BlueSupreme
CEG'er
I have a 1997 Ford Contour Sport that hasn't really had any harness issues while it was in use but I noticed how bad it was getting and found out about the Owner Notification a little late. As with others I contacted my local ford dealers and all the harness's have been discontinued. I would go to a junk yard and pull one but I am pretty busy and don't want to go through the effort of trying to pull a wiring harness from the tight engine that is the duratec in a car that is the contour. I have found another way to at least temporarily fix the stock harness from a recommendation by an employee at pep boys. Things you will need: Plasti-Dip, lots of electrical tape, wire loom, (optional) wire and ford connectors if they need to be replaced or fixed.
Pasti-dip re-insulates the wire and keep the water and moisture out while the electrical tape and wire loom keep the heat out as well as protects from vibrations. Liquid electrical tape could also work, I have thought about using flex seal products too but have not tried it.
I do not know how long this fix will last, but I do know that it is better than using just electrical tape and or leaving the wire open to the elements. I have not tested it on an engine that is currently in use but will hopefully soon. It is always a better solution to get the harness fixed properly by professionals or rewiring with proper experience and knowledge of the harness. I am trying to provide an alternative way to fix this common issue with my findings, I will provide images at a later date as well as how well it is performing.
Found a good example of what my harness looked like on a Porsche forum: https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-cayenne-forum/733521-brittle-wiring-insulation.html
1: Your going to want to carefully pull the wiring harness off the engine, my engine is out so it make the job easier, or cover the engine with something as to not plastic-dip it.
2: Fix any connectors or broken wire on the harness with, go wire by wire as to not mix any up, remove as much wire loom, electrical tape as needed to repair.
3: Break away any insulation that is bad or loose, you can also keep the cracked insulation but plasti-dip may not seal the wire as well. You should remove the wiring loom to fix as much as you can.
4: Pasti-dip away, I've learned this stuff dries pretty quickly, the first couple of layers probably won't cover the entire wire but create a foundation to build off of. You are essentially making a new insulation around the bare wire, make sure you don't miss any spots like where it meets at the connector. Spray any cracked insulation that would be hard to fix like at the computer connector, also spray the plasti-dip any hard to reach areas.
5: Allow for a day or two to dry and inspect to make sure you've hit every spot. If needed electrical tape the wires you have just plasti-diped, then put the stock wire loom back over the wire and electrical tape that.
6: Use new wire loom to go over the stock loom you have just put back on, make this longer then stock and have it go all the way to the connector then electrical tape that loom.
7: Reconnect everything
Things to remember! While pasti-dipping the wire make sure the wires get separated as to not touch. Don't use the pasti-dip conservatively, apply as much as you think will provide a good amount of insulation, this also goes for the electrical tape which should be tight as to seal heat and water out. A good suggestion is to try it out on a test piece of wire and get used to a good technique. 3: Break away any insulation that is bad or loose, you can also keep the cracked insulation but plasti-dip may not seal the wire as well. You should remove the wiring loom to fix as much as you can.
4: Pasti-dip away, I've learned this stuff dries pretty quickly, the first couple of layers probably won't cover the entire wire but create a foundation to build off of. You are essentially making a new insulation around the bare wire, make sure you don't miss any spots like where it meets at the connector. Spray any cracked insulation that would be hard to fix like at the computer connector, also spray the plasti-dip any hard to reach areas.
5: Allow for a day or two to dry and inspect to make sure you've hit every spot. If needed electrical tape the wires you have just plasti-diped, then put the stock wire loom back over the wire and electrical tape that.
6: Use new wire loom to go over the stock loom you have just put back on, make this longer then stock and have it go all the way to the connector then electrical tape that loom.
7: Reconnect everything
Pasti-dip re-insulates the wire and keep the water and moisture out while the electrical tape and wire loom keep the heat out as well as protects from vibrations. Liquid electrical tape could also work, I have thought about using flex seal products too but have not tried it.
I do not know how long this fix will last, but I do know that it is better than using just electrical tape and or leaving the wire open to the elements. I have not tested it on an engine that is currently in use but will hopefully soon. It is always a better solution to get the harness fixed properly by professionals or rewiring with proper experience and knowledge of the harness. I am trying to provide an alternative way to fix this common issue with my findings, I will provide images at a later date as well as how well it is performing.
Found a good example of what my harness looked like on a Porsche forum: https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-cayenne-forum/733521-brittle-wiring-insulation.html
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