Hi all. I am working on a 1985 carbureted 5.0 and have a wiring question. I tore the engine down and have been slowly cleaning and replacing parts. My last dilemma is the wiring harness. I looked online for a plug and play harness but could not find one. I saw some other guys suggest buying the connectors piece by piece and doing the wiring myself. First off, is there a wiring harness that someone sells to make this simple? And if not and I have to DIY, how do I go about finding the connectors and the wiring schematics and how do i make this a step by step approach so I can do it properly. I'm a novice so this is all new territory for me. Thanks!
1985 wiring harness help
- Thread starter philcore3
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1985 is a one year only harness. Many of the connectors were changed for 1986.
Unfortunately you will have to try and source one used unless you want to go with a standalone type harness from painless or Ron Francis wiring
Unfortunately you will have to try and source one used unless you want to go with a standalone type harness from painless or Ron Francis wiring
Is it the engine wiring harness you are replacing?? Do you still have the original one that came on the car??
I am going to build a harness for my 83 after I get the engine reinstalled..... My dash and heater box are out and will not get reinstalled until after I have redone the engine wiring harness and figured out what I am going to remove of the Smog devices and wiring.....
I gave up trying to find the correct connectors for the harnesses so I am going to use weatherpack connectors to build all new... Better connectors from what I can see..
Why I asked about your original harness is I am going to lay mine on the engine and replace, trace, and redo mine one at a time ( I am a simple man) then tape it up and maybe sleeve it....
There are some new connectors offered by suppliers,,, Low pressure switch connector , AC compressor connector, heater/AC blower resistor....All of these seem to be bad on my car, so these will make it easier to repair......
I am going to build a harness for my 83 after I get the engine reinstalled..... My dash and heater box are out and will not get reinstalled until after I have redone the engine wiring harness and figured out what I am going to remove of the Smog devices and wiring.....
I gave up trying to find the correct connectors for the harnesses so I am going to use weatherpack connectors to build all new... Better connectors from what I can see..
Why I asked about your original harness is I am going to lay mine on the engine and replace, trace, and redo mine one at a time ( I am a simple man) then tape it up and maybe sleeve it....
There are some new connectors offered by suppliers,,, Low pressure switch connector , AC compressor connector, heater/AC blower resistor....All of these seem to be bad on my car, so these will make it easier to repair......
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I do have the original and it is intact so I do have something to go off of. Luckily I have a family member who is an electrician and car junky so I might put him to work. I'm thinking of a complete redo as all the old connectors are extremely brittle. As feared, this sounds like a long process in my future. Oh well, keeps me out of trouble.
Curious what a stand alone harness is. My buddy recommended "painless" to me but they didn't have 85 carb specific
The only harness bad on my car is what I would call the engine harness, the one that draped over the intake manifold..... It and the plug it plugs into.... Interior is good and most of the harness that wraps around the firewall to the battey and headlights is OK....
I bought a package of 15 different colored lengths of GXL wires, weatherpack connectors, and a specific crimpiing tool for the weatherpack connectors... Two 25 ft lengths of 14 gauge REd and Black wire too.......
Wire to the AC pressure switch was bad, and the plug from the main harness the engine harness plugs into...
I am removing ALL of the TAD/TAB system on my car......
I purchased the weatherpack crimping tool # 12014254 after watching a youtube video on how it worked..... sold me
It is a $100 plus item.......
I was going to use Deutsch connectors ( my Harley has them) but they are just a bit too complicated for a simple person like me.......
It is a $100 plus item.......
I was going to use Deutsch connectors ( my Harley has them) but they are just a bit too complicated for a simple person like me.......
Hopefully this is more help than work...
You might want to give the parametric search engine at mouser a try...
Unfortunately they have 36000+ automotive connectors alone, so it might be needle haystack issue.
Most of the connectors on my 89 seem to be the tyco (TE) or Molex brand but it can be very confusing. I think Tyco (aka TE ) bought Deutsch a european company a while ago.
If Mouser doesn't have it, Digikey might. But they might just be a bigger haystack with over 3 million+ connectors.
GOOD LUCK!
You might want to give the parametric search engine at mouser a try...
Unfortunately they have 36000+ automotive connectors alone, so it might be needle haystack issue.
Most of the connectors on my 89 seem to be the tyco (TE) or Molex brand but it can be very confusing. I think Tyco (aka TE ) bought Deutsch a european company a while ago.
If Mouser doesn't have it, Digikey might. But they might just be a bigger haystack with over 3 million+ connectors.
GOOD LUCK!
My experience has been that the few connectors that fit are the ones already sourced by suppliers like NPD or LMR........ I have spent HOURS on sites like these finding nothing........
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