Tucking S13 wiring harness

[DriftSpecial180]

So I got new 17's and maxed out my KTS's. My only concern is that i'm going to rub through the wiring harness and already started to. I found the "how to re-route harness" but it mentioned that "S13 guys are lucky that they can tuck the harness up into the fender and pull a piece of sheet metal over to protect it". i was wondering if anyone had any pics of the S13 harness tucked, i worked on mine tonight but its just worst than before.

[n2motorsports]

easiest thing ever - they say it's a quick fix, but i haven't had any problems or needed to replace the zipties forever...knock on wood.

http://www.sillbeer.com/fenderharness.php

[FaLKoN240]

DANG IT

I was searching for that site the whole time! LOL.

[DriftSpecial180]

I snap, i had the wrong idea in my head. gonna start bright and early tomorrow. Thanks guys.

P.S. any suggestions for that "ridge" of metal that hangs down over the middle of the fender?

[TipStylez]

Bang it flat.

[Jdotsturn]

bend it thats what i did.

[DriftSpecial180]

alright, my buddy has like a 4 or 5 pound sledge, that should do the trick.

[thejapino]

Which way is the best way to bend that "ridge"? Inward our Outward? Also there is another seam directly behind the wheel (towards the back of the car) my tires seem to rub there too. Which direction do you bend that funker?

[!Zar!]

Just bang your fender wells like it's a $5 ho.

Push the harness over the seam and ziptie.

Or be a pimp and relocate it to the engine bay.

I'm sure there are threads already covering this. With more information that just stating that it's easy.

[drifter808]

that link made it look hard. i did mine without even having to remove the fender. Just used vice grips to bend that lip then tuck up the harness and bend it back. took like 10-20 mins

[yokotas13]

Just bang your fender wells like it's a $5 ho.

Push the harness over the seam and ziptie.

Or be a pimp and relocate it to the engine bay.

I'm sure there are threads already covering this. With more information that just stating that it's easy.
if you are as low as me, you will rub through the harness even like that.
I had to relocate to the engine bay, after repairing half of hte harness, after doing the above method on the site.

Just do it right hte first time, and relocate to engine bay. takes like an hour.

[DriftSpecial180]

The fender seems to be a good way to protect it. I'll be doing it tomorrow and i'll throw in my $0.02

[yokotas13]

Im telling you from experience no less than a month ago
put it in the engine bay, or you will be doing it again

[naed240sx]

Im telling you from experience no less than a month ago
put it in the engine bay, or you will be doing it again

Yep this is the best way. Never have to worry about it again. I had mine tucked, and it sucked and still got eaten. In bay ftw.

[DriftSpecial180]

Did you guys unplug the the harness from the ecu or engine sensors?

[motegineon]

yea what exactly is required to move it to the engine bay?

[FaLKoN240]

I tucked mine like SANDWICHED in between the fender and the chassis, with a tight ziptie, that sumbitch isn't going anywhere.

[yokotas13]

its not a matter of it going anywhere

When you are lower, and take a hard turn, it goes up into the fender well and rubs the harness. no matter how high you have it

I am so low, even after heating and banging in the very top, im still making it silver (IE rubbing liek a mother fucker)
your preventing damage from your tire to the harness



How to do it, removed the lower steering column panels, unplug everythign to the big ass white plug. Pull through the firewall, and then reroute. over the fender in the engine bay. Separate into two bundles and electrical tape it so it will be flatter.

[motegineon]

u got a pic of what urs looks like?

[yokotas13]

yeah let me go get one for ya.

[yokotas13]

here ya go
looking at the fender innards from the outside
http://static.flickr.com/114/298650611_bb9e313f71.jpg

from the back left of hte engine bay (looking at the car)
http://static.flickr.com/121/298650589_0183f15a8b.jpg

adn in the engine bay
http://static.flickr.com/122/298650542_94356a255c.jpg

[g6civcx]

He has nothing on me :)

http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/AfterHarness.JPG

The difficult part is getting the SMJ box to go through the triangular section. You have to cut it with tin snips or a dremel.

http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/harness1.JPG
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/harness3.JPG
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/harness2.JPG


I hate the SMJ box so I will completely eliminate the box the next time I rewire the car.

[motegineon]

nice, thanks guys

[!Zar!]

if you are as low as me, you will rub through the harness even like that.
I had to relocate to the engine bay, after repairing half of hte harness, after doing the above method on the site.

Just do it right hte first time, and relocate to engine bay. takes like an hour.
Trust me, I'm plenty low, I relocated my harness to the engine bay in my s14 by cut/lengthening. Then I proceeded to beat my fenders so I can fit 18x9 +9 up front.

I was only stating that relocating it to the fender for s13's because if done right, it won't hit your wheel. If you can't do it right, or have the time then sure relocate the harness.

[DriftSpecial180]

well i'm done with, i just did a quick tuck up there (i only had a few bolts holding the fender this time). i'm gonna take a shower and go try it out.

I'll report back soon

[FaLKoN240]

I got all my bolts put back in, and my bodywork still fits perfect...

On the side I was working on. LOL.

[thejapino]

Hey folks, i just tucked my harness today. Here's my feedback:

EASY

my coilovers are maxed and before i went driving around destroying my harness and chewing up my tires, i decided to tuck the harness and flatten the seam in the wheelwells!

i already had the plastic liners removed. i didn't even remove my fenders! i did what i read here on zilvia:

*removed the plastic wire loom from the harness
*bent the lip down on the side of the framerail
*stuffed the harness up, sandwiched between the fender and the rail
as far as it would go (it only needed to go really high up there
in the middle b/c the tire will never go as far as the front/rear of that
framerail)
*ziptied the harness to the existing holes in the framerail
*hammered the lip on the side of the framerail back up! done!

i also flattened the seam at the top of the wheel well. TIP: its easier to hammer it flat if you BEND it first with BIG VICEGRIPS. using the vicegrips saves you alot of work. after the vicegrips, its pretty self-explanatory=HAMMER THAT SHIT!!! paint it back to black and go driving around for a few days. if its still rubbing somewhere, just look for anything showing bare metal and beat on it some more.

Thanks Zilvians, your good for something after all:naughty:

[yokotas13]

um...pics or ban for the retards please

[DriftSpecial180]

Mine works awesome now, can finally go around right turns. but ummm, i forgot about the left side harness. no wonder my windshield wipers don't work. guess i have some repairing to do.

[yokotas13]

i havent had a problem with that one lol

[DriftSpecial180]

ya, its a bummer. thats the harness that has the wiper controls right?

[motegineon]

i did mine as well:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b124/motegineon/IMG_2185.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b124/motegineon/IMG_2187.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b124/motegineon/IMG_2189.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b124/motegineon/IMG_2200.jpg

thanks !

[FaLKoN240]

After I relocated mine, my hood release has problems springing back.

It got rubbed a little bit by my tire initially, but it's not electrical, I don't know why it's broken.

[upSLIDEdown]

You've got it pretty high(motegineon)... You might have trouble getting the fender to go back on. I dunno. I had mine like that but it still wasn't high enough. BTW, for those of you that do this method, some of my zipties broke at one point and I started rubbing through the harness again. KEEP AN EYE ON IT. I ended up buying some stainless steel zipties at Harbor Freight to hold it up there. Then I got new wheels and went lower and had to relocate it through the engine bay. You guys with the harness over the strut tower really should have taken the time to do it right. Mine is run right by the frame rail, and the only wires I had to extend were the 2 wires for the parking light, and redo one little ring terminal ground. Looks SO much cleaner. My main problem was I actually rubbed through the rubber grommet taking the harness through the firewall. It rubbed it and popped it out of the firewall, then ripped a chunk out of it. I ended up with a much better solution and it should never rub again. Here's a couple of quick pics. The flash made it look a LOT more... textured, than it really is.

http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/9817/pict0035gz2.jpg
http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/7116/pict0034hg8.jpg

Basically what I did was take the grommet out and make a "false firewall" to cover the hole. The grommet is like 4" in diameter, but the harness is only about an inch thick. My grommet was ripped to shreds from rubbing, so I need another solution. The reason I couldn't use a new grommet is the firewall needs to be flat where the hole for the grommet is, and needed the beat the fuck out of that area to stop the rubbing.

So, I went Advance Auto Parts and picked up a few sticks of a product by JB Weld ( I think it's called Stick Weld or something). It comes in a little plastic tube. It's basically a 2 part putty form epoxy. It's in a little log roll shape, and the outside is light grey, the center is dark grey. You break of a section of it and knead it until it's one uniform color, then apply wherever you want. The problem with this stuff is it dries very quickly, so you have to have everything exactly the way you want it and work VERY quickly. I bought like 4 tubes of that and what's called a body patch. It's basically a very thin piece of mesh designed to repair holes in body panels so you can bondo over it (it's made by Bondo).

The patches are adhesive backed, so I cleaned it really well with Brake Cleaner to get the adhesive off, then scuffed both sides of it with like 220 (or was it 100, I dunno). Then I scuffed the edge of the hole in the firewall where the grommet once resided. Then I proceded to "reform" that area to my exact specifications with a precision instrument I like to call 'Brutus' (my BFH). I beat on the firewall until it was concave enough that I though it wouldn't rub. Then I beat it some more. I pulled the harness all the way to the top of that hole. Since it normally goes through the center of the grommet, therefore the center of the hole, pulling it up to the top gives you another inch or two clearance. That's where I was rubbing the harness, not in the middle, but the back, because it had to come down to the center of that hole to pass through the firewall. Anyway, I pulled the harness up to where I wanted it (all the way at the top) then took a 1/2" extension and beat on the area right behind where the harness would be to kind of "notch" it (for lack of a better word). This lets the harness sink back in the firewall a bit and be even more out of the way. It also helps to keep the harness still and immobile. I took a short piece of 1" heater hose and sliced it lengthwise and wrapped it around the back side of the harness where it pressed against the firewall, just to be safe. Then wrapped the entire section in electrical tape (3M of course). I drilled one hole on each side of the "harness notch" and put a stainless steel ziptie around it to hold it in place.

Then I made a template for the mesh out of paper. I made it over hang the edge of the hole about 1/4"-1/2" all the way around, and cut out a notch for where the harness went through. Once I got that exactly the size I wanted it, I traced it onto the body patch and cut it out. I cut it a little bigger than the paper to be safe and then trimmed it down. The mesh patch needs to be pressed up to the hole and "formed" to the shape of the newly beaten firewall (kinda curved), that's why I made it a hair bigger than the template. Once that fit perfectly and I was sure there was enough clearance for the harness, I was ready to actually make the "false firewall."

I opened the tubes of Stick Weld (or whatever it's called) and cut a bunch of small sections off, so they were ready to knead. I also had a cup of water handy to dip my fingers in, because it smoothes out much better if you fingers are wet. Once everything was ready and wiped down with alcohol, I was ready to start.

I took the patch panel that I precut to the perfect size and started kneading some SW (Stick Weld). Once it was one uniform color, I pressed half on one side and half on the other side, so it "sandwiched" the mesh. I started in the middle and worked my way to the outside. The SW is easier to knead it it's in smaller sections. Too big and it takes forever to get it one color. So I kept doing that until the entire piece was covered in SW. I also made sure the notch for the harness had enough SW on it so that the edge of the notch was smooth, no jagged metal poking out that could hurt the harness. Then I held it up to the hole and used some more SW to go all around the edge of it, pressing it onto the pre-scuffed/cleaned firewall. Kept doing this untill I was comfortable with the amount of overlap I had on the firewall.

Then it has to dry, which takes 24 hours IIRC. After it's dry, I fill the gap around the harness with clear silicone caulking so now water could get in (all the fuses/wiring are just on the other side of that firewall). Done and Done.

There was one thing I forgot to do that I wanted to do when I was doing this, but I got caught up in a rush and totally forgot. I was going to make a little "ear" or two on the mesh patch and put a couple tiny litle #6 screws through it into the firewall (make sure they're short because of the fuses/wiring behind the firewall). That way the SW isn't the only thing holding this panel to the firewall in case it happens to come loose one day. As long as the firewall is scuffed really well with 100 grit, I don't think it'll be a problem, but I wanted to do it anyway.

BTW, my hood release doesn't spring back either, and it's been rubbed through in at least one spot. I think that's why, don't think it has to do with relocating it, because mine didn't start acting wierd till it started rubbing.

Hope this helps some people out, I hadn't anticipated writing this much, I just kinda did. If anyone needs any clarification, let me know.

[thejapino]

isn't jb weld a little overkill? why not that expanding foam insulation you could buy at home depot?

[motegineon]

that last pic is with the fender on, all worked ok

[upSLIDEdown]

isn't jb weld a little overkill? why not that expanding foam insulation you could buy at home depot?

Because I didn't wanna take a risk of it expanding back into the fuse box/wiring. That stuff expands A LOT.

[YUNG DRIF]

Mine works awesome now, can finally go around right turns. but ummm, i forgot about the left side harness. no wonder my windshield wipers don't work. guess i have some repairing to do.


haaa, that shit happened to me too

[jy116]

man... hard to see how u can still rub even after tucking it way up like that red car.... wont the tire hit the frame b4 it gets up to the tucked harness?

+1 for vice grips: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/jy116/1110061805.jpg
Havent tucked the harness above the ridge thing... but im not super slammed like the hardcore folks. Will def do it tho sometime... That ridge i bent was tearing into my tires bad. No pic, but theres alarmingly deep slits cut into my new tires... coming fast down a hill and compressing the front could explode the tires in a snap! Lowered ppl, DO IT ASAP!

[TurbLu]

Dope thread - subsribing for future reference....

[DriftSpecial180]

Dope thread - subsribing for future reference....


Glad to be of service

[articdragon192]

I just moved mine above the inner fender. it's tucked in between fender and inner fender. No rubbing at all, and my tires are tucked up front.

[naed240sx]

After I relocated mine, my hood release has problems springing back.


Same thing happened to me. Relocate the hood release to the engine bay and it will fix your problems. It's easy as hell to do, and gives the wiring harness more room if you don't plan on moving it to the engine bay as well.

[FaLKoN240]

Same thing happened to me. Relocate the hood release to the engine bay and it will fix your problems. It's easy as hell to do, and gives the wiring harness more room if you don't plan on moving it to the engine bay as well.

Thanks for the advice, I may do just that tomorrow.

[yokotas13]

Wow, thats alot of jbweld. I did mine like that cause i was stuck somewhere lol....thats why its over my fender.

[g6civcx]

You guys with the harness over the strut tower really should have taken the time to do it right. Mine is run right by the frame rail, and the only wires I had to extend were the 2 wires for the parking light, and redo one little ring terminal ground.

Keep in mind that the exhaust manifold is next to the frame rail. If you're going to run the harness there, make sure you use insulation.

I thinned mine out significantly and it was able to fit between the strut tower and the hood.

[DriftSpecial180]

I think he's talking about the upper frame rail... thats not that close to the exhaust manifold.

[g6civcx]

I think he's talking about the upper frame rail... thats not that close to the exhaust manifold.

The entire engine bay on that side gets very hot, especially if you have a turbo.

The furthest away I could get the harness is in the picture below. Unless he has something special I don't know about, that's the best place to put it to keep it away from heat.

http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/harness2.JPG

[upSLIDEdown]

I'm not turbo, so it's not THAT hot. And no offense to you guys running it over the strut tower, but that looks like asshole... sorry. I'll try to get a pic for you guys to show you, but it's run down low, right by the frame rail, then back up under the BMC and back thru the hole. The problem wasn't in the center of the fender so much as it was towards the back of the fender. I was rubbing it where it came down to go thru the grommet/hole. So I went through the bay, and that didn't solve it completely, so I did what I showed you. Now I have NO rubbing at all, except where I rub the bottom of the strut tower, which can't be fixed, so oh well. When my motor is done and gets put in (built KAT), I'm relocating everything in that harness inside under the dash (except the lighting wires obviously, which will be run THROUGH the framerail). MAJOR WIRE TUCKING gonna happen... ;-)

[jy116]

lesson for ppl tucking it up above the ridge: KEEP an eye on the harnes when u re-install your fender! I was rushing, and it was at night. I only did one side so far. I used existing holes on the left/driver side harness for my zip ties. Put my fender on, had to force it down into proper position to line up bolts... and guess what i see once its all bolted down...

FRIKKEN wires got pushed down below the ridge by the fender! So I gotta do it all over again! Its even lower now, but its way farther outside, maybe on the outer edge of the tire, but not touching... o well, just letting everyone know to check again before bolting on the fender.

[g6civcx]

And no offense to you guys running it over the strut tower, but that looks like asshole...

Your only issue is cosmetics? I can live with that. Right now there are other mechanical issues to fix with so I can deal with being ugly.

[yokotas13]

same here
#1 concern for me was not to rub through it a second time

[emayearecee]

this helped me a ton, so i thought id bring it back to life. just in case anyother newbs need this for future reference

[FusionR240sx]

idc that i'm bumping this...
but what size wiring should i use to replace wires?
fuccin burnt thru mine last night on the way home after hitting a pothole hard as fuck and shaking it loose.

[g6civcx]

but what size wiring should i use to replace wires?

When replacing wires, always use the same size or larger. Never go smaller.

[i8yourfwd]

Suscribing to this thread.

Did you have to drill a hole through the firewall to reroute it through the engine bay? or did you just use an exsisting hole?

[g6civcx]

Did you have to drill a hole through the firewall to reroute it through the engine bay? or did you just use an exsisting hole?

There's a triangular section in the frame rail next to the green wiper amp. The SMJ is slightly too big so you will have to cut the hole a little bit.

[racepar1]

Just bang your fender wells like it's a $5 ho.

Push the harness over the seam and ziptie.

Or be a pimp and relocate it to the engine bay.

I'm sure there are threads already covering this. With more information that just stating that it's easy.

YAY! I guess I'm a pimp! Re-routing through the engine bay works best, but it is a bitch because the harness doesn't fit through the holes in the chasis unless you dis-assemble the fuseboxes.

[BoostedCoupe]

I know i'm bumping an old thread. I thought i would show how i did mine. I didnt see no vert on here, and verts have a fender brace from the factory. so its a little harder to get the back of the harness up high.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h310/1993ka24det/SD530420.jpg

[Creizai]

I know i'm bumping an old thread. I thought i would show how i did mine. I didnt see no vert on here, and verts have a fender brace from the factory. so its a little harder to get the back of the harness up high.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h310/1993ka24det/SD530420.jpg

You should def go into the engine bay once you get bigger wheels.

[BoostedCoupe]

I usually have 18's and i have no problems with it like it is. The wheels will have to hit frame first.

[JRas]

After I relocated mine, my hood release has problems springing back.

It got rubbed a little bit by my tire initially, but it's not electrical, I don't know why it's broken.

that hood release cable is like a brake cable on a bicycle

you have it tucked along with your harness, making it difficult to work properly.

options:
cut the line short - pull metal line to open
get a longer cable - less tension on it
ditch the cable and get hood pins

if you have to relocate your harness inside the engine bay, you're too low ( yes, it is possible, when you ruin the suspension geometry of the vehicle ) or just think you're low..

[FaLKoN240]

Ha I made that post almost like... 2 years ago?

I don't have to worry about that anymore. My new car didn't come with hood cable, but aerocatch latches.

[nismosx]

here ya go
looking at the fender innards from the outside
http://static.flickr.com/114/298650611_bb9e313f71.jpg

from the back left of hte engine bay (looking at the car)
http://static.flickr.com/121/298650589_0183f15a8b.jpg

adn in the engine bay
http://static.flickr.com/122/298650542_94356a255c.jpg
do you have a write up on this ?! i cant find anywhere

[om3ga]

Heres mine, I pounded the seams flat with a sledge after bending them with pliers too it worked well just take your time and get them flat.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b211/dayoldbagel/tuck.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b211/dayoldbagel/tuck2.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b211/dayoldbagel/tuck3.jpg

[fliprayzin240sx]

do you have a write up on this ?! i cant find anywhere

You basically go under the dash board and find all the plugs for that harness and disconnect them. You pop them out to the wheel well and route the whole thing on top of the strut tower. Only thing is you have to make sure your hood wont be smashing on to the wiring. Most people will unwrap the wiring and kinda flatten them and then rewrap them flat with electrical tape.

[Baxter]

I would highly suggest Adel clamps over zipties.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/graphics/0400920.jpg

[zylvia213]

I tucked mine like SANDWICHED in between the fender and the chassis, with a tight ziptie, that sumbitch isn't going anywhere.

:werd:^^^ did the same thing and works pretty dam good for me. Easiest thing you can do.

[GripTerror]

I searched and Yakota I don't wana sound like a dumbass, it does sound simple like 'disconect everything' then reroute.

But can you be more specific?

I want to move everything possibly under the dash. I have a cut up dash and alot of interior wiring removed.(stereo, etc... -- stripped out car).

I rather move the harness under the engine bay than have them in stock location for fenders anyways...

I would like some more pix or write up :) I am guessing I'll have to take the fenders off to do this... I tucked mine up with zip ties and hammered this seam to push it up... but i am trying to alos get rid of non-essentials on the car and i figure harness not being hidden under fenders is one way to go to track down all the wiring...

[240sxfamily]

I would highly suggest Adel clamps over zipties.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/graphics/0400920.jpg


this guy. is smart.

[driftpolice]

noone with an s14 is showing pics or chiming in. It seems much more difficult to find enough slack or the holes to ties it up on s14.

[!Zar!]

It's all the same. I've done it on a few s14's before.

I routed my harness through the engine bay.

[lok]

Just finished doing my friends.

We depinned the brake master cylinder harness and the wiper return box and moved them inside.

It makes the harness thinner. Then used some split loom to try and make it as thin as possible so the fender fits better.

And P clamps are more reliable than zipties for holding the harness.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l208/aukalok/IMG_20110126_183411.jpg

[chiboy002]

you might still have rubbing issues in the back, i did the same but with steel zipties. No issue there

I'm going to remove my smj and maybe depin it so i can fit it through the firewall or something.