Does anybody know where to get the connector for the glow plug harness to main harness on the right side of the engine? Mine is burnt up and needs replacing.
Or can i just eliminate the connector and splice them together?
I've worked on repairing 2 different harnesses out of 2 different trucks to try to make one good one so I can give you some tips.
For the best repair and
the right way to do it you want to have a full harness disconnect at that plug location: The purpose of that main connector is in case you need to remove the engine or disconnect all power to the engine (usually that is power to the glow plugs in case you need to have the key "ON" or "RUN" position while doing other electrical work on the truck)
However you will NOT find a plug anywhere to replace the original and if you do it will be a
huge plug to accommodate the current of the glow plug power wires and the other connectors in the plug will be way over rated and too large for the 7 small wires. Thus it would be a very large 8 pin connector and the only ones I was able to find had built in circuit breakers.
Therefore the best solution to repair or build a new harness and have a functional disconnect is to use one 6 pin connector for the smaller wires and TWO separate connectors for the 2 GP power wires. USE EXACTLY THE SAME WIRE SPECIFICATION AS THE ORIGINAL POWER WIRES! The SAME GAUGE, the
SAME NUMBER OF COPPER WIRE STRANDS the SAME INSULATION CODE! They are the perfect wires for this application and
more than adequate to handle the current demand.
Using the correct wire
with the same number of strands is important. The SAME is true for the wires that go to the Glow Plug Connectors. That has to do with the way that current flows through multiple strand electrical wires and a wire with a higher number of smaller strands yet having the same current rating has different properties, related to the higher resistance in the smaller wire strands.
The reason for the TWO power wires has nothing to do with "expense" as someone suggested - that's just not true. It has to do with being able to put the gp power supply wires into a SINGLE main harness plug. Otherwise it would require an additional
huge plug if only a single gp power wire was used. What happens to cause that plug to fail is that eventually those two pin connections are no longer able to make
full contact and they start to arc, creating a lot of heat that burns up the nylon connector around those pin connections.
I spent many hours days on end researching this and looking though thousands of connectors but ultimately I needed to get the truck running so I skipped getting new connectors. I just repaired other parts of the harnesses and used the typical bypass of the plug as shown here in my original harness. I recommend using a crimper capable of A LOT OF LEVERAGE, not one of those skinny wire stripping/ crimping pliers. O'Riellys, Schucks, Kraegen etc. has one by Dorman for about $18. The crimpers are at the working end of the long pliers:
You must be registered for see images attach
Now to the ring terminals on the gp power wires. I highly recommend
NOT using those cheap plastic insulated ring terminals that you find hanging on racks in auto parts stores!
Use only high quality ring terminals like the one I show in the following repair. The one I am using here I got from BEHIND THE COUNTER at NAPA Auto Parts. (You need to ask at he counter explaining what you need) The SIZE of the ring is 5/16ths inch and here I am using 5/16ths x 6 Gauge because I am going over the original connector crimp. For bare wires you would use a smaller gauge like 8 or 10 ga.
You must be registered for see images attach
Unless you can find heavy duty thick shrink wrap, you can use liquid electrical Tape to insulate the connector when finished. I would recommend the Permatex Brand if you can find it. I bought the Star Brite brand at Lowes Hardware and I used about 5 thick coats to be as good as the original thick shrink wrap. I crimped the connector using a 5 inch vise.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
I used a Benzomatic Micro-Butane torch (purchased at Lowes Hardware - I LOVE THIS TOOL for remote soldering work on my truck- no electricity required and it has an attachment to use for soldering small wires & connections which will not have an exposed open flame from the torch) with paste flux and soft solder for electronics work to do the soldering.
The Aluminum foil was wrapped tightly around the area below the soldering to help conduct heat away and protect the wire insulation from getting too hot. Afterwards I filed down that lump of melted solder coated the whole repair area including the yellow wires with liquid electrical tape to match the original shrink wrap. (not on the ring though)
