Reaching out to those of you that have done, or have experience with, troubleshooting/refreshing the wiring harnesses in our 80 Series. I am not an electrical-savvy guy, but trying to expand my knowledge and reliabilty of this 30 year old rig.
This weekend necessitated getting out the pressure washer to clean the mag-chloride stuck under the rig that gets applied to our dusty county road every so often. I did NOT spray directly into the engine compartment from the top, but did spray from the bottom sides (obviously, to get rid of the mag). I have water entering the electrical system SOMEWHERE and cannot track it down thus far. I had a similar issue that stranded me at a car wash not too long ago after the undercarriage spray hit it, causing the engine to sputter and die until it had time to dry out, about 5 hours later.
Yesterday I spent time on the passenger side looking at possible connector issues and of course the distributor cap and connections. I spent time adding dielectric grease where I could, in hopes this might supply some extra protection for water seepage. Distrib., o-rings, wires, etc. should be replaced with OEM- it is on the short list now; however, I found no evidence of water inside, either yesterday or today. BUT this morning I wanted to give a light rinse to the engine bay, as a check of my efforts (spraying thru the pressure washer with just hose pressure, not high pressure) and the water did its deed again. Checked the distributor cap, no apparent water inside, but occasional air blown into the cap allowed the rig to start for a little bit before sputtering out again. I'm not sure if water is just getting into the 30-year old harness and finding a bare wire and causing the issue... seems to be my best guess. Or maybe the O-ring under the distrib. cap is really that worn out, even with dielectric grease...(?) Tried to check other connectors tying into the harness, as well as blasting air around and into various connections and harness splits resulted in no help.
I am leaning toward purchasing a used wiring harness to check/rebuild and replace when complete. Maybe this is secondary to replacing the distributor components first. I do have the FSM EWD book to reference, but having a tough time trying to trace what harness connections would be most susceptible to water interfering with engine running (obviously, water and electrical don't mix, but how to trace?) I guess I am trying not to just fire the parts cannon and keep guessing about what is going on.
EDIT: 5+ hours in, and something is still wet- won't start.
2nd EDIT: 8 hours in- got it started, needed 2000 RPM to keep going, not wanting to idle.
Please give me some feedback if I am making this more complicated/expensive/time consuming than necessary; or have some good feedback on quality harness materials to utilize.
Thanks, and Cheers!
This weekend necessitated getting out the pressure washer to clean the mag-chloride stuck under the rig that gets applied to our dusty county road every so often. I did NOT spray directly into the engine compartment from the top, but did spray from the bottom sides (obviously, to get rid of the mag). I have water entering the electrical system SOMEWHERE and cannot track it down thus far. I had a similar issue that stranded me at a car wash not too long ago after the undercarriage spray hit it, causing the engine to sputter and die until it had time to dry out, about 5 hours later.
Yesterday I spent time on the passenger side looking at possible connector issues and of course the distributor cap and connections. I spent time adding dielectric grease where I could, in hopes this might supply some extra protection for water seepage. Distrib., o-rings, wires, etc. should be replaced with OEM- it is on the short list now; however, I found no evidence of water inside, either yesterday or today. BUT this morning I wanted to give a light rinse to the engine bay, as a check of my efforts (spraying thru the pressure washer with just hose pressure, not high pressure) and the water did its deed again. Checked the distributor cap, no apparent water inside, but occasional air blown into the cap allowed the rig to start for a little bit before sputtering out again. I'm not sure if water is just getting into the 30-year old harness and finding a bare wire and causing the issue... seems to be my best guess. Or maybe the O-ring under the distrib. cap is really that worn out, even with dielectric grease...(?) Tried to check other connectors tying into the harness, as well as blasting air around and into various connections and harness splits resulted in no help.
I am leaning toward purchasing a used wiring harness to check/rebuild and replace when complete. Maybe this is secondary to replacing the distributor components first. I do have the FSM EWD book to reference, but having a tough time trying to trace what harness connections would be most susceptible to water interfering with engine running (obviously, water and electrical don't mix, but how to trace?) I guess I am trying not to just fire the parts cannon and keep guessing about what is going on.
EDIT: 5+ hours in, and something is still wet- won't start.
2nd EDIT: 8 hours in- got it started, needed 2000 RPM to keep going, not wanting to idle.
Please give me some feedback if I am making this more complicated/expensive/time consuming than necessary; or have some good feedback on quality harness materials to utilize.
Thanks, and Cheers!
Last edited: