff said:
What caused your TBI fire?
Click to expand...
that is still a mystery :dunno: Didn't pop back, didn't make any sound... It was during the time that my ECM ground was broken and I was cranking it over to see if it would start that time to use a timing light and watch the injectors.... I started it and it ran for about 30 seconds, I started it again and it ran for about 5, I cranked it over the third time and it never even tried to pop off so I turned the key off and something caught my eye..... I looked at the engine through the hood/dash gap and my TBI had foot tall flames licking up off of it..... balled my shirt up and smothered it out quick....

A little before that is when I noticed my injectors ran liquid gas out of them along with the spray, and whenever it died or I quit cranking it due to no start, gas would come out of the injectors for a bit with the key off and pool about an 1/8" to 1/4" of raw gas on top of the throttle valves.....

How in the hey it ignited :dunno: its bothered me ever since
 
I just looked into the Howell, definitely cheaper.. Few options that I'm not 100% sure about....

There's an option for a heated O2 sensor... That's actually the better way to go anyway right? I don't mind replacing the O2 sensor again. wasn't hard to do and it was just done so should be even easier lol... plus I plan on doing headers eventually which they plan for with that option.
I've just heard the heated ones are better somehow:dunno: what advantage do they bring?

And
there's an option about 700r4 and VSS wiring...
I have the NON electric 700r4 and cable speedo, But I do believe the TC lockup is ECM controlled right? Or am I mistaken there... So does that mean I should get that option anyway?

I'm going to call them. Just voicing my curiosities on here I guess.
 
Personally I don't think heateds are necessary for most applications. I've watched the one wire in my headers (long tubes, and it's after the collector) and while open loop at idle, it went closed loop with any throttle at all. If your setup is programmed for open loop idle, it won't help one bit.

AFAIK all TBI trucks with 700 used the ECM (VSS) for lockup control. All TBI setups need VSS in any case, it's not just about the TCC.
 
Not identical to trucks, but close enough:



Bolts up in same location, same color wires, buffer box may be the same color, etc.

Plenty of TBI folks say it runs fine without it, however the main issue seems to be fueling with no throttle, ie letting off the throttle while the vehicle is moving. It MAY affect idle, however idle on TBI seems to be much less tied into VSS than other GM injection setups.

Edit: here is our vintage truck cluster mounted VSS http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/attachment.php?attachmentid=759110&stc=1&d=1307730696
 
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good info:waytogo: didn't know that. I haven't had this cluster out before. only the one in my 83. Can that go bad too lol... the current dieing issue has MOSTLY happened when letting off the throttle. Cruising to a stop. letting off after getting up to speed and coating for a second, etc. get a quick flash of the engine light and if I gas it quick sometimes I can catch it. if not it dies, throw it in neutral, start it up, back in drive and keep going...:dunno: Didn't know that sensor was there or that it could affect the engine if it was...
 
When I do my major rebuild I will lok into it. I do have a 241tc with the vss output. I may try running it up.
 
oreilly's still only has the transfer case mounted one listed :dunno: I'll have to investigate... even if that fixed my issue, I still want a harness.
 
You don't hear of them going bad, but I'm sure they can fail, and so can the speedometer. There is a piece inside the speedometer that the VSS "reads" as it spins, so I assume like everything, that component could fail, but it's pretty solid.

If your cruise control works, probably not a VSS issue. My preferred method of testing VSS operation lol. But you can also hook a scanner up to it, if the scanner shows correct vehicle speed while you are moving, the VSS works.

Even the pre-TBI cruise control equipped trucks got VSS, not sure what year it started (maybe '82 or 83), but when they figured out VSS, they got rid of the fender mounted cruise transducer.
 
The 90-91 clusters/wiring are still pretty easy to find, but won't be much longer before those are hard to find too. I snapped up a few VSS 241C's and clusters because the price was right.
 
cruise hasnt worked for a LONG time,,,:haha: It worked when it wanted to before I tightened up my tilt... hasnt worked since even though I made sure the wires were all still hooked up..:dunno: Never bothered me much cause I dont take it on the interstate. which is about the only place i use cruise
 
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