EWIS anyone ?

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moparmat2000

moparmat2000

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I work in the airline industry for a living. One of the things we do on the heavy check line (overhaul) is EWIS. "Electrical Wiring & Interconnecting Systems".

This is a cleaning and inspection of the wiring harnesses, and connectors for dirt, corrosion, chafing etc. Anything that can degrade the harnesses and connectors and cause problems.

I am doing EWIS on my 67 cuda dash harness currently, along with mods to install the light package in this car as it was never offered in the 67 cuda.

I am removing the old connector pins from the wires one at a time, and replacing them with new crimped and soldered packard 56 terminals, terminal sockets are getting cleaned, and wiring is getting inspected and rewrapped.

I am saying this because so many look at the components but give little regard to the harnesses themselves that is until something fails with the wiring or a connector. Take the time during your rebuild to look at this stuff and you will likely find something that needs mending.

Hope this helps
Matt
 

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toolmanmike said:
Well done! My bulkhead and connectors were in good shape but I cleaned every socket and spade. It should be done. tmm

These work great! http://www.summitracing.com/parts/i...rGa9gI3MrbFdHkWZ7sulZhdgz2S8gE1a6EaAj_d8P8HAQ
Click to expand...

Cool, i didnt know these existed.

Also for the connectors that replacement pins cannot be found like the connectors that fit the instrument panel in the round connector, and in the connector that feeds the steering column, careful unpinning and cleaning are needed, and using a small needle nose plyers they can be tightened up.

Liquid Tarnex or CLR works wonders cleaning up the copper and brass on these making them like new in looks and.conductivity. rinse really good in warm water, dry , and repin.

I use a small flat blade jewelers screwdriver i ground flat to unpin the connectors. It works like a charm. Additionally i plan on using dielectric grease on all the bulkhead connectors to keep all the moisture out.
 
Last EWIS project on dash harness i need to do. You can see one new connector and jumper. This is for tachometer wiring which i added, and was not original to my harness.
 

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EWIS is something I wish my previous owner(s) had done ...
 

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360DartGT66 said:
EWIS is something I wish my previous owner(s) had done ...
Click to expand...

The good news is repops of the connector plastics are available. I have seen these on ebay, and i believe Pico wiring is the one who sells the packard 56 male and female terminals in the larger wire gage for the heavy ammeter bulkhead wires, and in the smaller sizes for the other wires. The reason i say that, is my local electronics store sells em in packs of 10 male or female, i think their supplier for these is pico wiring.

I also was able to get a large size full color and laminated schematic of my 67 cuda wiring off ebay for about $18 This has helped a lot.

Looks like that may be your ammeter wire that melted. You need to concider disconnecting the ammeter and doing the ammeter bypass wiring modification. I did this, and put in a volt gage.
 
Bypass schematics.

I followed diagram #2 with exception to running the wiring outside the bulkhead connector. I crimped and soldered new packard 56 terminals, and plan to use dielectric grease so im sure these will be fine especially since the battery charge wire is not going through the bulkhead anymore
 

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Thanks a lot, moparmat! I'll hang on to those. :cheers:

Running the actual charging current through the meter and not shunt it and use a volt gauge is beyond stupid. :protest: What were these guys thinking?

I know researching crimp terminals and finding the proper tool is a PITA, do you by any chance have article numbers you can share? :prayer:
 
360DartGT66 said:
Thanks a lot, moparmat! I'll hang on to those. :cheers:

Running the actual charging current through the meter and not shunt it and use a volt gauge is beyond stupid. :protest: What were these guys thinking?

I know researching crimp terminals and finding the proper tool is a PITA, do you by any chance have article numbers you can share? :prayer:
Click to expand...

You have to understand, "this was the old days." And, Ma had "barely" gotten into alternators, and they weren't "all that big" yet, normally. Remember, "Ma" was the first production alternators, while GM and Fraud were still bumbin' along with generators.

And she DID slowly learn.........I think the Cea Barges went to external shunt around 71? on some models, and I've mentioned this countless times------the 60-65A optional alternators had so called "fleet / police / taxi" wiring which eliminated the bulkhead connector part of the problem.

But GM and Fraud were NOT blameless and NOT perfect themselves. Many of the GM pickups and BUNCHES of Ford trucks had incredibly "numb" ammeters. They used the harness wiring for a shunt, and you could sit there and stare at the meter and turn on the headlights, and "imagine" that you actually saw it move!!!

PLEASE keep this stuff in perspective........................

These cars originally had 30--35A alternators

NObody used to have big stereos and other junk.

And,..........the were NOT engineered to "run for 50 years" and certainly not 200-300K like "we" seem to run modern cars. Hell YOU CAN NOT FIND a used Dodge Ram on CL with less than at least 180K as a matter of rule.
 
I suppose you're right. I'm probably wearing my 21:st-century-electronics-engineer-glasses.

My apologies for any toes stepped on.
 
360DartGT66 said:
Thanks a lot, moparmat! I'll hang on to those. :cheers:

Running the actual charging current through the meter and not shunt it and use a volt gauge is beyond stupid. :protest: What were these guys thinking?

I know researching crimp terminals and finding the proper tool is a PITA, do you by any chance have article numbers you can share? :prayer:
Click to expand...


I could not find the correct crimp terminal , so i used something close that would get the main wire crimp tight. The secondary wire crimp on the connectors that holds onto the insulation i used small needle nose plyers to get them to curve inward, I then used my improvised crimper to squeeze them in place. What i am using is a crimper designed for molex connectors, but not as intended since these are way bigger than molex pins. The wires do crimp tight this way and dont want to pull out, however i used a little solder on each make sure the connections dont come apart, and maintain conductivity..

As far as the terminals the ones i used on the female end are a little different than what mopar used originally but they pin the same, and make better contact. You can find em on ebay and pay a fortune for them, or try Pico wiring on the net. They are Packard 56 terminals. I have found them in 2 different sizes for wire diameters. They sell them for 10-12 gage, and for 14-18 gage.

The males are the easiest to unpin and clean up. I would recommend cutting and replacing those too though, as i have found a little corrosion in the wire ends of these too. Best to replace em, crimp and solder for good measure

I wish i could be of better help with this.

Matt
 
Thanks, Moparmat ant Kit!

Tell You what, when I get this far in my resto I'll check Pico out and look around elsewhere, too. If I find better fits I'll make sure to post here.

This thread is saved for future reference.
 
Heres pix of the crimper i use. Got it from ebay. Its for molex connectors. I think my price was $25. I get the tabs folded over the wire with a small pair of needle nose pliers, and i use the very end of the jaws as marked in the pic to squeeze them down tight. It squeezes em pretty tight, probably the compound force of the linkaged jaws. Then a little solder flowed into the crimp to finish up.

Matt
 

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Alright.

Btw, $25 is a bargain for almost any crimp tool as you probably know. And if you get it tight you're ok, especially if you solder a little. The only time you really need just the right tool is when you're going to make a whole lot of crimps. Unless you have unlimited patience ...
 
Yes thats the 14-16 gage packard 56. The males are the same as factory chrysler. The female spades are GM style but they make better conductivity than the chrysler ones and are available. There are 10-12 gage ones too. Tho i dont see them on that website. If you look at my first pic in this thread you will see the silver colored 10-12 connector for the big ammeter wire.

.50 apiece per connector seems pretty steep to me. Pico wiring sells the 14-16 female pacard 56 in packs of 50 for $13.99, and the males even cheaper. The 10-12 packard 56 terminals are a bit pricier , but not by much. You only need a few of em anyway when redoing a harness. Theres a few in the ign plug, and the ammeter wires. But less than 10 thru the whole car.

Check Delcity.com for the packard 56 terminals. Not sure if these are cheaper than pico wiring or not.
 
Another EXCELLENT thread !!!
Cudos MR moparmat2000,thx added!
 
I did similar, and didn't even know I was doing EWIS. I removed each bulkhead female (used special release tool, but a thin flat screwdriver can work) and cleaned w/ a thin file and contact cleaner. The male plug terminals were easier to clean once removed (squeeze longitudinally w/ needle-nose). I bought a $17 crimper from Fry's that has similar jaws that curl the new 56 terminal crimps around correctly. It doesn't have the levers of your nicer one, so have to squeeze harder.

My bulkhead terminals carry little current since most actuate relays in a fuse/relay box I installed (see post). I used a 1965 bulkhead in my 64 to get its much better high-amp feed-thrus. It has separate buss-bars for the ALT and BAT wires. I kept my ammeter active, but installed a diode-bypass that starts shunting direct to battery at higher currents, in case I up the alternator for fans and EFI.
 
Been an a/p mechanic for 14 years now. Used the ewis principles more than once to fix or rebuild an old wire circuit for either my barracuda my s-10
 
I have also found a product that cleans up copper and brass really well, and needs to be neutralized with hot water. Its called alumiprep 33 made by henkel. I recommend this for cleaning up switches. I carefully uncrimped my heater fan switch, hazard flasher switch, undrilled the rivets on my headlamp switch and put the pieces in this stuff. A little steel wire brush action on the brass contacts, its as good as new, rinse well, blow dry, then reassemble with some dielectric grease. The headlight switch i used machine screws and nuts to replace the rivets. My hazard flasher switch would not even move before i took it apart to restore it. Dont forget to use your ohmmeter to check the contacts to make sure its all working internally.
 
This stuff works great, and if you keep it in a plastic container with a lid, just submerge the parts in it for awhile. Since its designed to etch aluminum, its a mild acid. Diecast parts should not be left in it very long. Maybe 15 minutes. Use rubber gloves as it will dry your skin out to where the outermost layer will peel off. Additionally it took off the scum and tarnish that was stuck to the chrome on my hazard switch. I have found it will clean rust off small steel parts like screws too, however it pretty much ruins the solution for cleaning brass and copper contacts when you do that.
 

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