REWIRING DASH

[WILLYSMB]

Hi Guys,
I am at the point of rewiring my 1972 series III, the dash and all gauges and lights that it includes. Any advice has to where to begin ? I have the new harness and would like to ask other who have done it where to start. Any advice or info would be nice

thanks Marshall

[Leslie]

A) Get out your Green Bible.
B) Go through it, and the new harness, become familiar w/ each of the connections, make sure you know what each one is and where it's going.
C) Leave the dash plugged into the old harness, remove it all from the vehicle, together.
D) Get the new harness in place.
E) As you disconnect something on the old harness from the backside of the dash-plate, connect the new harness in its place.

Good luck!

[S11A]

If you have a digital camera, take pictures as you disassemble things so you can refer back to them later as you reassemble.

Photocopy and annotate the diagrams that Leslie mentioned above.

[leafsprung]

I have the new harness and would like to ask other who have done it where to start.

Start by disconnecting the battery Rip out the old harness and as you do label the ends. Compare this to the new harness and label its various terminals. Then you will have an easy job of installing the new harness. Thats probably the best way for a novice to install a harness. You might find it helpful to make notes along the way of the varius spades that each end connects to. Take your time and you should have no troubles.

-Ike

[I Leak Oil]

I've done a few harnesses on various vehicles. I don't start by disconnecting the old harness. I leave it connected and cut the old wiring, leaving about 2" of the wire. This is a good visual for where the new connector type and wire colors go. Also makes the rest of the old harness easier to pull out. Fish the new harness into place and one by one match up the old connector with the new. Get a wiring diagram, make sure the battery is disconnected, clean your grounding points and take your time.
Jason T.

[Les Parker]

Good advice, Jason.
Just to add a note, before connecting a battery to test the systems, connect a battery charger, set at 2amps, this should provide enough current to test all and if there is a short, no damage will be done to components, so no smoke to be let out of the wires, compared to that of the full amps that a battery would.
Best of luck

[leafsprung]

I would remove the entire harness, theres no point in leaving the ends if you have them labeled and theres enough terminals in the dash without having two of everything. The color codes are enough to go by anyway. Good luck

[zayante]

Any advice for someone putting in a non-stock harness? I let the smoke out of the old wiring, and I'm looking at a generic GM 12-18 fuse hot rod harness (Painless or Hot Rod Wires) as a replacement. My LR has a lot of wiring mods/non-stock devices already, so dropping a stock harness in would not be plug-and-play.

Near as I can see, it would make sense to put the fuse block on the bulkhead to the left of the steering column. Common wisdom I've heard is to solder connections rather than crimp, and to eliminate bullet connectors where possible.

[leafsprung]

Painless is fine I have painless harnesses in 2 of my 109s. The soldier vs crimp debate will go on forever. Either will work fine. If you cant crimp properly they will fail, if you cant soldier properly they will fail. I like the bullets for neatness and modularity, they can harbor corrosion but if you grease them they are generally fine.

[thixon]

Painless is fine I have painless harnesses in 2 of my 109s. The soldier vs crimp debate will go on forever. Either will work fine. If you cant crimp properly they will fail, if you cant soldier properly they will fail. I like the bullets for neatness and modularity, they can harbor corrosion but if you grease them they are generally fine.

FWIW, I'm a fan of the bullet connectors as well. I don't like soldering either, its a pain to change something down the road. Also, I really like the painless harnesses. I've bought several in the past. Watch ebay and you can find a deal. The hot rod wires product is good from what I hear, but I've never used one. The price looks good.

[greenmeanie]

My advice for a non standard harness is to draw up a wiring diagram before you start. It will make you think about a lot things and hopefully avoid a couple of iterations where you suddenly think - Crap I should have done it this other way. Having a wiring diagram in the truck is also extremely useful if everything goes dark a long way from home (It's never in your driveway is it.) and your tired and you can't quite remember which of the pink wires does what.

Assuming that one day you sell the truck it is also a nice thing to allay a buyers fears if you can say 'Yes it's better than original and here's how it works' instead of well I put it together but you are on your own when it comes to figuring it out.

I'm a crimp man myself but on my 101 I am using all painless weatherpack connectors because they are sealed and the male/female parts lock together which should avoid issues with vibration and corrosion. Not the cheapest but they work well.

Oh and the Painless Powerbraid armour stuff is excellent for protecting harnesses. Just put a piece of heat shrink over each end to prevent fraying.

Cheers
Gregor

[thixon]

Gregor,

I'm thinking of going the weatherpack route on my truck when I get to the wiring. Do you thinks it'll be worth the $?

[thixon]

I almost forgot, check out EZwiring also. I've never used one, but I've heard decent things about them from a coworker who used on on his '40 ford hotrod. They're less expensive than a Painless.

[S11A]

I started working on a complete electrical system design a while ago, but decided for now to simply buy new stock harnesses. However, the spreadsheet I used to design it might be useful:

http://www.fd3s.net/electrical/Land-Rover_Wiring_Diagrams_-_Modern_S11A_Diesel.xls

This is still a work in progress, but is pretty far along. Please let me know any corrections or thoughts.

[greenmeanie]

Gregor,

I'm thinking of going the weatherpack route on my truck when I get to the wiring. Do you thinks it'll be worth the $?

Thixon,
They are definitely a good investment for anything that hangs down in the dirt and wet under the truck as they are sealed connectors. A little grease for insurance and you'll never touch them again. They also have a positive locking feature that means connections vibrating loose will never be a problem either. Easy to use although you need to remember to put the rubber sealing grommet on BEFORE you crimp the terminal on the end. I believe that each pin is good for about 15A from the markings.

I also like that each pin location on the connector has an identification marking. In my system I am using a paint pen to give each connector a name like L1 for headlights etc. That means that on my wiring diagram I can give each connection a name e.g. L1a is the main beam connection for my right headlight. That means that should I have issues I can trace the connections really easily.

They may be overkill for interior use but I did it anyway as I like consistency in my work and my 101 is also left top less out in the wet quite a lot.

Cheers
Gregor