Loom Plug Cutting

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

I feel a bit embarrased to ask on here as it is probably so simple that people don't need to ask, but I am ready to cut my loom out to send off to Spiky and I am worried about cutting the wrong bits.

 

I sent one picture to Spiky with a line drawn on where I was confident it should be cut, and was wrong, so now I have no faith at all in getting it right.

 

Does anyone have any pictures of where they cut, or a picture of the loom fitted under the dash so I can see where people have made the cuts.

 

You can guess why I didn't try to tackle the electrics myself

 

Any pics/detailed explinations of where to cut so I make the cut once, correctly would be much appreciated.

 

In my defence there is insulation tape around the looms and the way it branches off is what made me doubt the correct cut.

[welshpug 1,670]

just unpug it and send it whole

[smithy 1]

as above remove instrument cluster and release dash then remove whole loom as one that way no chance of making a wrong cut.

 

recently had my loom out it is relatively easier to remove,wiper arms,scuttle trim out then remove 2 10mm nuts.strip centre dash section and clocks out then there is a 10mm bolt in centre of dash once out it can be pulled back and ECU mounting tray can be removed the loom is then removed and pushed through bulkhead.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Im going to rip all the insulation tape off later and have another good look underneath the dash. Someone has been under there before with alarms and various things. Would rather tape things back up than solder 100 wires back together!

 

I have taken the instument panel and that off, but really, really don't want to have to pull away the whole dash if I can help it.

[damien 22 1 Cars]

sounds like your making things harder than they need to be, i'll dig out a pic of under the dash for you

 

here you go -

 

you can make out the 2 loom plugs on the top left, you just need to unplug them

 

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1730/20110711143820.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/4685/20110711143837.jpg

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/117/20110711143849.jpg

Edited July 11, 2011 by damien

[Anthony 1,003]

If you only need the loom for the parts to convert a GTi-6 loom, then you can pretty much just cut off the old ECU and tachymetric relay plugs and pull.

 

It's best practice to part-remove the dash anyway to avoid the risk of snagging anything, but you only strictly speaking *need* to do so to remove the loom intact, as the ECU and tachymetric relay plugs are too large to fit past the dash and cable routing clips otherwise. With those plugs removed from the equasion, you can just pull it out with a little effort.

 

That said, given the modest cost of new brown plugs, pins, and wire, I'm rapidly questioning whether it's worth destroying otherwise serviceable 8v looms in order to convert 16v looms - indeed, it was Spiky that posted up the part numbers for all the bits a while back. Certainly the value of a complete, intact 8v loom is considerably higher than the cost of new plugs/pins/wire, and with new stuff you've nice fresh wire and pins, rather than what has potentially suffered 20+ years of corrosion and bodges...

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I think as much as possible as the wire's are soldered from what I've seen from the 205 ECU Loom

[SurGie 54]

Im in the process of 're-newing' the engine bay loom wires and checking all the connectors and fully clean it all etc. It's not quite finished yet but thought i'd share what iv used for the taping side of things.

 

THIS TAPE is good stuff, not like the usual electric tape that comes undone far too easily, proper loom tape.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Self amalgamating tape is very good at what it does, and it has it's place. As the name implies (self amalgamating), once it's wrapped around something it sticks to itself like glue forming an excellent barrier. Because of that, I only use it to protect small areas such as soldered joints. You wouldn't want to wrap whole areas in it as it's a nightmare to remove once stuck. For actual loom wrapping you can get rolls of heat/chemical resistant tape specifically for this purpose. It's not adhesive, but has a slight tackiness to it so that once wrapped it will hold together.

 

Electrical tape was born from Satan's arse crack. I absolutely detest it's use. It's fine for a bodge, but I hate the way it dries out over the years, then unwrapping itself, whilst leaving it's sticky residue all over the wires

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Thanks for the pictures Damien.

 

Been back out and still can't make out at all where it needs to be cut.

 

 

These are the plugs I was thinking I need to cut.

 

I get the impression I am thinking of the wrong plugs. There are obviously plugs right up the top, at the end of the cable ties mentioned which joins to the ECU and Tacho. I didn't initially think it was these because the ECU isn't used.

 

I really didn't want to pull the dash out to get to them. Spiky never mentioned anything about moving the dash forward and without pictures or step by step instructions I have been barking up the wrong tree.

 

I am defo going to take some more pictures of the process up and under the dash so others don't potentially cut the loom in the wrong place.

 

Need to tackle the dash removal now

 

I do wonder why you would cut the end of the plugs off, if you could unplug? If they are cut, how are they supposed to join again? Unless Spiky joins the length of tacho/ECU wires down to the brown plugs so it connects where my picture shows, and no plugs ever go back up to the top of the dash and ECU?

Edited July 12, 2011 by chipstick

[Masekwm 2]

As I said on 306 forum, chop the plugs off the tachy relay and ECU and pull each wire through one at a time. Then pull that the wires through the black grommit and cut them there. Spiky needs about 6" from memory.

 

Go and read the guide - Post 51 - I wrote to you on the 306 forum, it explains all of this, and Spiky even tells you were they will be routed. The ECU mounts in the engine bay rather than the original 205 position.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Masekwm

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

So much conflicting information it's unbelievable.

 

Why would you cut the tacho end, and then cut again when pulled through the bulkhead? I can't believe nobody has some decent photos of how it's done. Especially when its a service which is provided.

 

The more people are saying to cut things, and then others saying not to. You can understand why I am getting confused. We aren't talking cutting a cable tie here. Potentially imobilising the car so I need some assurance and at least a picture of what I am cutting.

 

Going to call it a day soon and not bother.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Thanks Masekwm.

 

GTi6 forum isn't working (no suprise there) so I can't read the instructions at the moment.

[Masekwm 2]

You chop the cable at the tachy & ECU as it's far easier than removing the plugs intact to then remove them to connect the wires to the 306 loom. The wires through the bulkhead connect to a 1.6 or 1.9 205 engine so need to be cut so that they wires can be mated to a 306 loom.

 

All you want is the brown plugs and 6" of cable.

 

This is the ultimate goal, a 306 loom connected to the 2 brown plugs

 

You don't need to retain the 205 ECU, tachy or anything that connects to the 205 engine, you just need the brown plugs and the 6" of wire.

 

And here is my original 205 loom, still with brown plugs intact but without the ECU & Tachy plugs

 

Edited July 12, 2011 by Masekwm

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Apologies for my outburst, I am very impatient and annoyed that I can't understand a simple idea.

 

That picture tells a thousand words actually. Many thanks for that. I think the penny may have dropped.

 

 

 

Effectively, the plugs in my picture have a good 18" of cable going to the tacho/ECU. Cutting this off as close to the Tacho/ECU gives a decent section of wire with 2 plugs at the end (as per my picture.) Spikey will then join those plugs with a length of the tacho/ecu loom to my GTi6 engine loom, and I can thread what used to go up to the tacho/ECU through the bulk head and straight into the existing plugs. I did think that he had to have most of the 3 foot or so loom that branches out to the sensors on the 205 engine loom, but this doesnt seem the case.

 

That makes sense. If that is the case, then I will jump around like a mad man. I was worried about cutting the ECU plugs incase they had to be joined back up there again.

 

At least I can put the dash back in straight away when the loom is out from up there, as it wont be going back.

 

Please tell me i'm right!

[Masekwm 2]

Correct, all he needs is 6" of wire from the brown plugs. It's just far easier than messing about with dash to cut the plugs off the end, you can then start to pull through the wires one after the other. Then cut the other wires as they pass through the bulkhead into the engine bay and post it to Spiky.

 

Once that is done, you can then put the cover back on the lower dash... The only other reason to remove it is for a Xsara rack and the two cables.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Finally managed to get on the GTi6 forum, Your bit about the glovebox side. I think I will go with the OEM route, otherwise that will confuse matters even more!

[Alastairh 47]

If you only need the loom for the parts to convert a GTi-6 loom, then you can pretty much just cut off the old ECU and tachymetric relay plugs and pull.

 

It's best practice to part-remove the dash anyway to avoid the risk of snagging anything, but you only strictly speaking *need* to do so to remove the loom intact, as the ECU and tachymetric relay plugs are too large to fit past the dash and cable routing clips otherwise. With those plugs removed from the equasion, you can just pull it out with a little effort.

 

That said, given the modest cost of new brown plugs, pins, and wire, I'm rapidly questioning whether it's worth destroying otherwise serviceable 8v looms in order to convert 16v looms - indeed, it was Spiky that posted up the part numbers for all the bits a while back. Certainly the value of a complete, intact 8v loom is considerably higher than the cost of new plugs/pins/wire, and with new stuff you've nice fresh wire and pins, rather than what has potentially suffered 20+ years of corrosion and bodges...

 

Agreed Batman.

 

Everyone blames the brown multiplug on the sensor loom above the gearbox, but realistically 20+ brittle cable is never going to help reliability and reduce a fire hazard. Not having a dig at Spiky at all, but do look over the converted throughly before you install it, because i keep heaing stories of "professional" wiring looms from another source.

 

Al

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

That's why my looms cost around 3 times as much, New wire and Crimps is all part of it as is removing any un-used wires/Plugs and re-routing a fair few wire's and adding the Diagnostic light which is handy on the later car's

 

Mind I will say for the money you cannot complain as for conversion looms go on a non biased opinion (I hope) they take allot to be beaten and like mine are routed under the header tank

[harryskid 193]

I had mine rewired with a new loom and the guy removed about 3 carrier bags of crap wiring and plugs!

[Spiky 37]

i wire up the looms either with suplied 8v looms, or brand new wires with new plugs and pins if not supplied with 8v looms, (no extra charge either)

 

dont forget the gti6 looms is getting on now too 96, so 15 years old now

 

miles for 3 times the cost do you make a brand new gti6 engine loom?

[damien 22 1 Cars]

do you suply a "off the shelf" loom spiky? also do you suply the rev counter loom?

[Spiky 37]

Yeah, can supply full loom, would need to know phase of engine and year of 205.

 

With my loom the rev counter will work