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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >> Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
        
(Message started by: bikerboyuk on Oct 4^th, 2010, 2:31pm)

Title: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by bikerboyuk on Oct 4^th, 2010, 2:31pm

I have owned my1996 12v 2.9 Ford Scorpio Ultima Estate from nearly new and have had 13 years of trouble free motoring.It has only done 70,000 miles but over the last week it has started playing up.An engineer has found the wireing loom against the side of the engine bay behind the heat shield under the brake fluid and servo at fault.It is next to another loom that goes into a socket. On opening it up the 24 wires inside were all mostly exposed. He thought that was the end of my lovely car as it would cost a fortune to fit a new wireing loom and thought it best for me to cut my losses.Please help me with your expertise as surely it must be possible to cut each damaged wire out and replace the damaged ones with new wire.,is there a way of connecting the wires easily? I cant give her up she is in such good condition it would be a waste of a lovely car.Thank you for any advice you could give.

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Simmo on Oct 4^th, 2010, 3:21pm

This type of problem is well known and regretfully becoming more common as cars get older. Several members have done as you suggest and re-made the looms. Depending upon the extent of the damage it is either fairly simple or a mammouth task. The answer,as you suggest, is to cut out the damaged wires and solder in a new length. Heat shrink material will seal the joints and many members use a protective outer cover to keep the heat from the engine away from the wiring. There is an excellent firm Here (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/home/homepage.php) who can supply all the cabling etc that you will need. Much depends on your ability and desire to carry out the work. :)

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Mike H on Oct 4^th, 2010, 5:03pm

^ What he said. ;)

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by gozz on Oct 4^th, 2010, 8:28pm

bikerboyuk.
As you know the 12v has a distributor,three of the wires from it are signal wires and go direct to the ECU under the glovebox.These wires a bound together inside an earthed copper shield and are separate from the others,their insulation deteriorates due to age and heat till the stage is reached where they come together,thus sending false signals leading to poor or non starting,and misfiring.The cable runs along the offside rocker box,across to the big socket on the inner wing,then through the front panel beside the radiator,across the front then back down the nearside to the ECU.What you need to do first is to unplug the wing socket,remove the cable bracket on the head,unplug all the senders that are on the branch going under the plenum,then the injector plugs and finally the distributor plug,there are some wires going to the transmission which are best left in situ.You can now open up the loom and locate the signal wires which you will almost certainly find have crumbled.I make a new one from a piece of thin three core low amp cable,then laboriously wrap it with old bared copper wire,though it is debatable whether or not this is absolutely necessary.I have sometimes needed to pull the rest of the loom out through the front panel because the damage has been found to extend as far as half way across the front of the car.Whilst the loom is stripped you can insulate all the other wires,the insulation of which will probably resemble a children's bead knecklace!You can leave the new signal wires in their own little separate loom to save too big an increase in the diameter of your newly insulated loom,making it more manageable.I would do the part from the distributor to the wing socket first,you MAY get away with just that part.There is at least one wire on the socket end that doesn't go anywhere,that is normal.
The foregoing is time consuming and somewhat irksome,but the result is worth the effort,more good Scorpios have been scrapped with wiring problems than anything else,I run six funeral vehicles,and had it not been for my sheer stubbornness,would have needed to replace some of them just for the sake of insulating tape and patience ;)
Good luck
GOZZ.

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Mike H on Oct 4^th, 2010, 9:04pm

The most obvious reason for the screening is to exclude electrical interference, therefore this almost certainly indicates sensitive signals on these wires. Similarly I doubt that there is much current at all if these are inputs to the ECU so this may be useful ~ or whatever else there takes your fancy:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=137&OrderCode=XR91Y

on 10/04/10 at 20:28:02, gozz wrote:

The cable runs along the offside rocker box

Too hot I would've thought so not helpful for a start! ;D

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by bikerboyuk on Oct 5^th, 2010, 12:57am

Thank you all for your help it is very much appreciated.The loom that plugs into connector underneath the power steering fluid container looks alright as I said its the one that comes out of the bulkhead all along to the front of the car bypassing that connector.The mechanic is worried that if the wrong wires are used it could cause problems.I had an idea that if I could find a loom in good condition from another vehicle and cut it right at the front by the radiator and at the rear of the engine bay that would solve that problem. Which brings the question are there any other Scorpios that might have the same wireing, bearing in mind that mine has all the extras. AlsoI wonder if any body knows where I could get hold of a wiring diagram.

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by gozz on Oct 5^th, 2010, 8:31am

bikerboyuk.
Simmo is the 'find it' guru,he will put you on to the wiring diagrams when he pops up.You can 'cut and shut' that loom by soldering in, either another loom or new wires.Take care to keep a careful check on where each wire goes because there are,for instance two thick orange and two thinner blue and white which can easily be transposed,the loom does the ABS and if the incorrect wires are soldered it won't work.To attempt to remove that loom at source from inside the car is a major operation as it is obviously put in before the car interior is built.
GOZZ.

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Simmo on Oct 5^th, 2010, 8:35am

The wiring diagrams,courtesy of Snoopy, are Here (http://www.drich2422.ukfsn.org/SCORPIO_WIRING%20DIAGRAMS/). You could seek a replacement loom by asking in 'Parts for Sale'. The post by Gozz is clearly the result of many years practical 'hands on' experience and frankly, if it was me, I'd try and go that route. If you do perhaps you could post a few photographs. Good luck, and let us know how things go please. ;)

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Mike H on Oct 5^th, 2010, 2:48pm

However it goes accept the fact that it's going to be fiddly so just needs time and Percy Verence. And do only one wire at a time!

I'm inclined to agree trying to get the whole loom out is a virtual non-starter

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Snoopy on Oct 6^th, 2010, 7:34am

Never met this guy Percy Verence??? ;D
Quite often see Miss Anomah ! http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/YaBBImages/rofl.gif

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Highlander on Oct 6^th, 2010, 9:40am

on 10/06/10 at 07:34:28, Snoopy wrote:

Quite often see Miss Anomah ! http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/YaBBImages/rofl.gif

Well I hope your wife doesnt find out!! ;D

Title: Re: Damaged Wiring Loom Help Wanted
Post by Simmo on Oct 6^th, 2010, 9:57am

Steady Stuart......Snoopy may be brave but 'e don't mess wiv Mal !! ::) ;D