Anyone re-wired their own car???

[jgtr]

Hi, I have a 1991 Peugeot 205 Gti with seriously iffy wiring :-( parts of the wiring have melted around the fuse box area and there appears to be corroded wires and a few electrical gremlins which I think are all linked.

I looked at second hand but am concerned I may have the same issues and I can't afford to buy new so was thinking of repairing it myself, wondered if anyone has done similar and can give some tips or know anywhere I can buy Pug connectors/good quality wire and heat shrink?

My plan is to totally remove the loom, lay it all out and cable tie it to large sheets of cardboard and just start replacing any dodgy bits....this sound like a good plan? Gas solder and heat shrink, remove any connectors that I am to reduce the risk in the future??

Cheers

Jay

[jgtr]

worth using a multimeter to check resistance?? What should I be looking for to indicate a bad wire??

[MrSpeedy]

We've just fully restored our Ford 400e and as part of that I made a complete scratch built wiring loom for it.

It's often easier than trying to repair hacked about harnesses.

If you do want to do it, my recommendation is to firstly list everything that will be powered electrically. And I do mean everything!
Think long and hard about any operating parameters that the circuits need. (ign on or off, doors open etc)

Sketch out a schematic.
Then do it again. And again. And probably again.

When you start to build your loom, make sure you are in the correct frame of mind and relaxed. Protect yourself from interruptions.

Follow your schematic, and draw on all alterations as you go. (yes, there will be some)

When complete, make sure you redraw the altered 'final' drawing you did, so you have a proper wiring diagram for future reference.

[jgtr]

Thanks
I think a making full new loom is a bit beyond my capability, my pug has most options so there is a lot of wire!!! Some good info though, think I'll try and keep as much of the original loom as possible - removing it from the car I think is the way to go

[colnerov]

Hi, yes it's better removed from the car. Don't use cardboard, it's not robust enough. get an 8'X 4' sheet of ply lay the loom out on it, at every junction hammer in nails around it to hold it. then gently cut or unlace the loom and use rubber bands across the nails to hold the loose wires in place. Identify the damaged wires and then replace them one at a time. There will be a variety of colours. I have found the easiest way is to have a second loom available from the same maker of the vehicle, that you can liberate the right colour wires from. As said try and work uninterrupted and make notes, if you start getting lost or frustrated then stop, walk away, have a cup of tea and come back to it.

Colin

[Maizetina]

I have just rewired my own car it took me a few days to do I should have used a rebel wiring kit from Langys hot rod shop,it comes all prewired with a fuse board and all wires are marked every 6inches and so easy !!

[joe90]

Jul 12, 2015 7:36:55 GMT Maizetina said:

I have just rewired my own car it took me a few days to do I should have used a rebel wiring kit from Langys hot rod shop,it comes all prewired with a fuse board and all wires are marked every 6inches and so easy !!

I was going to suggest this as I am about ready to order one of these kits from Langeys for my Buick.

Bryan

[jgtr]

Jul 12, 2015 9:51:32 GMT joe90 said:

Jul 12, 2015 7:36:55 GMT Maizetina said:

I have just rewired my own car it took me a few days to do I should have used a rebel wiring kit from Langys hot rod shop,it comes all prewired with a fuse board and all wires are marked every 6inches and so easy !!

I was going to suggest this as I am about ready to order one of these kits from Langeys for my Buick.

Bryan

Think my 205 will be a bit complicated for this kit??

[MonzaPhil]

Have had good products from Autosparks. Pretty reasonable considering what goes into it and they cater for modifications.

Sent from any which way but loose using proboards

[omega]

there a company near me called
vehicle wiring products [sorry cant do links just google]
sell everything you need and are very helpful

if you to do this please do 2 looms as I need one for my gti!

[andyborris]

I'm trying to do this at the moment....I would say that the easiest way is to copy an existing loom and if you can stand to have your car off the road for a time, you can use the loom in your car as a template.

Label every connection, junction and earth point before removing it, then use it to draw a plan onto a sheet of ply using nails to locate it (as above), mark the plan with all the connections etc. and wire colours. Also note down the wiring lengths (so you know how much to buy!).

I know that on older UK cars, much thinner cable (called thinwall!) can be used, it carries the same amps, but because it's thinner, it's easier to thread through all those bulkhead holes! But you should do the math, but avoid using overly amped cable, if it only needs 5 amps, 10 amps cable is a waste of money!

On most old UK cars (my bad habit!), I'd always add relays for many components, but your car, being more modern, may already have them. If not, it's a good idea. Relays mean switches have an easier live (important in a 205!), heavy cable runs can be shorter and if use relays with a built in fuse, an extra layer of protection is added.

Few cars use an exclusive design of connector, they'll use an "off the shelf" brand. Unfortunately, there are many different brands and some types seem very hard to get at sensible prices, but don't discount your local Pug dealer, they may be glad to clear a shelf, even at a silly price!

Get a digi multimeter and test all the circuits when it's still on the board.

Lastly, buy the correct crimp tool for the connectors, it's easier and much neater, they can be expensive, but as it seems you've got a ready market for GTI looms, it'll be worth it!

Good luck!

link

link

[v8ian]

I would be buying a spare loom, make an assessment of both and use the best, then use the other for spare connectors, bits of wire with the right colour coding, will make life easier in the long run,

[Ryannn]

I did my mini a while ago and bits of a friend's recently.

I found the connectors online meaning I didn't have to use any of those blue things! Got a good pair of crimpers and a gas soldering iron.

I also picked up a second hand loom so I could cut long lengths of the correct colour wire from it. Makes the whole job look better and easier to fault find in future!

I also wired in an aux fuse box with perm 12V to run all my relays, rather than over crowd the original fuse box.

[jgtr]

Jul 13, 2015 19:10:37 GMT v8ian said:

I would be buying a spare loom, make an assessment of both and use the best, then use the other for spare connectors, bits of wire with the right colour coding, will make life easier in the long run,

This is what I have decided to do, found whole car loom for around £100 which I'm happy with

[joffturbonova]

Vehicle Wiring products is an excellent source to get the right coloured wires :-

www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

When joining wires I would always recommend to twist wires together then solder and then seal with adhesive lined heat shrink tubing , like this :-

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Adhesive-Glue-Lined-Weatherproof-Heatshrink-Tubing-Heat-Shrink-Sleeving-/181068478516?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2a2885b834

Take your time replace one wire at a time and try to match the colours otherwise fault finding in the future will be nigh on impossible.

Joff

[jgtr]

Change of plan, loom was for a LHD car so I'm going to repair mine. Removed dash yesterday and have removed one loom ready for repair, doesn't look too bad.

What wire should I be using? I'm guessing thin wall and just match the size to the wire I'm replacing....does it matter if I go slightly larger?

With heat shrink do I just make sure the final diameter is less than the diameter of the wire, will any heat shrink do, don't want to buy cheap stuff that wears through.

[vaughant]

Usually the heatshrink shrinks to about 4 or 5 times it's size and it's pretty obvious what size it will be, best by a kit of various sizes as it comes in really handy overall.