Joris Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Since a few months my Dodge has electrical problems. My front lights hardly ever work and if the do, only the left one actually lights something. This Saturday I drove through a deep puddle of water (crashed through might be a better description) and now my right indicate is short circuiting and my horn stopped altogether. Add to this that the wiring is a complete mess, all the wires are of the same color and are all taped in so it's impossible to see what wire is what. All this combined made my decide it's better to order a new lower wiring assembly and to redo it. Is this a reasonable decision or am I in for more trouble? Who has experience with this procedure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Hi Joris My brothers Jeep had wire troubles, it didn't recharge the battery. Because we're total electrical dimwits (got zapped by 220V twice in a few weeks at work) we just replaced 1 wire at a time. Time consuming but it worked for us. Also discovered some wires which ran from nowhere to nowhere. From seeing myself in the Ardennes the WC 51 driving fast in deep water gets you into troubles because the bumper scoops the water into the enginebay, the WC 52 is "safer"in that respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Joris I've done a large number of these for myself and other people over the years and the only way to do it is to chop the lot out and start again, anything else will be a waste if your time and money and could result in a burnt out truck. :-o There are some good reproduction Dodge harness on the market via the dealers or make your own. It's straightforward earth return with no frills stuff, I would recommend putting a modern in line fuse box for your lighting circuts, this can be discretely hidden it's just safer than relying on the thermal cut out on the back of the light switch. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 How long would it take to replace the lower wiring harnas? I'm not a total newbie when it comes to wiring but only by a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Hi Joris, Dodge WC wiring looms are easy enough to get,and depending on where you buy from they are not too expensive. For a new but 100% correct repro loom I'd reccomend Vintage Wiring of Maine. For an original NOS loom talk to either John at http://www.midwestmil.com or Ross Prince in Australia,I can give you his email address. Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 I'm going to try and find them in Holland, which saves me P&P but if that fails I'll ask the email adress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I'm going to try and find them in Holland, which saves me P&P but if that fails I'll ask the email adress. Maybe Wildenberg in Rhenen has them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 How long would it take to replace the lower wiring harnas? I'm not a total newbie when it comes to wiring but only by a little. well it shouldn't take you very long, a half day at tops but this assumes that the lower harness (and by this I am guessing you mean the loom from the bulkhead junction block to the rear lights including the stop light switch ) is compatible with your rear light sockets etc. This is where the trouble can start, the connectors may not match, the wiring colour codes may well be different, the harness may not be converted for things like indicators and duel brake lights for example and so the time and pain increases. :cry: I know that chopping the lot out and starting again sounds pretty drastic but it really is the cheapest quickest option unless you can get an exact match for your current installed loom and the rest of your loom i.e. bulkhead to dash and wing looms are in good condition, otherwise you will end up joining some half decent wire onto a set of fencing wire. I once had a commission to rewire a WC 51 that the owner said just needed the headlights seeing to. When I stood on my head under the dash I couldn’t find a single piece of insulation on any of the wires under there it did really look like rusty fence wire. On questioning him further it transpired that he had had a bit of a problem coming back form a French tour, like all the lights had gone out accompanied by a burning rubber smell and white smoke from under the dash. :oops: Needless to say this job required a full loom it only took two days to remove the old burnt out stuff install the new and test all systems. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Might it be a good idea to just sort out the mess that seems to be causing the trouble? What you said about the wiring not matching etc makes me think twice about spending 600 euros on wiring harness that might not even fit! Rewiring the headlights and the indicator does not seem too hard and is a hell of a lot cheaper. I checked all the wires while searching for an earlier short circuit (it goes on and on) and found the wires were in fair condition. The insulation was cracked in some bends but other then that it looked good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeri Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 what do i need if i want to make the wiring harness myself? when i look in the TM's they go from the fuelmeter to the heater, cooling etc. (ambulance) i was thinking to insert a "modern" fusebox" in the circuit and a block for the +lines ( the + coming from the starter). the connectors at both ends of the wires will be needed i guess in the TM i found that the wires are schielded by an woven metalwire tube, those i will need to. any parts i miss and do need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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