GM rant>crappy wiring harness

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

Does that rig have the OEM A/C compressor on it? If so, the Smithsonian might be interested. Nearly unheard of.

Yup. Air conditioning system has never been touched, and works just like new.

[airwrench]

Typical car has 2-3 miles of wire in it. More disturbing, this can approach 200 lbs.

Various multiplex and data linked systems have come up - always with an eye towards reducing the mass of wiring. Seems like the increase in electronics content over takes it and net effect is static if not increasing weight.

VW's wiring harness problems came down to them using an insulation displacement technique on the connectors. Instead of stripping wires, crimping on terminals and inserting terminals into connectors, their system used connectors that had "teeth" in them and were conceptually clamshell shaped. You put all the unstripped wires in the right place, closed the clamshell and the the force of closing it would cause the teeth to bite through the wire insulation and make contact. Great idea, had some teething problems. I think many current cars use this technique - now debugged and working properly.

One of my VWs was in the shop for almost 8 weeks while they figured out what was wrong. Came down to a bad wiring harness, which could not be replaced, as it was considered a part of the car...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Dansvan

I have to make the door jamb wiring repairs repairs on all of the big three makers. Ford, Gm and Chrysler all have issues with it. Some have an insane amount of wiring in the doors. Where I'm at it's not a one manufacturer problem. Subaru has some pretty bad wiring issues as well.

That is why I still love my 85 El Camino. Roll up windows, manual door locks, no speakers in the doors. There is no electrical wires to either door. 30 years and 334,000 miles and never once a door wire failure. Just like my 911 has never ever had a water leak.

Now the wire to the AC evaporator blower took me hours to figure out. It is a silly little hidden connector in the engine compartment that can't handle the load. I finally just soldered and shrink wrapped that wire.

[RANDY P]

My 89 C1500 has 284K on the ODO and every, single, feature still works. It just has a tendency to eat blower motors.

[yetibone]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

More than 20 years ago Nissan had introduced some sort of card bus system in their cars. What that meant was that the wiring in the car was greatly reduced because everything ran on a digital network.
Does anybody know what happened? I ask because the system didn't catch on but I thought it was a good idea at the time.

Controller area network systems are the norm for American cars now, and some imports, too. Usually the ECM is the host, and it talks to maybe a dozen or more other modules.

I'd read in a trade magazine a year ago that a high-trim level 2014 Ford Fusion had something like 72 different modules on the CAN!

[yetibone]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

My 89 C1500 has 284K on the ODO and every, single, feature still works. It just has a tendency to eat blower motors.

LOL! You make it sound like that thing is eat up with more options than a Cadillac. What did it come with, power windows, and locks, plus an AM/FM radio, and AC?

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by yetibone

LOL! You make it sound like that thing is eat up with more options than a Cadillac. What did it come with, power windows, and locks, plus an AM/FM radio, and AC?

I don't have to open my door at the Starbucks Drive Thru- Try that in any other GM of that vintage

[intakexhaust]

Not sure if factual but have been told the removal of lead content might be a culprit for connections and longevity. Crimps, connectors, heat / cold cycles, condensation.... fun, fun.

I too knock some of this technology or question why we have to have it but in reality, its quite amazing all this juice flowing in the artery's of a car.

[908/930]

My 2011 chevy 2500hd had drivers side door speaker failure, spliced in a new piece of wire and it was fixed. Should not have to do this type of repair on this age of truck, quite sad for N.A. auto industry.

[yetibone]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

I don't have to open my door at the Starbucks Drive Thru- Try that in any other GM of that vintage

Yeah, my '98 either.

I don't go to Starbucks though.

[fastfredracing]

Funny, I find GM products to be the least crappy, and usually the simplest to repair.

[wayner]

This is my wife's daily driver. Bought it fully rebuilt

We bought it for her as a replacement for her modern mini, a car that had so many electronic/computer/mechanical related issues that makes driving a rebuilt 84 pickup truck a reliability dream vehicle.

Thats a bad sign for the industry when we can run a hotrod more reliably and economically than a modern vehicle (the down side is that I've had to rewire the truck, but all is good now that everything is fresh).

Some people scream at her for daily driving it, saying it should be treated like a trailer queen, but many of those same people have new $40k+ daily drivers. We bought her truck for essentially less than what they lose in taxes and depreciation year one.

[Oh Haha]

Cool truck!

[Rick V]

Many many moons ago when I used to swing wrenches for Cadillac was cussing some piss poor design that made routine service a nightmare when the service rep walked by. I asked him why the hell they designed crap like this and his answer was spot on. They are designed to be manufactured and not repaired, to which I asked him why they weren't designed to not break.
I was soon removed from Caddy and put on GMC. I do not miss my days on domestics, they are all crap. Built in obsolescence, and sold with the mindset that you simply bought a new one every couple of years. Not how I was raised or how I think. Junk, it's all junk and I blame the UAW

[wayner]

Interesting.

We looked at a three year old escalade for her as a winter vehicle but ran away when we saw all the electronic gadgets that looked to me like ticking Cadillac time bombs

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by wayner

This is my wife's daily driver. Bought it fully rebuilt

We bought it for her as a replacement for her modern mini, a car that had so many electronic/computer/mechanical related issues that makes driving a rebuilt 84 pickup truck a reliability dream vehicle.

Thats a bad sign for the industry when we can run a hotrod more reliably and economically than a modern vehicle (the down side is that I've had to rewire the truck, but all is good now that everything is fresh).

Some people scream at her for daily driving it, saying it should be treated like a trailer queen, but many of those same people have new $40k+ daily drivers. We bought her truck for essentially less than what they lose in taxes and depreciation year one.

nice!

Same with my deal- I drive it anywhere. I bought it in San Diego in 2012, it was a used up truck that was donated to a church, then the church auctioned it off, and some dudes bought it and I bought it off of them. It was beat up, and BLUE.

It sports paint, NEW factory GM engine, new rebuilt trans, full new suspension with DJM and Bilstein, all over. People either try to steal it, or buy it from me. Took me a year to put it together and drove it the whole time.

294K on chassis. Total tab was about the same as a mid-price new Kia.

[Oh Haha]

Randy-digging the truck!

The stance is spot on along with the wheels.

A buddy had one just like it except in white. I should've bought it when I had the chance.

[RANDY P]

Thanks man.

I tow with this sucker. LOL

rjp

[wayner]

Nice truck Randy.

My wife's 84 (my friend calls it the Barbie truck) was done for a charity auction, then changed hands twice before we found it. It has a similar build. New 350 crate engine, new R4 tranny, new suspension...be easier to list what wasn't done to it by the builders ....everything except the wiring harness...which I had to do as per this thread

I think in general GM took longer to let the bean counters affect work vehicle vs. passenger vehicles, but I may be wrong.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by wayner

Nice truck Randy.

My wife's 84 (my friend calls it the Barbie truck) was done for a charity auction, then changed hands twice before we found it. It has a similar build. New 350 crate engine, new R4 tranny, new suspension...be easier to list what wasn't done to it by the builders ....everything except the wiring harness...which I had to do as per this thread

I think in general GM took longer to let the bean counters affect work vehicle vs. passenger vehicles, but I may be wrong.

Thanks man.

Mine fortunately hasn't been butchered by electric stuff- only had aftermarket radio in it- but only the doorlocks and headlights worked- everything else didn't- Cruise, Blower motor, AC totally dead with shot compressor.

All redone, everything works. Usually these trucks have been hacked apart by everyone by 10 years old...

Oh, besides the engine itself, I had to change most of the sensors for various maladies. Surprisingly, the TBI still works decent.