Best way to clean/upgrade wires and terminals?

[ymanchik]

Want to clean up my engine bay a bit. I would like to replace some of the wires and terminals that are 47 years old now. Is it worth the time doing it? Everything works, I just have some time and thought it would be a good idea to do. Or should I just leave it alone if it's not broken??? If you recommend cleaning/upgrading, what the best way to do it? Is there a wiring kit I can buy that has a bunch of different colors? If I go the cleaning route, what products do you recommend? Any other tips or insight would be super helpful. Thanks! 

[Harv]

Get that nice 320i spark wire loom. I think it even comes with the new wires. That always goes a long way on a car. 

 

John

[ymanchik]

4 minutes ago, Harv said:

Get that nice 320i spark wire loom. I think it even comes with the new wires. That always goes a long way on a car. 

 

John

Hey John,

 

Yea that looks great, will keep my eye out for one of those looms. Thanks.

[Greg Mierz]

If all you want to do is clean the corrosion of the spades, cleaning strength vinegar is useful, I uses some in the door connector on my E30 and it cleaned the corrosion off, otherwise it mechanical cleaning of them.

 

 

[02Les]

45 minutes ago, Greg Mierz said:

If all you want to do is clean the corrosion of the spades, cleaning strength vinegar is useful, I uses some in the door connector on my E30 and it cleaned the corrosion off, otherwise it mechanical cleaning of them.

 

 

Malt vinegar not allowed......only for fish & chips. However, it is a great rust remover.

[halboyles]

Heat, oxidation, insulation deterioration, brake fluid, fuel, oil,

mice, frogs, beer and taco sauce all take their toll.  And that is just on the owner not to mention the electrical connections.

 

You can do a lot of good by replacing the spade connectors every place you find them.  This is most important under the hood but it is surprising how many bad connectors are under the dash and in the trunk.  There are really not that many connectors on these simple cars so if you do one system/section at a time it isn't that complicated.

 

Buy good quality automotive/military spec spade connectors with looong, preferably heat-shrinkable, sleeves.  The first inch or so of the cable should be cut off before re-terminating as that is where most of the corrosion happens.

 

Remove the fuse box, take the paper wire guide off of the back if you want to keep it, clean the crud off the box, and then soak it in vinegar overnight to remove corrosion.  Then use DeOxit on the box and all the connectors that connect to it.

 

All grounds should also be re-terminated and dump those stupid sheet metal screws that BMW used for grounds and replace them with bolts and nuts on sanded sheet metal.  Use dielectric grease on all sheet metal bolted contacts.

 

[Mark92131]

15 hours ago, ymanchik said:

Yea that looks great, will keep my eye out for one of those looms. Thanks.

 

I bought these Kingsborne wires for my 1975, when you order them direct you can get the Loom as an option.

 

Mark92131

 

 

http://www.kingsbornewires.com/product-p/12-7405l.htm

[halboyles]

5 minutes ago, Mark92131 said:

you can get the Loom as an option.

 

Do you happen to have a reference/link to that loom?  It hasn't shown up when I have ordered from them before.

[Mark92131]

3 minutes ago, halboyles said:

Do you happen to have a reference/link to that loom?  It hasn't shown up when I have ordered from them before.

 

I called them direct and they were able to add it to my order, not through their website.

 

Mark92131

[JohnS]

Also, if you call Kingsborne and order a set of the wires with the loom tube, make sure to ask them to cut the wire set longer so that the wires will fit in the loom tube.  Their stock length 2002 wire set is cut too short to correctly fit in the loom tube.

John

 

 

[laundromatt]

2 hours ago, Mark92131 said:

 

I called them direct and they were able to add it to my order, not through their website.

 

Mark92131

 

How much did they charge you for the loom?  Thanks.  

Edited January 26, 2017 by laundromatt

[itsrotary]

3 hours ago, laundromatt said:

 

How much did they charge you for the loom?  Thanks.  

 

Just purchased one of these last month.  It's not listed on their site but if you call them they know what you want. $53.50 for 7mm wire with long coil wire.  $15 shipping to my location. Mine came installed in the tube.

[pehlivanov_tii]

On 1/26/2017 at 7:33 AM, halboyles said:

Heat, oxidation, insulation deterioration, brake fluid, fuel, oil,

mice, frogs, beer and taco sauce all take their toll.  And that is just on the owner not to mention the electrical connections.

 

You can do a lot of good by replacing the spade connectors every place you find them.  This is most important under the hood but it is surprising how many bad connectors are under the dash and in the trunk.  There are really not that many connectors on these simple cars so if you do one system/section at a time it isn't that complicated.

 

Buy good quality automotive/military spec spade connectors with looong, preferably heat-shrinkable, sleeves.  The first inch or so of the cable should be cut off before re-terminating as that is where most of the corrosion happens.

 

Remove the fuse box, take the paper wire guide off of the back if you want to keep it, clean the crud off the box, and then soak it in vinegar overnight to remove corrosion.  Then use DeOxit on the box and all the connectors that connect to it.

 

All grounds should also be re-terminated and dump those stupid sheet metal screws that BMW used for grounds and replace them with bolts and nuts on sanded sheet metal.  Use dielectric grease on all sheet metal bolted contacts.

 

 

I agree with everything. I found many rusty connectors in my harness, BUT if you replace them, it is necessary to solder them after you crimp them to the wire. No matter how good you crimp them, you will never crimp them so good like from the factory and the soldering will help you to get a good strong connection.