Rewire Ford Focus
in [Car Maintenance]
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From: John on 28 Jul 2007 08:29 "Mr Cellophane" <mrcellophane(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message news:ainqi.5298$By5.2754(a)text.news.blueyonder.co.uk... > Hello all after some guidance. > > My son had his car an x reg Ford Focus Vtech broken into and despite the > car not being stolen the wiring was interfered with as if it was trying to > be hotwired. > > he has been told that the entire wiring in the front end of the car needs > to be replaced due to the damage caused. > > he has been quoted �2500 for this and told it can only be carried out by a > ford garage. > > NE1 with experience of this type of thing ne1 got any advice on it in > general. > > I realise its scant information to go on I am just really contesting the > fact he has been told (by more than one "garage" in quotes as both are > suspect in my view. One is the local authority garage the other was quick > fit!) it has to be done only by a ford garage. > > If it does cost �2500 then it is likely to be written off as its only > worth �2500 at top end (actually I think its worth a bit less maybe �1800 > he bought it for �2150 after a bit of negotiation on the price) > It comes down to whether it's an insurance claim or not. If it's a claim then the insurance company must pay to put the car back to it's condition before the damage which would require replacing the loom. �2500 sounds about right. Otherwise a competent autoelectrician would be able to do a perfectly adequate job for much less. The only problem I can see is if the connectors are completely thrashed. Even if this is the case you could cut off a section of loom from a scrapped car and reconnect to yours. John
From: Dave Plowman (News) on 28 Jul 2007 08:52 In article <f8fb9i$4dg$1$8300dec7(a)news.demon.co.uk>, moray <mtb_hyphen_rules(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote: > Goto rswww.com and put in part no. 528-9264. That's the ideal type of > connector for wiring repairs (they can be found else where far cheaper > though), but make sure you use the right size for the wire (red covers > most car applications, blue for bigger wires, and if needed, yellow for > heavy wires), and use a decent pair of crimping pliers. Crimp it on, and > before shrinking it, give the wires a pull to make sure it's crimped > right. Then heat it up, and make sure the glue bubbles out each end so > it's fully sealed. You've obviously not read my previous post on the subject. These connectors make a poor crimp on flex unless it is *exactly* the right size. They are a bodge and should be avoided. Better no more expensive solutions exist. -- *Filthy stinking rich -- well, two out of three ain't bad Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound.
From: moray on 28 Jul 2007 09:39 "Dave Plowman (News)" <dave(a)davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message news:4f097cd7dbdave(a)davenoise.co.uk... > In article <f8fb9i$4dg$1$8300dec7(a)news.demon.co.uk>, > moray <mtb_hyphen_rules(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote: >> Goto rswww.com and put in part no. 528-9264. That's the ideal type of >> connector for wiring repairs (they can be found else where far cheaper >> though), but make sure you use the right size for the wire (red covers >> most car applications, blue for bigger wires, and if needed, yellow for >> heavy wires), and use a decent pair of crimping pliers. Crimp it on, and >> before shrinking it, give the wires a pull to make sure it's crimped >> right. Then heat it up, and make sure the glue bubbles out each end so >> it's fully sealed. > > You've obviously not read my previous post on the subject. These > connectors make a poor crimp on flex unless it is *exactly* the right > size. They are a bodge and should be avoided. Better no more expensive > solutions exist. Well if they make that bad a connection, then why do the big car manufacturer's recommend them for wiring repairs, and use them when contructing looms? The main thing is to use the right one for the given wiring size (far too many people just use blue crimps, when they should really be using red ones), and to use a good pair of crimping pliers. They're a far better option than using uninsulated crimps, where you're effectively putting an extra connection into the wiring loom, which is likely to cause far more problems than a fully sealed crimp connection. Plus, they don't take up that much room. I've fitted hundreds of the above mentioned crimps, and have never had any fail. I'll admit I've not crimped some correctly, that's why I always try pulling them apart before shrinking them to check they're crimped correctly.
From: Chris Whelan on 28 Jul 2007 11:25 moray wrote: [...] > I've fitted hundreds of the above mentioned crimps, and have never had any > fail. I'll admit I've not crimped some correctly, that's why I always try > pulling them apart before shrinking them to check they're crimped > correctly. In my working life as an electrical technician, I've fitted literally tens of thousands of crimp lugs. (I did a lot of industrial control panel building.) I've never had one fail, and in some situations the environment was more hostile than an automotive one. The way to do it is to use the same make of crimp and tool, both preferably from A-MP, and to make sure that the lug is the correct size for the cable. A ratchet tool is to be preferred for most uses. It is also undesirable to introduce more than a single cable in to each lug. I know that VAG will only allow soldered joints for repairs, and the AA make you sign a temporary repair disclaimer if they crimp anything. I'm constantly amazed that the car repair industry has not embraced this way of doing things; after all, crimps have been around for half a century at least! Chris -- Remove prejudice to reply.
From: Depresion on 28 Jul 2007 07:19
"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave(a)davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message news:4f0973958adave(a)davenoise.co.uk... > In article <A7Fqi.5736$By5.1741(a)text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, > Chris Bartram <news(a)delete.me.piglet-net.net> wrote: >> My choice is to solder and heatshrink on the few wiring repairs I've had >> to do. Properly done it's better than any crimp, and neater. > > Soldering is better than poor crimping and can be an option if you don't > have decent crimping tools. But it's not as reliable as a *good* crimp for > this job - check military specs. Are you sure that's not soldiering. ;) > However, if there is enough spare cable to allow soldering and you use > glue type heat shrink I'd certainly say it suitable for this repair. But > it still needs some skill to do properly. Solder is fine so long as you can keep the joint and surrounding wire immobile (say if it runs down the sills), it's not normally the solder that fails but the wire at the end of the solder. |