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Factory plug fix

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:23 pm
by magicmike
Ok, I have done this a few times and think there should be a write up for those who don't know how to do it so here goes.

Sometimes you need to repair the wires going into the factory plug and I've heard of people going to junk yards and cutting plugs off and just tying the wires together on the pigtails. Here is how to fix it with the plug you have.

Ok here is an example of my TPS plug that was T-Tapped and the wire casings were damaged leaving them exposed to the elements.
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All you need is a pick tool to stick into the end of the plug that is not seen in the pick above.
Basically there will be on one side of the plug when looking into it from the end that contact the device a small opening on one side of the terminal when you can insert the pick.
1. Push the pick in until you hit the little tab that is locking it in place.
2. Pressing firmly as to stick the point in the plastic clip lift away from the direction of the metal terminal and pull gently on the wire for that terminal.

It should slide right out.

Once you have the terminal out of the plug cut them off and carefully unfold the large tabs that hold the grommet in place. Don’t bother trying to get the small crimp apart that is holding the copper wire, just trim it as close as possible.
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Next:
Tin the terminals with a soldering iron. Make sure you use flux core solder for the newbies ;) I go right on top of the old crimp and existing fresh wire. See pic
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Cut back the bad wire in harness to a fresh point. There should always be enough slack there. Tin these as well and slide the old grommets in place.
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Just hold the terminal up to the wire with small needle nose plyers and just apply some heat and the will stick pretty quick.
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Move up the grommets and squeeze the clip "wings" for lack of a better word around the grommets the best you can.
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Just slide the clips back in making sure they are facing the right way until you hear the click or they will not pull back out.

That’s it! You just fixed a factory plug! You are awesome and now everyone wants to be your friend!

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:48 pm
by AWD_addict
Good pics. Do you know where to get more of the terminals? Radioshack is definitely useless for replacements.

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:09 pm
by magicmike
I would say to look into AMP of america, they usually manufactur all of these sealed molex style connectors for auto companies. You have to get the ones that are made for that specific plug usually.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:20 am
by ScottyS
Can I be your friend? Seriously, a good write up and pics for those who are afraid of electrical devices!

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:35 am
by RJ93SS
sticky... i'd say spell check first :lol:

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:12 am
by magicmike
RJ93SS wrote:sticky... i'd say spell check first :lol:
your welcome....

AND

spell check FTW!

Re: Factory plug fix (Sticky?)

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:04 pm
by BSOD2600
magicmike wrote:Sometimes you need to repair the wires going into the factory plug and I've heard of people going to junk yards and cutting plugs off and just tying the wires together on the pigtails.
Often this is done because the existing wires are so brittle. At least in my case, when the crank/cam sensor wires broke right at the plug, the root cause was brittle wires. Yes, I went to the junk yard and hacked off a section of newer wire, soldered them all together, wrapped in tape, conduit, and called it good.

Nice guide though.

Re: Factory plug fix (Sticky?)

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:11 pm
by magicmike
BSOD2600 wrote:
magicmike wrote:Sometimes you need to repair the wires going into the factory plug and I've heard of people going to junk yards and cutting plugs off and just tying the wires together on the pigtails.
Often this is done because the existing wires are so brittle. At least in my case, when the crank/cam sensor wires broke right at the plug, the root cause was brittle wires. Yes, I went to the junk yard and hacked off a section of newer wire, soldered them all together, wrapped in tape, conduit, and called it good.

Nice guide though.
There is more than one way to skin a cat and I am not suggesting that this is by any means the only way to fix this. It just happens to be the cheapest because its free.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:00 pm
by Legacy777
Nice write-up Mike.

I need to do this with my knock sensor wire.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:26 pm
by magicmike
Legacy777 wrote:Nice write-up Mike.

I need to do this with my knock sensor wire.

I had the idea to make a write up when I used this fix for MY knock wire that fell off the car side of the plug. I was too pissed to take pictures at the time though lol.

Thanks.

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:50 am
by n2x4
Why didn't this get stickied???

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:28 pm
by Legacy777
Because it just didn't :)

It's stickied now.

Here's some pictures from my knock sensor repair.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... install/06

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:05 pm
by n2x4
Yey!

Thanks for the knock repair too Josh.

Another note for the knock wire - I had to replace a substantial length of the wire and I had good luck using mono rca cable from radioshack.

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:27 pm
by magicmike
Yay! I made my very first STICKY! Well I make a tissue sticky every day but I digress

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:19 pm
by Primeza
You can also use the same technique to replace the plastic part of a plug which has broken. Just remove all of the terminals and plug them into the other plug. Just be sure to either label or remember which terminal went where.

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:59 am
by WRXish
It would be enormously helpful to helpful if the photos that went with this thread were still here Josh can u fix this?

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:54 am
by Dominator
WRXish wrote:It would be enormously helpful to helpful if the photos that went with this thread were still here Josh can u fix this?
The photos work for me, and here's why...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ucket-fix/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... apbifiaedg

Install one of those and the photos will magically be fixed. Also, screw Photobucket for messing up so many webforum post that used them. Before I found these patches some pages were just ruined for any of the content. Hopefully one of these (or similar) will work for you too.

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:20 pm
by mike-tracy
wow, what a useful extension!

Thank you!

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:23 am
by Dominator
mike-tracy wrote:wow, what a useful extension!

Thank you!
You are very welcome. I'm just passing on the info as others had done when I discovered it.

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:20 am
by Ty92leg
Primeza wrote:You can also use the same technique to replace the plastic part of a plug which has broken. Just remove all of the terminals and plug them into the other plug. Just be sure to either label or remember which terminal went where.
So is the knock sensor wire two wires? I broke mine and have a code, and from what I can see, I have two wires in one.. Let me know if I am wrong please

Sent from my VS500PP using Tapatalk

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:50 am
by wtdash
KS is one wire w/a shield. Depending on where you broke it, people (including me) have used microphone cable/wire to replace it.

Re: Factory plug fix

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:27 pm
by Legacy777
Dominator wrote:
WRXish wrote:It would be enormously helpful to helpful if the photos that went with this thread were still here Josh can u fix this?
The photos work for me, and here's why...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ucket-fix/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... apbifiaedg

Install one of those and the photos will magically be fixed. Also, screw Photobucket for messing up so many webforum post that used them. Before I found these patches some pages were just ruined for any of the content. Hopefully one of these (or similar) will work for you too.

Thanks for sharing! I will make an announcement with this information.