Figured out cause of CEL, need some advice

123c · Post by **123c** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:10 am

It looks like there are places on some of the wiring where the insulation has been melted, chewed and cracked away. I am sure it's grounding out the sensors, causing the light. I am thinking that I can take some of that liquid electrical tape, and patch up the insulation. Is this the best way for going about the repair?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:23 am

Where are these places where the insulation is damaged? You need to figure out what caused the wire to be subjected to so much thermal and mechanical stress. Otherwise, the repaired harness is going to degrade again.

The best way to repair it is to run new wire. There's a good chance the conductors are somewhat corroded or damaged. You can get some crosslink-insulation stuff that's a lot more sturdy than factory wires. If you can tell me which wires specifically you're talking about, I can give you advice on how to replace them practically.

My experience with liquid electrical tape hasn't been good. It rubs off, and it doesn't seem to withstand lots of moisture very well. If you really don't want to run new wire I would say to use regular electrical tape, and to be sure to apply it correctly -- to a clean surface, stretching it the whole way through, and cutting it at the ends with scissors. Or if you can, sleeve some heat shrink tubing over the wire and shrink it over the damaged portion.

123c · Post by **123c** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:05 am

I'm sort of looking for the quick and easy fix, because I am sort of wanting to sell the car fairly soon, and don't want the CEL to lower the value. I am starting to hate the slush box tranny, eventhough mine is original and no problems...

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:14 am

use this stuff.
Its expensive as far as tape goes, but worth the money.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:26 am

Well, what wires are they?

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:58 am

I had no idea there was such a science on electrical tape...

I had no idea there was liquid stuff either.
Learn somethin new every day.

123c · Post by **123c** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:33 am

One of them is for the O2 sensor, one of them is for the knock sensor, just before the connection, one of them is for the temp sensor, another one of them is for the cam angle sensor, there are a few more I havn't identified yet

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:43 am

Woah. So all these wires in the engine bay somehow got melted and chewed up? That's nuts. I wonder how that happened. I could imagine them getting chewed up by a rodent or something, but how'd they melt?!

If it's that many, and all you're looking for is to dupe some unsuspecting sap into buying the car, you can try just wrapping all the stuff up in electrical tape. Kelly's advice to use real quality tape is sound; a lot of the so-called electrical tape out there is close to useless.

123c · Post by **123c** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:48 am

at one time there was a family of mice living in the engine bay, i found a few dead ones in there after i bought the car...

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:50 am

Ah, that'd definitely do the chewed-up part.

123c · Post by **123c** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:05 am

Only a few of the wires look chewed, others look like they are split. They easiest way to fix the light problem would probally to remove the CEL bulb all together

. If I deciede to keep the car a little longer I might fix everything the right way and make new harnesses.

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:08 am

Yeesh........
I'd personally solder and heat shrink everything, just so there would never be any questions as to reliability. I also would inform the buyer of the issue for liability reasons, but thats..........how I roll.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:01 pm

You know, 123c, you might be able to just go pick up a spool of 20 AWG hookup wire and a bagful of those crimp butt connectors with heat shrink built into them. If a wire is only damaged in one small spot, you could just cut the wire and reconnect it with the butt connector. And if it's more damaged, you can just cut out the bad part and replace it with hookup wire and use the butt connectors on each end.

They're not cheap at about 40 cents apiece, but they'll be easy to install and will actually be a decent fix. In many cases on a car, a crimped connection is as good as or better than a soldered connection.

rallitektech wrote: I also would inform the buyer of the issue for liability reasons, but thats..........how I roll.

Yeah, I would too.

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

Figured out cause of CEL, need some advice

Figured out cause of CEL, need some advice