injector harness rebuild - wire selection?
 

Kirby mentions Del City as a good place for "cross link polyethylene" wire. I'm gathering parts to rebuild my injector harness, and looking at Del's web site I see they have "SXL" and "GXL" cross link cable, the SXL apparently being of thicker insulation.

Is there a preference for this application between the two? What about gage?

Thanks,

John
1987 XJS V12, 62,000 miles

GXL has a thin wall insulation so when in a bundle it will be smaller. SXL is the thick wall type. Most modern manufacturers use the thin wall wire. Thin wall is used because of weight and space issues. I would use GXL myself.

Thanks Greg, any suggestion on gage?

Thinking ahead, for the "ultimate" in cooling, I'm tempted to run the harness along the fuel rail. I wish...and maybe there is...some sort of tape that will withstand high temperatures that would serve to hold the harness as well as serve as a barrier to help the fuel rail keep the wires cool.

Thoughts/suggestions anyone?

John
1987 XJS V12, 62,000 miles.

I use 18ga when I make up F.I. harnesses. Good idea to run along the fuel rail. I and others do the same.

FWIW I used some hi-temp wire from Painless Wiring. Can't remember the spec but it was touted as good stuff <shrug>.

I have to think that repositioning the harness out of the "Vee" eliminates about 80% of the problem... perhaps making ultra high temp wire unnecessary. I dunno, just a thought.

OTOH, as long as you're going thru all the trouble might as well use the good stuff, eh?

Cheers
DD

Mid 90th BMW straight 6 injection harness is perfect source of wire, insulation tubing and connectors that directly fit. I pulled two harnesses at local junkyard and made fantastic new set for my H.E. for about $25 total.

Exotic wire types are sometimes hard to find, or hard to buy in less than 1000 foot spools.

However ... FAA/MILSPEC listed teflon and tefzel insulated wire can be bought by the foot from aircraftspruce.com. You can even get it with silver tinned strands. If you are rewiring a fuel pump inside the tank, this is about the only wiring insulation that is fuel rated.

Ask for the free catalog. It is a treasure trove of hard to find materials and tools. For example, a wire stripper that will not nick the strands because certain types of wiring allow 3 cut strands and zero nicks at the interface. About $500 :D

I bought all mine from Del City. The prices were quite good and you don't have to buy an excessive amout of wire length. Make sure you solder and shrink tape all the connections. I bundled it all into a temp resistant mesh and then used black zip ties to attach it to the rail. Zip ties are cheap and are easily removed if you need to move the harness for whatever reason.

I also replaced the injection harness plug with a weather resistant plug.

I have coils of the proper high temp wire. I rebuilt the harness in my '83 and I have quite a bit left over. I'll check when I get home an post here.

Two reels one green and white and one green 18 guage high temperature insulation automobile wire. $30.00 for the lot includes shipping. I can provide pics. If you want 'em let me know...

About 100 ft per reel
Roger

I would use cable ties for holding the harness to the rail. You can buy crimp on terminals and shells for the injector connections. I would replace the lucar connector on the other end of the injection harness with a weather sealed style. GM used Packard connectors for years. I assume they still do. '

If you want the best then get PTFE wire. 18 ga is good for this application. PTFE is good for almost 400 deg F. It can be a little tough to strip unless you have good strippers.

John, you can spend a lot of time looking or you can consider using what I successfully used in my '83. If you're interested email me off forum and I'll send a couple of pictures of the reels. I tried attaching them to this email but that didn't work.

I also have plugs that fit on the fuel injectors as well.

Roger

i did the exact same thing as jamey and followed his advice to the T. the end result was a harness that was far nicer than the V12 it was attatched to. got my connectors on ebay.

Wire loom
 

Acquire some wire loom from an auto house to wrap your new wire "bundle" in. Not only does it look clean, but there is no tape to mess with and get sticky with age. The coil "wrap" loom worked the best for me on an 86 I did a while back.

The non-adhesive cloth tape that Jaguar uses in some places is really nice. Very dressy when done right.

harbor freight sells the black plastic loom on the CHEAP.