Engine Wiring Harness Upgrade

[Steve McGill]

Folks

In another unrelated recent post of mine with pictures Ron and Stu both commented that it appeared that I still had the old engine wiring harness on my new to me 88 that I purchased last April. In the back of my mind I knew that I needed to replace this with the recommended upgrade, finally figured that all the other upgrades could wait and this is now #1.

I was at the boat today and began to investigate, I have what I believe is the original trailer harness at both the engine and cockpit panel. The eight wires at the cockpit are connected directly from the harness to the gauges, there are no rubber plugs. Additionally I do not have a panel housing for the gauges as you can see from the pictures.

Since I have the Ammeter which needs to be changed out to a voltmeter I need to order the "A" KIT from Seaward. Additional I am going to order the 16 foot extension harness.

I assume I also should also order the PANEL HOUSING (A9020) from Catalina

Again, my thanks to Ron and Stu and all of the previous posts and projects on this subject.

Thanks,

Steve

[Jon Schneider]

Hmmm... what's a "panel housing"? 

[Ron Hill]

Steve : You confirmed my suspicions.  When I saw that black electrical tape, I knew that you were "flirting with fire" - literally. 
It's amazing how many people looked at that picture like I did and only saw the riser in question!!!

The problem real is with the connector at the engine end - it gets both electrical and engine heat, where as the connector at the engine instrument panel only gets electrical heat, but change BOTH.

Here's a couple of tips when you replace the connectors with the euro connectors: 
When you cut the wires do ONE at a time and don't cut the wires flush at the connector!  Reason why?
because the wire colors MAY change and you can still see the wire color that you just cut and the differant color wire that you are to connect it to !!

I'd recommend that you do one at a time - cut one wire on one connector & connect then cut the matching wire on the other connector and connect.

If the screws that are in the connectors are "pointed" take a file and make them flat.  That way the flat end will compress down on the stripped wire and give you a better connection.

When you finish spray the strips with BO Shield T7 spray. 

I put the new engine and engine panel connections inside a small "Tupperware" containers for protection.

I did my wiring harness upgrade back in 1991/2 and have had NO problem since.  Good Luck   

[Ron Hill]

Steve : BTW, you also have a 1986/87 style engine instrument panel with a separate glow plug switch and an ampemeter.  Most of the later 1988s & subsequent C34s have a voltmeter and the glow plugs in the spring loaded key switch.   

[Steve McGill]

Ron,

Thanks for your suggestions and updates. My assumption is that I need to order the "A" kit since I have
pre 88 panel. I NEED the voltmeter.

Again I assume that it is a simple replacement.

Your suggestion for cutting one set of wires at a time, then tinning and connecting to the new term strip
insures that all wiring stays correct. Great suggestion.

Steve

[Stu Jackson]

Yes, Steve, you do need the "A" version, since it's the one with the new voltmeter, which is the only difference between that and the "B".

Ron's point is well taken, but most have found no need to have to replace the two pushbuttons with a key switch, unless you're planning on completely redoing your cockpit panel at this time.

Our two push buttons are still going strong, and the only thing I've had to do is replace the voltmeter sometime after the PO had done the wiring harness upgrade.  Our panel is exactly like yours.

While you're at it, and familiar with the wiring down there I recommend that you install the glow plug solenoid.  Between that and the new harness, your engine should start right away, every time.See: http://www.c34.org/projects/projects-glowplugs.html.  Our $10 Ford solenoid has been working fine for the last 8 years.  We mounted it off the engine, and ran a separate ground wire from the solenoid foot to the engine, rather than mounting it on the HX bracket.

[Tom Soko]

Steve,
One other item I suggest doing.  While you have the engine panel off, spray both the glow plug and starter buttons with lots of Corrosion Block or similar, both inside and out.  There have been numerous reports of corrosion inside these switches (especially the starter switch), resulting in a stuck switch, resulting in the starter motor continuing to run after the engine started, resulting in a burned out starter motor, resulting in a large dent in your wallet.  If there is any doubt as to the integrity of the switch, replace it now.  $15 is a lot better than $800, or whatever the starter motors cost.  As Ron would say, A Thought....