Wiring Harness

[Entropy]

Well, I almost burned down my K5 tonight. The truck has been sitting for quite a long time as I've been working on it. I took it for a spin today to the car wash to rinse some dirt and dust off. Right when I pulled into the stall, my K5 died and I saw smoke coming out from under the hood. I opened it up and the wire that leads from the battery across the radiator and over to the alternator was glowing and the plastic was beginning to catch fire. Fortunately I had some pliers in the truck - I cut the wire then fed quarters as fast as I could into the car wash, got it going and put the plastic out.

It turns out that somehow the alternator wiring bundle was resting against the exhaust manifold and melted through the shielding. Not sure how that happened!

Anyway, the damage is done so it looks like I need a new front wiring harness. Any suggestions on who makes the best one? I'm looking for a stock replacement and several of people (brothers, chevyduty, LMC, etc.) seem to carry them for around $150 and naturally they all claim to have the "best" harness. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[4X4HIGH]

Wrecking yard for about $20.00 or so.

 

[Entropy]

Wrecking yard for about $20.00 or so.

I haven't had much luck with yards in my area, but that's a good idea - I'll give them a call.

 

[Greg72]

You got lucky.... sounds like things could have gotten a lot dicier in a hurry if you weren't prepared.

I'd agree to find a stock replacement harness unless you have some compelling need to get aftermarket. Fortunately there isn't nearly as much wiring on the engine compartment side of that harness as there is on the interior side!!!

 

[Yukon Jack]

I've put new electrical harnesses in both of my trucks and I think it's money well spent to have new wiring. My wiring on the K5 was so brittle that replacement was the only way to go. I really like dealing with Tim Christian with Christian's Classics http://www.christiansclassics.com/default.htm. Tim's website is a bit difficult and doesn't list things very well, but he knows these trucks like the back of his hand and he does great customer service. He'll match lower prices normally. You also can't go wrong with Paul at GMCPaul's here is one of his pages related to electrical http://www.gmcpaulstruckparts.com/wireharness2.htm.

Expect to pay about $150 for the harness you need and while your at it, you migh want to go ahead and do both harnesses that are in the engine bay. I have bought all my harnesses from Tim Christian and the quality is excellent and mirrors the factory harness. As a bonus, note you can get harnesses that are set up for HEI and internally regulated alternators.

Prior to redoing my 69 K20, it had a short and I too watched that harness burn/melt from the battery to the alternator - pretty dang scary!

 

[vtblazer]

A 'WTB' thread over on the 67-72 board would score ya a nice clean/stock harness for a reasonable price I'd expect.

Good catch, wire fires can go fast...

 

[RGV72BLAZER]

The rear part of my wiring harness was chopped up pretty bad by the PO, so I decided to just get a new one. I still have the old one if you're interested, the front part that was in the cab & that went under the hood was still really good & sealed up nice. Let me know if you don't end up finding anything local. I'll take another glance over it to make sure the wires are good...just been sitting in a box in my garage.

 

[Entropy]

Ordered a wiring harness from GMC Pauls (Thanks Yukon Jack!) and it matched the original perfectly. Took no time at all to replace and I'm back on the road.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Great news, glad it worked out well for you.