Wiring Harness Question

Gotta love that wiring . . .
Tristantinus
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:46 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Pininfarina Spider

Wiring Harness Question

Postby Tristantinus » Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:23 pm

Hey everyone,

So I am working on basically cleaning up my 75 fiat spider. I am not sure what the previous owner has done in terms of rewiring, and i am just a lil grossed out by the state of the wires back there.

I was curious if anyone in here has worked on removing the entire wiring harness for clean up, labelling and repair. I was hoping to remove everything, use the wiring diagram to label anything that isnt labelled and then replace any bad wires etc.

Any detailed help would be extremely valuable.

baltobernie
Patron 2020
Patron 2020
Posts: 3466
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:00 pm
Your car is a: 1973 Spider [sold]
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby baltobernie » Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:45 pm

It is certainly possible to do what you're describing. Many of the multi-pin connectors are polarized and only fit the correct mating one. The difficulty is usually the sad state of the harness you've got to work with, as you have discovered. It's not too difficult to determine which OE circuits (if any) you wish to eliminate, the usual ones related to emissions devices. Armed with a blown-up, color-coded wiring diagram specific to your car, this would make a good winter project.

Tristantinus
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:46 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Pininfarina Spider

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby Tristantinus » Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:01 pm

baltobernie wrote:It is certainly possible to do what you're describing. Many of the multi-pin connectors are polarized and only fit the correct mating one. The difficulty is usually the sad state of the harness you've got to work with, as you have discovered. It's not too difficult to determine which OE circuits (if any) you wish to eliminate, the usual ones related to emissions devices. Armed with a blown-up, color-coded wiring diagram specific to your car, this would make a good winter project.



Thank you!!

How difficult is it to remove the entire harness from the vehicle? I already have the dash off, and the seats out etc.

TX82FIAT
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 11:04 am
Your car is a: 82 Fiat Spider 2000 CSO
Location: San Antonio

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby TX82FIAT » Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:29 pm

Removing the wiring harness is easy. Putting a new wiring harness in its place with proper connections, relays, fuses, grounds is another story. I took the spaghetti wire out of the dash and painstakingly found some hot to ground and continuity issues. I also cleaned connections and grounds replacing some of the older aluminum connections. Finally installed a few relays like the headlight relay with a higher output alternator. No electrical issues in almost eight years with the current car. I do need to remove the cowl and clean the wiper motor again as the wipers have recently started to move slow again. But hey..... the wipers work!
Buon giro a tutti! - enjoy the ride!

82 Fiat Spider 2000
03 BMW M3
07 Chevy Suburban

Tristantinus
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:46 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Pininfarina Spider

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby Tristantinus » Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:52 pm

TX82FIAT wrote:Removing the wiring harness is easy. Putting a new wiring harness in its place with proper connections, relays, fuses, grounds is another story. I took the spaghetti wire out of the dash and painstakingly found some hot to ground and continuity issues. I also cleaned connections and grounds replacing some of the older aluminum connections. Finally installed a few relays like the headlight relay with a higher output alternator. No electrical issues in almost eight years with the current car. I do need to remove the cowl and clean the wiper motor again as the wipers have recently started to move slow again. But hey..... the wipers work!



I dont think im putting a new one in its place, just cleaning the old one and repairing any bad leads

klweimer
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:45 am
Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000
Location: Arvada, Colorado

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby klweimer » Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:13 pm

I don't think you can even buy a new harness these days. With the dash out, you can access the harness pretty easily. I'd check all the grounding points, clean up all the connectors, remove stuff you don't need and call it good. I'd also replace all the instrument lamps.
Kirk

spider2081
Patron 2024
Patron 2024
Posts: 2967
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:45 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Spider 2000
Location: Wallingford,CT
Contact:

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby spider2081 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:48 am

I dont think im putting a new one in its place, just cleaning the old one and repairing any bad leads


I agree with repairing the harness in place. there is hours of labor removing the harness with out damaging it and anything you can do out of the car can be don in the car.

User avatar
Odoyle
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:06 pm
Your car is a: 1983 Pinafarina Spider
Location: CA

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby Odoyle » Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:38 pm

Currently doing this repair to my 77/73, I am using the wiring harness out of my 79 parts car for replacement parts, +1 on buying a DC Power Supply for bench testing. Take LOTS of pictures when removing everything, it really helps.

Image

Tristantinus
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:46 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Pininfarina Spider

Re: Wiring Harness Question

Postby Tristantinus » Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:47 pm

Looking at the wriring diagrams of the 75 and the 78 there are some differences, does anyone know if i can "update" my 75 to mirror the 78 without issues?


Return to “Electrical Issues”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests