Re-wiring an FSJ

[Forrest the FSJ]

Between brittle harnesses, clipped wires, a potential hot ground, and melted insulation, I'm thinking it would be a good idea to rewire my 1990 Grand Wagonner. I've seen the rewiring kits on BJs - are these complete, as in every single wire, pigtail, and harness needed? If not, any ideas on where to get it? Any body else done this? How hard was it? Any tips or tricks?

[uncle_asa]

BJ's sells generic kits, so you will need new terminals for connectors or just use you old connectors. Not done it yet, but received recently box from them.

There's also no wiring for ignition stuff, it's just all the generic wiring which found on every car (as described on BJ's site).

[btpdragon]

ZM Jeep sells complete harness kits. They also sell the individual harnesses. Just search wiring harness on their site. Pricey, but they are complete with all connectors. Not sure what year your Jeep is, but these say they are for 79-85 FSJ

Complete kit

http://stores.zmjeeps.com/Detail.bok?no=146654

[budojeepr]

I sourced a 12-circuit generic GM kit from EZ Wiring (via eBay). It came with fuse box, some connectors, fusible link and good instructions. It came out well. I'd recommend a 16-circuit one for expansion.

Get a good wire stripper, a good crimper, lots of good connectors, solder, soldering iron or torch, lots of shrink-tubing - 3/8" works well. Also get the wire sheathing/loom of your choice, and a variety of good-quality zip ties. Cable clamps are good to have around.

A good source for supplies is Del City (google it), and madelectrical.com is also good to work with.

Take your time and have fun!

[Southern Gorilla]

I rewired my '76 with a used harness from a '78. The advantage was that almost all of the connectors matched up perfectly. The disadvantage was that small differences between years and options made it almost as tough as using a new generic kit.

When I go to rewire it again (properly) I'll be using a custom harness from Ron Francis wiring. They're way more expensive than the generic kits. But they aren't generic. They ask what alternator, distributor, steering column, and accessories you are running so they can supply the correct connectors with the harness. The wires and fuse block are labeled to show what circuit they are. And the wire itself is not the same generic garbage you get at the local parts store. The only reason I went the cheap route this time is because I didn't want to buy the fancy harness without knowing for sure what components I would be using in my build.

[lobie]

I sourced a 12-circuit generic GM kit from EZ Wiring (via eBay). It came with fuse box, some connectors, fusible link and good instructions. It came out well. I'd recommend a 16-circuit one for expansion.

EZ wiring is what I plan to use.

http://www.ezwiring.com/wiring_harness.html

It may not be the best but it's a huge improvement on the stock 30+ year wiring. If I was restoring I may go the other way but it's hard to beat a 20 circuit harness for less than $200.

[tgreese]

Between brittle harnesses, clipped wires, a potential hot ground, and melted insulation, I'm thinking it would be a good idea to rewire my 1990 Grand Wagonner. I've seen the rewiring kits on BJs - are these complete, as in every single wire, pigtail, and harness needed? If not, any ideas on where to get it? Any body else done this? How hard was it? Any tips or tricks?

JMO - you should be able to repair the harness you have. 1990 is not that old as these things go, so the wire should still be in decent shape.

There's lots of good information here - http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/ba...arted-1340134/

This thread does not talk much about splicing wires, but you can easily repair wires and connectors with uninsulated butt connectors and adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing. Just splice the hacked wires back together one at a time.

Wiring is not that difficult if you refuse to be overwhelmed, and address one circuit at a time. Anything that someone made a mess of, you can untangle if you are patient and systematic.

Make some photocopies of your wring diagram, buy a box of colored pencils, and trace out the wires one at a time. Color in the trace with your pencils as you trace it. Easy... as long as you only look at one circuit at a time.

[Forrest the FSJ]

Great advice, Greese. Thanks

[pcoplin]

Good timing for me.

I wired up the engine side of my Magnum swap, however haven't touched the body side of the wiring. Now might be the best time as ever since I'm going to be removing a few circuits underhood.

I may take the dash off and really fix the wiring under there. It's a NASTY mess of cheap wiring from the factory...

[pcoplin]

BTW, where does one get the "factory" style crimp terminals at? I know my Dodge has tiny ones that are dealer only it seems. Will the array of crimp terminals at Radio shack suffice for the Wagoneer connectors? They seem to be mostly large flat blade. Thanks!

[serehill]

totally agree

JMO - you should be able to repair the harness you have. 1990 is not that old as these things go, so the wire should still be in decent shape.

There's lots of good information here - http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/ba...arted-1340134/

This thread does not talk much about splicing wires, but you can easily repair wires and connectors with uninsulated butt connectors and adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing. Just splice the hacked wires back together one at a time.

Wiring is not that difficult if you refuse to be overwhelmed, and address one circuit at a time. Anything that someone made a mess of, you can untangle if you are patient and systematic.

Make some photocopies of your wiring diagram, buy a box of colored pencils, and trace out the wires one at a time. Color in the trace with your pencils as you trace it. Easy... as long as you only look at one circuit at a time.

You can easily repair what you have it's fairly recent. As long as it isn't burnt just repair it. The 90's were the best wiring these FSJ's had so it's not a bad system. It's also very easy to find these intact in Junkyards. It would be a good idea to go out to one if you truly believe that the one you have is not repairable get one out of another vehicle. If truly brittle & not serviceable it is unique it's like that. Save some $$. The beauty is you can mark it & know what things go to what. There is no reason to try to do a scratch system unless you are really good at this stuff. A total rewire is more than most people can handle. It's easy to get over your head on these. Working within your capability is important & tgreese made some good points as to why not to rewire. Unless you're wildly modifying it there's no reason to gut it.
Good luck.

[FSJ-Earl]

ZM Jeeps harnesses are plug and play. They are marked, have the proper terminals, better wire, etc., etc., etc. I have assisted with the rewire of multiple FSJs with the ZM Jeeps harnesses. Can't go wrong.

[blakeusa]

I used an EZ harness and found the quality of wire quite good, and think its a good fit for an older rig.

The newer ones have more electronics and connectors etc and it may be worth the plug and play from Zack.