HELP - stay with OEM harness or move to Painless Harness for driving and safety??

[munger77]

Hi,
I thought about a short drive tonight but it would have to be w/o taillights, horn or turn signals working, and realized that if the dimmer switch failed I would suddenly be driving my nice convertible without headlights on a winding road in complete darkness.

If the current "basketcase wiring job" is gone through and returned to OEM and works, is that safe and reliable? Or should I bail on it now, and start fresh with a well-designed aftermarket (like painless style) harness that is devoid of the dimmer switch/turn signal design flaws?

Let me know your thoughts. This is a beautiful convertible, daily driver not a show car.

My budget for a fix is $1000 max. Trust me, every wire in this car needs to be traced.

 

[patrick66]

What year, make and model of car??? Perhaps you can find a good harness from a car being parted out? What exactly is wrong with your current harness? Is it ate up by critters? Burned up? Spliced and diced? A little more info will help give you potential solutions that won't cost you a grand.

 

[Matrix2]

I have a 69 and replaced all the wiring for under $1000 (wait for a sale at Year One, though). Finished about 6 months ago and everything has been 100% reliable. I even use (a modern repop) ammeter. No electrical upgrades except switched to LEDs (mostly) throughout, so current draw less than when it left the factory. I would think if you like the modern electronics, high power stereo, etc. you should upgrade to something modern as original system marginal (even for its year) at best.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

OEM cabling can be fixed with individual conductors however if you're not inclined in wiring it can be very overwhelming but it is possible to fix what you have and replace any burned or bad wires with new. only a few things cause copper wire to go bad, overheating by shorting or severe corrosion. Most electrical issues are people hacking into the harness to tap into power switched or unswitched etc for after market stuff, or your factory amp gauge burnt up and shorted some wires, or you have corroded connections in places or blown or shorted fuses / fuse box etc. Upgrading wiring for newer components is always a good idea but don't feel unsafe about your oem wiring just because a few issues need to be fixed. unless you can see physical damage all over the harness just fix it. If not upgrade to new.

 

[munger77]

Thanks for the helpful replies, and to answer your question, I have a 68 Satellite 'GTX clone' convertible with a 70's 440 in it. Many tail light problems, I replaced them with LED's and they want to stay on all the time. No blinkers x4, horn, and there are a few wires here and there under the dash that go nowhere...they were cut and left to hang freely, but 90% of the harness is there, stock. Car has aftermarket gauges and voltmeter in it rather than ammeter.
Front light harness is ugly and crude but front lights, parking lights and hi beams work. I'm having an expert take a look at it as of today and will keep you posted. Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[Icecobra]

Thanks for the helpful replies, and to answer your question, I have a 68 Satellite 'GTX clone' convertible with a 70's 440 in it. Many tail light problems, I replaced them with LED's and they want to stay on all the time. No blinkers x4, horn, and there are a few wires here and there under the dash that go nowhere...they were cut and left to hang freely, but 90% of the harness is there, stock. Car has aftermarket gauges and voltmeter in it rather than ammeter.
Front light harness is ugly and crude but front lights, parking lights and hi beams work. I'm having an expert take a look at it as of today and will keep you posted. Thanks again for your thoughts.

All you need to do to fix the LED light issue is change the flasher relay. You need a no load or LED flasher relay to make them work since LED bulbs have so much less resistance than regular bulbs. Wiring well I do it for a living so I can not comment on how easy wiring is on these cars.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

I tried LED's in the tail lights and yes they were brighter but it caused turn signal issues and cluster light issues so I ditched them. if may want to start with that put all stock bulbs in and then troubleshoot. Tell us what color the cut wires are and we can figure out where they go, not surprising the headlights all work different circuit. I would bet those LED's are a big cause of your issues. aftermarket gauges should be ok unless they cut a circuit to install them and screwed things up. either way all fixable on the cheap.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

I went on ebay and found poster sized wiring diagram which showed the color of the wires. Much easier to use than the shop service manual diagram.. And it was laminated.................................................MO

 

[Car Nut]

I have a 69 and replaced all the wiring for under $1000 (wait for a sale at Year One, though). Finished about 6 months ago and everything has been 100% reliable. I even use (a modern repop) ammeter. No electrical upgrades except switched to LEDs (mostly) throughout, so current draw less than when it left the factory. I would think if you like the modern electronics, high power stereo, etc. you should upgrade to something modern as original system marginal (even for its year) at best.

I second YearOne's wiring (made by M&H), best plug and play wiring available.

 

[HawkRod]

While I agree that copper does not go bad, the insulation protecting the wires does go bad. It gets brittle and can then be the cause of shorts and issues.

Personally, I am a big proponent of replacing the entire wiring harness (actually purchased in several pieces). Under hood, forward light and rear harnesses are pretty easy to do, while the under dash harness can be a much bigger challenge. However, despite the work and cost you will then end up with a reliable system that is not prone to shorts. It is also much safer, as you are much less likely to burn down your car due to an electrical problem.

I replaced mine with Year One M&H wiring. It is spot on and easiest to replace - I am very happy with it.

 

[hunt2elk]

Another vote for the M & H harness here. I have used a couple of them and they really are a plug and play - just like the original stuff. Although I have never used a Painless kit, I have heard they aren't painless to install and figure out.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

I would think that year one would have the whole harness together in one package? I couldn't find it. here are the links to the individual sections I guess you can buy what you need or all of it.

Also just a note if you do buy all new wiring please make sure you check it out first with the wiring diagram before installing it.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads.../m-h-wiring-harnesss-disappointed-update.html


https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/hu187x

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/l38449

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/l38447

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/l38434

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/hu268b

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/fd5269

https://www.yearone.com/Product/chrysler-b-body/rl37

These put you at your budget range, ttl $944 If you're going to spend the money then buy new for the piece of mind. But if you're up to the challenge of repairing just the ones you know are bad it's easier than it looks. and could save you lots of $$$

 

[Car Nut]

If you do buy from YearOne, they should have a 30% off sale this July 4th.

 

[747mopar]

If you aren't planning any electrical upgrades and your wire insulation is still pliable and in decent shape then I'd fix it. The year one harnesses are the easy way to go like mentioned but a manual and some time can fix almost anything.

 

[1911pro]

Like others have said M&H harness from Year One or Megaparts is the only way to go. All other harnesses are just street rod or GM listed as Mopar. Call Painless or American Auto wire and ask them if they have a harness that is really for a Mopar.

 

[WileERobby]

Year one / M&H = yay, painintheass = nay.

 

[747mopar]

Like others have said M&H harness from Year One or Megaparts is the only way to go. All other harnesses are just street rod or GM listed as Mopar. Call Painless or American Auto wire and ask them if they have a harness that is really for a Mopar.

Very true, I used an American Autowire kit and it was very much GM but I have more circuits, better fuses, easier and cheaper to replace parts and customized to my needs.

 

[Derwud]

I have a 70 Charger, I am going to rewire with a 70 Harness, a 69 Charger harness (that my Brother and modified to work in the Charger when you couldn't buy replacements) and a Painless kit. I want modern power distribution and fuses to keep my baby safe and running..

 

[Car Nut]

I have a 70 Charger, I am going to rewire with a 70 Harness, a 69 Charger harness (that my Brother and modified to work in the Charger when you couldn't buy replacements) and a Painless kit. I want modern power distribution and fuses to keep my baby safe and running..

How will chopped up wiring be safer?

 

[Derwud]

How will chopped up wiring be safer?

Not chopped up.. I can't weld, but I can solder and Electrical is my strong point.. I use to work on Jaguars for a living.. My Car ran for three years with a modified 69 Charger Harness.