Need harness and solenoids

[BadMonkey]

Hello everyone, been a long time since I been on any forums, but I am stumped a bit.

Back story: Bought a farm truck that was sitting in a field for years, wiring nightmare (wires cut and chewed all up previous teenage owner and mice/squirrels). So my newest problem is I have a short in the transmission it seems that provides power to the Fuse #20. When I drive, it bogs bad like it is in either 2nd or 3rd. If I put a fuse in, it blows as soon as I give it ignition power. I attached a picture below of what I started with prior to me driving it. The wire itself got so hot it popped under the dash and melted about 6 other wires together and shorted, hard to see the others but you can see the copper from the pink one (#20). Still working that issue, but most is resolved. I have been driving it again after a ton of repairs mechanically and electrically. But now Fuse 20 pops every time, cleared all the other codes the SES and even the air bag light.

Now with the transmission plug, plugged in I have a short to ground with the pink wire to #20. With everything unplugged it goes away. So at this point I am assuming there is a short with one of the solenoids and/or the harness is shorted in the transmission. My plan is to replace the harness and solenoids, which ones do I need P/N wise? I want to be done with this, I can grab the harness from AutoZone, and the solenoids maybe, trying to do this today, I do not have much time these days for projects. Not sure what to expect with this transmission operation once I do this, so I hate to pour a bunch of money into it, I just want it on the road until I do my 6.0 swap. Have not had it work properly since I owned it. Working out all the bugs. Being my truck is a 95, I need the PWN Solenoid right? Anything anyone would like to add? I just want to make sure I do not have to open this pan AGAIN. I have no problem buying a kit online somewhere, but would rather get it locally to just get it up and running. Any advice help would be great.

 

[Erik the Awful]

It helps if we know what year and model of truck you're working with.

You need a wiring diagram to work from.

88-98 Service Manuals

Over the years I have collected a bunch of GM service literature. Links to PDF Scans of service and STG manuals and a links to the Parts manuals. You'll need the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader to open these files. Get it directly from Adobe here {http://get.adobe.com/reader/} If you're not...

www.gmt400.com

If you have a Pull-A-Part or other self-service yard nearby, I'd go grab the most intact harness you can find in their yard and swap it in. As a matter of fact, that's kind of what I did for my '88 C3500. The existing harness is severely mouse-chewed and I got the least hacked up harness at PAP. Once I have the body work done I'll splice the two together into a single good harness. You'll want to buy a bucket of heat shrink butt connectors. Some guys like to hate on these, but when I was a Nissan tech they were factory issued with recalls. They work, and quick.
www.amazon.com/Haisstronica-Connectors-Gauge-Insulated-Waterproof-Electrical/dp/B07L29DLGN/

 

[GoToGuy]

If the fuse keeps blowing up, get the wiring diagram out , find out what that fuse feeds. Do visual first, bare wires, cuts, check connectors for corrosion loose pins, material shorting in plug bodies. Do an ohm check on wires short within connector body. What item is that fuse powering that's drawing too much power?
There is no magic answer. Vermin, neglect, and the elements have conspired to test your basic troubleshooting skills.
Electronic, electric spray cleaner, compressed air can, test light, and multimeter( volt/ohm ) are your best friends right now.
Good luck

 

[evilunclegrimace]

It helps if we know what year and model of truck you're working with.

You need a wiring diagram to work from.

88-98 Service Manuals

Over the years I have collected a bunch of GM service literature. Links to PDF Scans of service and STG manuals and a links to the Parts manuals. You'll need the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader to open these files. Get it directly from Adobe here {http://get.adobe.com/reader/} If you're not...

www.gmt400.com

If you have a Pull-A-Part or other self-service yard nearby, I'd go grab the most intact harness you can find in their yard and swap it in. As a matter of fact, that's kind of what I did for my '88 C3500. The existing harness is severely mouse-chewed and I got the least hacked up harness at PAP. Once I have the body work done I'll splice the two together into a single good harness. You'll want to buy a bucket of heat shrink butt connectors. Some guys like to hate on these, but when I was a Nissan tech they were factory issued with recalls. They work, and quick.
www.amazon.com/Haisstronica-Connectors-Gauge-Insulated-Waterproof-Electrical/dp/B07L29DLGN/

The only reason that the factory recall specified heat shrink butt conectors was to get the vehicle back on the road so it could make it to the end of the warranty.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Those cars were well out of warranty. They specified those connectors because they work. Look for the divot under the insulation and crimp perpendicular to it and the crimp will hold well. The heat shrink is just icing on the cake.

 

[BadMonkey]

Sorry for ghosting. Been a long week for me. Here is an update though.

1995 Chevrolet Silverado K1500 5.0L 4L60E is what I got.

My kit came in and I replaced all the solenoids and the harness. As you can see in the picture, one of the solenoids was shorted out and crispy. I also had another wire that was shorted and the transmission was stuck in 3rd. Now with it replaced I do not blow the #20 fuse. It holds. Of course as I try to test drive it, it will not shift out of 1st. I can shift from 1, 2, to 3 manually though so we are getting closer. The VSS is out now though, I do not have speedo. It could have been from the start though honestly, just keep progressing. I likely got another short I need to find. Once I fixed this fuse issue, now I got 2 more and a coolant leak out of the blue. With Fuse #14 in, when I turn on the lights it pops Fuse #9. Once it dries up I will chase the wires some more. Need to chase the VSS Buffer to the VSS and the harness again. Once again sorry for the delay.

 

[BadMonkey]

And one more update. After I replaced the VSS, everything worked. I now have 1, 2, 3 and 4th gears and the speedo back. Now just need to figure out the light issue in the cab. In troubleshooting this I replaced the signal switch (was broke anyway), repaired the wire harness, solenoids and harness is transmission, and VSS. Speedo seems off need to check the calibration on that, otherwise I think I am finally on the road with this.