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Karls

Active Member
A bit of foward planning. I need to do a complete re-wire in a few months (probably next year tbh!) time. I'm totally incapable when it comes to car electrics so I'm sure it will all go swimmingly well...

To aid me in my quest, ideally I need to get new looms that have their connections labelled - is there such a thing or am I dreaming?
 
You can get wiring new wiring looms from autosparks
if you call them they will advise you on what you need

They will not come labelled though
 
A new loom will be pretty obvious as to what connects to what..... the connectors for the dash are different from anything else and as you look around the loom you will see from the wire colours what they are.

You are saying that you will need a new loom next year??? What is wrong with your loom? If it is working now then I would suggest that it might be better if you simply clean up the old loom. You might need to replace a few of the connectors but almost all of them can be reasonably easily obtained. Sections of wire can be replaced quite easily and there are companies that sell the wire to match (I would suggest it is best to replace like for like).

A new loom is not cheap so fixing your current one is definitely the best option. Even if sections look like an explosion in a spaghetti factory it usually isn't terminal.
 
Model, type, location ? Series are fairly easy, make sure you aren't connecting the lights to earth.
 
A defender is fitted with a far more reliable loom than the really early series. its those connectors that let the thing down.
 
cowasaki said:
A new loom will be pretty obvious as to what connects to what..... the connectors for the dash are different from anything else and as you look around the loom you will see from the wire colours what they are.

You are saying that you will need a new loom next year??? What is wrong with your loom? If it is working now then I would suggest that it might be better if you simply clean up the old loom. You might need to replace a few of the connectors but almost all of them can be reasonably easily obtained. Sections of wire can be replaced quite easily and there are companies that sell the wire to match (I would suggest it is best to replace like for like).

A new loom is not cheap so fixing your current one is definitely the best option. Even if sections look like an explosion in a spaghetti factory it usually isn't terminal.
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying and from a financial point of view it makes a lot of sense. But, being a complete retard when it comes to car electrics, I can see myself getting into all sorts of trouble, especially when the existing loom has wires that are just falling off (they've been twisted together), and change colours like a bloody chameleon.

I wish I had your confidence. I have got myself the Haines manual on electrics to try and educate myself a bit but I just think I'd end up in the sh@t if I tried to revive what's in front of me. I'll try and give it a go before I call time though.

Would it be best to remove the loom completely and lay it out on the floor to try and gauge a starting point?
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
change yo usercp to show where yu are based..... you might get an offer of help...
Click to expand...

Exactly.....

When I bought my defender the wiring loom was an absolute joke but by tracing wires, pruning and general tidying up it is now perfect. Someone who knows about vehicle electrics can usually sort out most lots of rubbish wiring in no time at all. Tidying up wiring is a relatively easy job. Tracing intermittent faults or faults which don't seem to follow logic are the tough ones.
 
Im no electrical whizz and i managed to wire a landy out of a box.

I bought greyhairs 200tdi front end of loom - which was numbered but i used the rear of a loom i bought from autosparks and the fuel/gearbox loom from my existing sensors so numbering wasnt too awesome .

What i did in the end was worked on the premise that everything needed an earth

Everything needed a live - be it switched or otherwise.

I knew the general area the wiring would be in after i ran the loom to the 4 corners and i matched up the colours as per diagram

Where things didnt work as i expected i would switch on what ever i wanted to wire up at the dash and go to the corner where i needed to find it , earth my multimetre and probe till i found something live

Worked well. I have everything working and has remained working :)
 
Now I am going to revel myself are you ready ? lol. I'm a Auto Sparks and ex Army REME VM II. Can I suggest you get a copy of RAVE, a download is available FREE on the web. Google RAVE free download or on here. Just looked at my copy and the codes for the wiring and diagrams are there. I got my copy for a £5 off fleabay. If you are worried on electrics then as long as you take time and care. the looms are easy to work out, most systems are split into sections and joined with connectors which are always the weakest link. Remember just because a connection looks good, it can still be a bad circuit. Search Voltage drop test on here. using this you can source those weak spots on switched on circuits.(under load). You should allow time to do a proper job. and those earth points will need some penetration fluid to loosen them. sometimes you just have to cut them and remake the loop connector using a quality crimp tool, use a rachet type sold by toolstation. Connectors for such should have a metal sleeve within the plastic, these help grip the wire and give a lasting job. You can also use heat shrink sleeving. Connectors are available from a company in Crawley or the one in LRO mag.
 
trax said:
need to say what you have. old school bullets, modern plastic plugs.. ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your input guys.

Today I took out the entire loom from the car. It's an early 90 Truck cab btw. The connectors are generally plastic/rubbery plugs. I feel better now it's all off the vehicle...generally because I can't see it :)

I'm an engineer, mechanical not electrical but I got to thinking, how hard can it be, it's not rocket science etc etc - just to try and play things down in my own mind. I'm also on page 1.9 of the Haynes Practical Electrical Systems manual so am almost at expert level!
 
Karls said:
Thanks for all your input guys.

Today I took out the entire loom from the car. It's an early 90 Truck cab btw. The connectors are generally plastic/rubbery plugs. I feel better now it's all off the vehicle...generally because I can't see it :)

I'm an engineer, mechanical not electrical but I got to thinking, how hard can it be, it's not rocket science etc etc - just to try and play things down in my own mind. I'm also on page 1.9 of the Haynes Practical Electrical Systems manual so am almost at expert level!
Click to expand...

fair play. it's not hard. solder/crimp, insulate. worthwhile using silicone grease on connections to top corrosion imo.
 
The only difference between EE and ME is that you can't see the bits move to see what's wrong. :)

To that end, you need to expose the activity. here is where a few simple tools come in - a continuity tester, volt meter, test lamp and the schematics for the toy in question.

The continuity tester (lamp and a battery) lets you see if the wire is actually good end to end. The voltmeter and test lamp perform similar functions, but the test lamp does so in a loaded fashion - the miniscule amount of power a meter draws doesn't load the circuit enough to reveal issues like corroded connnectors and marginal wires.

I wish I had a PDF of the troubleshooting 2-parter i wrote for LRM some years back - it would help you a lot.

Alan
 
As above, it's not difficult, and follows a logical pattern. There are standard colours used throughout, just google vehicle wiring patterns - there's a good printable list of colours for your early vehicle.
If you're going to the trouble of rewiring the entire vehicle, I would solder after crimping the connections, and replace all the old bullet connectors too (vehicle wiring products sell them). This will start you off on a good foot when the vehicle is rebuilt.
 
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