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Wiring Assessment
With the preliminary inspection of the wiring done, the next phase in the project is to track the existing wires their sources, and begin work on the electrical upgrade.
Note :
- Always wear eye protection, and follow proper safety Note, when working with power tools.
- As a standard safety precaution, always disconnect the vehicle's negative battery cable before you begin work on any electrical or mechanical components.
Procedure :
- Once you've disconnected the vehicles negative battery cable, begin by taking the accessory wires loose at the positive battery terminal.
- Begin snipping the plastic wire-ties that were used previously to hold the wiring harness together. This will make it easier to determine where each of the individual wire leads. Use caution to cut only the ties, not the wires themselves.
- The process of disassembling the wiring harness revealed a cracked fuse-holder. This was installed previously as a fuse for the after-market stereo amplifier. Since this fuse is too big to fit in the new fuse panel, the holder will be replaced later.
- Continue loosening the wires, concentrating only on the power-wires that were connected directly to the battery. The new wiring harness will follow the factory wiring-harness as closely as possible.
- The old split-loom will be replaced as well, so remove the old one. It slides off easily.
- The next step is to pull the wires you've identified through the firewall of the vehicle to determine where they are connected. Any inline fuses previously installed will probably need to be cut off so that the wires will fit through the firewall.
- As you hold onto the under-the-hood sections of wire, have an assistant pull the wires through into the cab of the vehicle. Follow each wire carefully to find which circuit it's connected to.
- Inside the cab, we discovered sections of wires that had been spliced using screw-on wire nuts. We opted to replace the spliced wiring by running entirely new wires from each accessory or switch inside the cab out to the new fuse box. This will provide a more stable connection for each set of wiring.
- The power wires leading to dash switches for off-road lights and other accessories are all disconnected.
- The wire supplying the CB radio has an inline fuse and plug. The existing wiring had the wires connected improperly (without proper ground) which would have prevented the CB from working. This situation will be corrected later - with a properly wired and soldered connection -- as part of the re-wiring process. The plug itself will be salvaged and reused since it is brand-specific for the already installed CB radio.
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