In the fall of 2008 I discovered I had a problem with one of the bullet pins had broken off in the main disconnect plug on my under dash wire harness. My truck is a 1965 with 3-speed manual transmission and 240 I-6. No extra gages, hazard lights, or washer.

(Here's some pictures of the connectors. These are in my public album named Main Disconnect, in case they don't show up here.)

I've limped along pretty well since then by insuring that the two halve of the connection (inside the cab and outside on the firewall) were pushed toghether nice and tight. The corrosion has continued to deteriorate the connection until it just isn't workable anymore. The pin delivers the positive voltage to the entire cab. It is the thick black wire with yellow tracer on both sides of the connector.

In Sept 2008 I posted asking for about possible solutions. The best choice is getting a used harness. The one that I've found in the mean time had been cut and was difficult to extract so I left it behind.

Another possible solution was offered in that thread, here's a link to it:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6558410

I have read several posts in this forum regarding the pink Resistor Wire. Note in the first picture above that the pink wire going into the connector says "Resistor" very faintly on its insulation. I'm wondering how to replace a wire in this connector, such as a replacement resistor wire?

Is it possible to extract a single wire? Or will it be necessary to (attempt to) drill it out? Note that there is nothing wrong with the side that is in the engine compartment. The tip of the broken bullet pin was not even difficult to extract from the socket it was in.

Ideally, I'd like to extract the Black wire with yellow tracer without cutting it since the whole harness is pretty tight and altering the wire length will make it worse. This wire is pretty heavy guage, I'm guessing at least 10, possibly 8, inside the insulation.

Looking for ideas/approaches. I will be documenting the process, and if I have good results I will share them, of course.

 

Some of the other guys may have better ideas, but in my experience molded connectors do not have replacement pins. That being said in a pinch I have been able to drill out the pin and drill completely through the connector on both ends and install terminal ends on the wires or simply splice. Make sure that you seal around the wires well so no water gets in the connector! Hope that helps some and be careful with the bit. Harnesses are scarce!

 

They don't make the under dash harness for that truck yet so you are going to have to rig something up. If it were me, I would find a fine thread screw about the same diameter and cut the head off and thread it into the part where the old prong broke off. Just make sure it's the same length as the old prong and it should work fine. There may be other solutions, but I think that would hold you until you find another harness.

Mark

 

Thanks for the feedback. And sorry the images aren't showing up. I don't know why.

I like the idea of the screw better than the drill, only because it is far less destructive to the connector. I'm going to head to the hardware store later to find a fine thread screw where the thread doesn't go all the way to the head. I'm thinking about a 1/2 inch short of the head should do. I'll have the tip of the old bullet with me for diameter approximation.

I am a little concerned about distortion to the connector, so I'm thinking it would be best to push it back in place in the firewall before inserting the screw. It was a tight fit to begin with and really did not want to come out of the firewall.

At this point I must give a big-up shout-out to CamperSpecial65 who described the extraction of the connector from the firewall in the thread from last fall (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6557553). His pointing out about the four little clips on either side of the connector in the engine compartment is a huge time saver and insured no harm came to the connector in its extraction from the firewall. I haven't yet found a description of it in any litterature. Furthermore, his description of the main power circuit is a fantastic resource for anyone with a hacked or damaged in cab harness. Thanks CS65.

Finally, I'm still curious about the pink resistor wire. NumberDummy stated in the previous thread (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6556510) that it was sold separately and not part of the harness, yet I'm seeing "a" pink resistor wire cast into the rubber connector. Was a splice necessary if the resistor wire went bad? It is the case that the other wires passing through this connector are all electrical taped together and the resistor wire is not. Perhaps that is all ND meant? ND, as always, thank you for your invaluable knowledge and willingness to share.

FTE Rocks!

 

Yes if the resistor wire fails it must be spliced into the harness.

 

The fix is in...

Here's the problem: The male bullet connector pin is broken clean off at the rubber part of the connector.

To fix this I first found a comprable new bullet connector pin:
Here it is compared to the remaining tip of the old one that corroded away.

Next I needed a threaded stud that I could twist into the rubber far enough to make a solid contact with the wire encapsulated below the missing pin.
This is what I used.

I cut the hook and stripped and cut the new bullet pin.
Note that the smooth side of the stud has been filed to remove the plating and rough up the surface. The stud was then slathered with rosin and inserted into the bullet pin.

I held the threaded tip of the stud in a vice grip (gently) and heated with a propane torch, allowing solder to flow between the stud and the bullet pin.


A little buffing with very fine steel wool to clean up the burned rosin and voi-la! Ready to install.


Before cutting the stud down to size I pre-installed it to cut a thread through the rubber and wire in the boot. I also wanted to see how much the rubber boot would be distorted by the stud. I noticed no distortion.


Nonetheless, threading the new pin into the rubber proved difficult. The careful use of needle nose pliers allowed me to torque it down to the hilt at the base of the threads without causing excessive scoring to the bullet pin.

Now doesn't that look proper?
Pushing the boot back through the firewall you must listen for the metal retaining tabs to click into place.

The finished result:
It's snug.
After reconnecting the battery I turned the key to ACC and dash lights lit up. Turning it over to start, she fired right up. Back in business .

I'm going to be keeping an eye (and finger tip) on that connector for a while to make sure it isn't heating up from excess resistance, but I think this problem has been solved without any additional compromize to the harness.

Thanks to all who've helped me understand the problem and brain storm this solution.

 

Great job, seem to recall member posting pic's few months back with same problem, thanks for posting pic's can be helpful so bookmarked for future references.

 

Nicely done, I like the addition of the bullet connector to the screw. That's an improvement over what I had initially envisioned. That ought to hold you until you find a replacement harness. Heck, it might even last forever that way. Thanks for posting the pics of the final result.