Repair or Rewire??

[DowntheShore]

I am only 10 miles into my first EB. There are numerous concerns with the wiring to tail-lights, gauges, flashers, radio, winch & off-road lights (which I plan to remove) that I have found already. PO warned me of some of the items and now I'm afraid of what else is hiding in all of that spaghetti.

Question is, do I start to repair these items as I find them or do I rewire? I have no experience with either. I am leaning towards re-wire to hopefully provide some peace of mind. But do I tackle that or find someone with some experience? Which harness is best suited for a novice?

Appreciate everyone's input.

 

[904Bronco]

It is always better to start fresh...
Especially on an original harness that is 40 + years old and that has be PO'd.
Centech is relatively easy, better than original, but does not have a lot of flexibility that the other more expensive kits offer.

My .02

 

[D.R.Y.]

I would definitely start fresh. ˇhen you know what & how things were done and set up.
I am personally doing the same and have bought the Painless Wiring kit for the Bronco

 

[Timmy390]

Especially on an original harness that is 40 + years old and that has be PO'd.

and has been PO'd......that's funny. Mine sure had been,

I say start over. I didn't and I'm fighting issues all the time. Bad grounds mainly.

Tim

 

[kburandt]

If your plans are to keep the vehicle long term and even for peace of mind selling to a new owner I'd start fresh. It's safer. Right now you have a higher probability of a malfunctioning light (at night?) or worse a fire.

 

[bmc69]

I've had decent luck reworking original harnesses but I completely remove them before I do. Some are too far gone to mess with, though..I just recently set one aside for "spare" and installed a new Painless instead.

Since my company builds electronics and associated harnessed for ships and craft, I've get everything right at hand to rework an old EB harness..so there is that too.

 

[DirtDonk]

If you're doing this more as a restoration and want to keep the stock wire colors, there are only two (basic) choices. That's stock wiring or Painless.
There are companies that do restorations of course, and I think American Autowire will build a stock harness new for you, but I'm guessing that's a pretty premium to pay for keeping the wire colors original.
You already pay a pretty good premium for the Painless, but part of that up-charge is the Ford factory colors.
All the other manufacturers use the (now-generic) GM color coding.

Nothing wrong with the change of colors from a function standpoint, and every wire has the function printed right on it along it's length. But sometimes the closet purist in us wants original.

Hard decision. I like the Centech for it's pre-loomed and less expensive nature. But there is something positive for just about every harness out there.

Oh, and yes, I'm on the "do it all new" side of the argument as well.

Paul

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, since I am a "fixer" with a few repairs and add ons to my wiring I would suggest trying to fix one or two of the issues and see how it goes. Get a test light and check out the taillight sockets, clean the ground, and see if you can fix it. One or two successes and you will learn something and gain confidence. Good luck

 

[KeithKinPhx]

The problem is you don't know what you don't know. These 50 year old harnesses can have breaks and shorts in the looms which are hard to find. My solution is all new. My kit is on my bench in the garage.

 

[Steve83]

But if you don't know how to build or repair 12V circuits, then "starting fresh" opens up an even-bigger can of worms than fixing one thing at at time.

And it means the truck will be out-of-service longer.

If you keep the original harness, and fix problems as they appear, you'll always be able to refer to the original wiring diagrams for reference; which can be handy when trying to learn a new repair over the internet.





On the eB I rewired, I kept the original harness - just NOT the eB's original harness. I kept the original harness from the '88 5.0L engine/trans that I put in it. I made some mods to it during the transfer, but it was essentially an '88 F150 XLT wiring harness. I could have built one, or bought an aftermarket harness, but those would have been more expensive & time-consuming to get less functionality.


(phone app link)


(phone app link)

 

[sanndmann3]

It wasn't the previous owner so much as myself adding or changing things over the years... turned into a rats nest of wires. Did a clean slate, start fresh harness and dash last winter and it turned out great. Just gotta resist the urge to start making more changes... lol

 

[Local Boy]

No question...
Install a new harness and rest good for years knowing you are set...

I tried to repair.... and repair..... and repair...then worked frantically to put out the fire under my dash while at the beach!!!!!

Saved the bronco...and learned my lesson.... Painless harnesses...it really wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be... Just take your time and label EVERYTHING!

Pics helped alot for the more complex areas...

The confidence you'll gain, once complete... is priceless!

Do yourself a favor and save yourself the headache and potential loss to fire!!!

Aloha

 

[mudstud]

Speaking from experience replace the old wiring harness. It is cheap insurance. I almost lost my 67 to the wiring harness catching on fire under the dash while driving down the road. Also a plug for a fire extinguisher.

 

[mattyq17]

I am in the same boat and trying to fix my original wiring as well. Mine being a 66 is a little different as some of the wire colors don’t match what’s in the wiring schematics. A new painless harness is looking better and better. Hell I have downloaded the painless wiring instructions and read them twice already.

 

[rguest3]

Your original wire harness is at least 40 years old.

If you have a mostly original, stock truck then replace with the Painless Harness.

If you have a modified truck, then I recommend American Autowire Harness.

 

[KeithKinPhx]

Have to agree with MudStud a fire extinguisher is a must. Mine is right under the passenger seat. A $40 piece of insurance you hope you will never need.

 

[DirtDonk]

Hopefully, like a winch, it's used to help someone else out of a jam.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

And on the new-vs-old thing again, I'm with you in theory Steve. But the direction finally chosen could well be decided by one thing.
If you can take any random three or four wires and bend them one way then another without breaking the insulation (or the wire itself even!) then chasing down and fixing issues with the stock harness makes sense.

Oddly enough, the one in my '71 is still in fantastic shape even after 47 years. Everything works and the wire covering is still flexible. But when we tried to save a buddy's '77 harness about six years ago, to save money for spending on the new EFI install (bad idea in the first place!) we were not given an option.
While we were moving some wires under the hood and dash, pushing them gently out of the way literally snapped several coverings in multiple places. The wires were so brittle that, even if the conductors were still good and doing their job, any messing about would have just ruined what was left.

So there was no option but to go new.
Might be an extreme case, but I'm sure that '77 was not the only EB with soon-to-fail wires in it's harness.
I like fixing when it's just a small percentage of the overall wiring that needs doing, but without a doubt would recommend replacement of the entire system when any of those other conditions apply.

And back to the EFI thing too, if you someone has much in the way of modern electronics planned for the old vehicle, then an all-new harness really does make sense.

Paul

 

[Steve83]

I agree if the harness has serious physical problems, but I didn't read that from the OP. It just sounded like a few things to work out, since the truck is apparently driving.

As to an EFI swap - I prefer to use the wiring that belongs on the (EFI) engine. Not an aftermarket harness.

 

[DowntheShore]

Thanks to all for your input. I am going to go with a new harness and get cozy in the garage for a few days. Now my question is which harness? From everything I have read online I have narrowed it down to Painless or Centech. I plan on keeping the truck mostly stock. I am removing the winch and off road lights. No other accessories to speak of outside of the stereo. I would consider EFI in the future, but want to get a year or so in it to see if I think it's necessary.

I don't understand why the Painless is so much more expensive. Is it worth the extra money for someone that has never done one?