1992 Chevy k1500 wiring problems. Need help on identifying wires.

[Jason harris]

Replaced my heater hoses and spotted some damaged wires in the main harness coming through the firewall under the coolant reservoir either probed by previous owner or chewed by mice. I inspected a few of them and now I have a SES light on. I would like to identify what they go to by color if anyone can help. Thanks in advance

 

[someotherguy]

That entire group of wires are the ones that run between your ECM and all the engine sensors and controls. Look closely to see which ones are damaged, and repair them as needed. Strongly recommend you replace damaged wiring with pieces of same gauge wire, solder the connections, and protect with heat shrink tubing. You don't want to use crimp connectors if you can avoid it, since many of these circuits operate on small ranges of voltage or resistance.

Richard

 

[Jason harris]

That entire group of wires are the ones that run between your ECM and all the engine sensors and controls. Look closely to see which ones are damaged, and repair them as needed. Strongly recommend you replace damaged wiring with pieces of same gauge wire, solder the connections, and protect with heat shrink tubing. You don't want to use crimp connectors if you can avoid it, since many of these circuits operate on small ranges of voltage or resistance.

Richard

I plan on doing exactly that, only problem is a few of them are so close to the firewall that I have very little to work with and confined space even if I remove the coolant reservoir. What would be the best or recommended type of solder to use in such application? Thanks for the reply

 

[someotherguy]

Remove the 2 screws holding the plastic clip to the firewall and you'll gain some slack in the wiring to move it around. If absolutely necessary you can unplug it from the ECM; there are a couple of other smaller connections in there but the ECM has the majority of those wires.

Rosin core solder is what you want, 60/40 is typical. Good quality polyolefin heat shrink tubing is best, it has a rubber style consistency to it and is easier to work with vs. that plastic-y bargain brand junk. Cole-Flex is a quality brand for example. If you have an electronics supply house anywhere near you those things should be obtainable without having to do the guesswork of online buying.

Richard

 

[Jason harris]

Remove the 2 screws holding the plastic clip to the firewall and you'll gain some slack in the wiring to move it around. If absolutely necessary you can unplug it from the ECM; there are a couple of other smaller connections in there but the ECM has the majority of those wires.

Rosin core solder is what you want, 60/40 is typical. Good quality polyolefin heat shrink tubing is best, it has a rubber style consistency to it and is easier to work with vs. that plastic-y bargain brand junk. Cole-Flex is a quality brand for example. If you have an electronics supply house anywhere near you those things should be obtainable without having to do the guesswork of online buying.

Richard

Thanks for the helpfull info. I really appreciate it.

 

[Schurkey]

I buy heat shrink tubing that has adhesive "hot-melt glue" on the inside. When it gets hot enough to shrink, it's hot enough to seal the solder joint to make it weatherproof.

A service manual will have the wiring diagram(s) you need. I was appalled at the asking prices for used service manuals on eBay for my '97 K2500, so I bought the service-manual-on-DVD from Bishko.

While I prefer a paper manual, the DVD is very acceptable and far less expensive.

 

[454cid]

I buy heat shrink tubing that has adhesive "hot-melt glue" on the inside. When it gets hot enough to shrink, it's hot enough to seal the solder joint to make it weatherproof.

Is this something you get locally, or is this a web order thing?

 

[Schurkey]

I bought my last batch via Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KRV4EIG/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KRWEYRQ/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm sure there are other colors and diameters.

 

[WILWAXU]

I'm a fan of these connectors:

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They have solder in the middle, and hot glue ends. Connections are the strongest I've been able to make.

Video of how they work:

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