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Replacing the alternator charge harness 8ga wire


87quest_stv
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i posted this up at another forum. Though it would be helpful here too.

 

Ok well I went out and pulled the charging harness off the car. pulled it apart. saw that the main 8gauge wires were old and brittle. Went to home depot got some 8 ga stranded wire, from them and some terminals. 4awg terminal and some 8gaw terminals. Cut new lengths identical to old. I also cleaned all the terminals going to the battery and the fuse links in link box 1 and 2 along with all the connectors under the relay box. I think PQ charges $100 bucks for a new charging harness I spent around 40 in cable and parts and a crimping tool. I'm happy with the finished product. I also would have taken more pictures in the assembly of the new harness but didn't think about it afterwards. Most of the these pics are replicated of what I did with leftover wire. Prior to doing this maintenance, I was getting 13.6 13.7 charging from my alternator to my battery. I really thought the alternator was failing. After I completed this, I now get 14.2 - 14.3 charging

 

these are the ends where the 1 wire from the alt turns into 2 wires I'm replicating

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8ga.JPG

 

This is the 4awg terminals i bought to use for the crimp. I had to get this size cause it has a 1/4 wire hole to crimp.

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/4awgterm.JPG

 

Here's the 8awg terminals I used for the alt end of the new harness

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8awgterm.JPG

 

here I cut off the ring of the 4awg terminal so I could just use the crimp side

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/modterm.JPG

 

Here the wires are inserted into the crimp ring and ready to crimp

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8ga2.JPG

 

crimper tool I used

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/crimp.JPG

 

This wire and crimp are thick no way i was strong enough to crimp them all together with my hands properly

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/crimp2.JPG

 

nice and crimped. You might be wondering why no solder. Well the factory didn't use it. I figured I shouldn't either.

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8gacrimp.JPG

 

Then used some self alamanating tape(non sticky) for just this crimp end. You don't want to use regualr sticky electrical tape or this type of tape to wrap the whole harness

. Neither these 2 types of tape really allow the harness to breath. When I say breath. I mean dissipate heat that it builds up as it gets load on it. Heat=resistance.

The factory didn't use this type of tape for a reason. this is a splicing tape. it is highly thermo resistant and provides major insulation. Thus perfect for a crimp connection.

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/snonstick.JPG

 

only covered the crimp area because this tape doesn't breath. See explaination above

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8ga3.JPG

 

Now to the alt end to use the 8awg terminals

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8term.JPG

 

Don't forget to put the shrink wrap BEFORE you crimp and tin

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/shrink.JPG

 

Here is the atl connection end nice and neat

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/8termcomplete.JPG

 

 

 

I then rewrapped the bleadoff off harness to the new alternator 8ga harness back to factory spec using stretch and seal silicone tape

You can also see the double punch wire I made and attached to the outside of the new harness. Purpose for the punch wire. The main alt wire from the alternator

turns into a split the wire with the ring eye that hooks to the battery through the 16ga fusible link surface charges the batter. While the other wire goes into the large

conenctor that powers the IGN and ACC through the sub fusible link box 1. If your system wires are old and corroded. like most are. the harness will short amp delivery from the IGN/ACC connector to keep the battery charged. So by installing the punch wire directly from the junction box to the alternator you, Get the right charge to your battery without

losing amps to the IGN/ACC

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/harness2a.JPG

 

stretch and seal tape. (this tape breathes and is non adhesive. sticks to itself) Now this is like what the factory used to wrap their harnesses. (the grey tape)

It's non sticky and it's not very thick. resistant to heat and allows the harness to breath while wrapped. This is what you use to wrap the harness back up like the

factory wrapping.

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/sealltape.JPG

 

I used the 8ga terminal to put on the alt end of my new harness, then used a piece of shrink wrap on the end only. You can also see my double punch wire I attached to the main harness as what I believe is the way PQ described. Even though there weren't any pics to go by.

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/altend.JPG

 

This connector I removed the terminal from the connector and carefylly removed the crimp from the old 8ga wire then reattached it to the new 8ga wire and reinserted into the connector

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/chargend.JPG

 

on the junction side of the new harness I slightly modified the hole to accommodate the punch wire, then wrapped a couple pieces of alamanating tape to keep it closed since Mine was broken and wouldn't latch anyhow

http://www.getyasumminimotos.com/Conquest/junction.JPG

Edited by 87quest_stv
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Great write-up! Could you please explain the different usage of self alamanating tape, stretch & seal and regular electrical tape and why you should use one over the other. You also mentioned breathe-ability and I was wondering what that is all about.
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Updated. i only wished I would have taken more pictures while I was assembling the harness. Just got so involved, taking pictures completely left mind. If someone wants to send me a harness to rebuild for them I'll take some more pics during the entire process.
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