This video saved me between $250-$500 (estimate from the repair shop I had an appointment with). New connector cost $15 at autozone and the tools needed were about $20 all together at walmart. Easy to follow tutorial. Much appreciated!
Thanks for this video. I've always wondered why my passenger side marker light won't turn on, initially I thought like most other busted light the bulb went bad, however it wasn't after I took out the light I noticed the two wires completely ripped apart (you could see the copper), and I saw black electrical tape with two heat shrinks. I would assume the previous owner did this, as it's a really old sedan and I'm the third owner. I'm planning to reconnect the two wires after I buy the wire strippers and heat shrinks, as I don't have any of those. I've stripped wires many many years ago, and pretty much forgot all electrical knowledge. I got electrocuted once in my country (240V) so didn't want to touch wires again LOL... Hope it goes well. But I have one question, what happens if you mix the two wires up, and connect them to the wrong one? They are both black in my case...
Luckily the chance of any harmful electrocution working on a car is extremely slim! Unless it's an EV of course. I'm sure you can handle it. With a standard bulb, it won't even matter if you hook them up backwards. If it is an LED bulb, it simply won't work, though you may be able to flip the bulb in the socket as well. Some LED bulbs can also work in both polarities. I'd just try to match the look of your old socket with the new one in terms of which wire goes where. I'm sure you can handle it!
Excellent instructions! The one thing I would do differently is simply a minor order of operations change; leaving the built-in heat shrink on the connectors unshrunk until all the wires have been crimped in. As shown in your video, your order works just fine, I can just see myself holding the connector at a weird angle and partially shrinking the unused side by accident, potentially forcing myself to start again. I imagine you can get more shrinking done with less lighter fluid that way, too. Again, great instructions! Hopefully this ends up being what people come across when they're looking to learn how to do this!
Def a great idea! I ended up doing things in a bit of an awkward order for the sake of demonstration. I'm still not sure my favorite way to do everything. Appreciate the comment! 😁
I love how u Take your time to respond to everyone's questions and comments. It's very appreciative and you're video is very informative. Could my headlight being put back in the wrong way and not being locked into place be the cause of the connector melting? What is it just a very strong coincidence? This is why I always want to do everything myself. Because when other people do things and stuff gets messed up. I can't help but feel like it's something they did....
Thanks very much! It is possible that your headlight not being assembled or installed correctly caused the connector to burn up. It really depends on the style of bulb and assembly. If it was able to knock around and the connector came partially loose or if the connector was not fully installed, it could cause excess heat. This is because if the connector contacts are not fully mated, the current has to go through a smaller area which will add resistance and create heat. This can cycle into thermal breakdown. It's also possible something shorted causing the melt. I always advocate learning how to DIY as long as you are comfortable trying and do you research! If you post a pic to Instagram or something I could take a closer look. Could very well be coincidence, but most likely if a new headlight was installed and the connector burned up, something wasn't done quite right. Could be that the connector was forced and it actually bent a contact for example.
When possible, I pull the pins out of the connector and swap them to the new one. I work at a collision repair/body shop and I deal with this quite often. I don't like splicing wires unless I have to. Especially since newer vehicles have extremely thin wires and if you try to splice them the computer won't receive the correct voltage and can cause problems. Sometimes it works, but if you splice wires on a newer vehicle and it still doesn't work. That might be your problem
Great tip! Yeah CAN bus wires are especially finnicky. I have another video to edit about making new connectors from scratch which will include installing pins. I'll try to make a tutorial on what you recommended in the future too. In this case of course, the pins themselves were totally destroyed. Avoiding splices always best, but making sure the splice is waterproof is next best I'd think. :D
Rats..... So then you don't recommend me, who is in no way, shape, or form a mechanic, attempting to splice my own wires for my headlight With no knowledge other than videos like this and reading on the internet...... I just watched a video where they pulled the pins out. That is definitely something. I may have been able to do it, but mine are basically melted, so it's definitely gonna have to be the wires 😵
What if the connector has 2 wires while your car only has one? The part from the auto stores and everywhere online it has 2 wires, seems plug with one wire doesn't exist for some reason. Will it still work if I connect just one wire on the connector?
If it is the same connector and it clicks together then yes. It's just a single wire in a two wire connector. If it's a different connector entirely then it's just not as common and you'd have to find the right one, or you can replace both sides. If you need more help, tell me what connector it is on what car.
does it matter which color of wire goes first? Should i disconnect battery first? i have red, blue, and black wires on the old connector and new one which helps but im not sure if theres a certain order to do them in
It is always a good idea to disconnect the battery when working on anything electrical. Just unhook the ground connector and make sure it is tucked away from the battery terminals. In truth, as long as the key is off, it would be hard to mess anything up here. Still best practice! It does not matter which order you splice the wires in as long as the correct wires are spliced. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions. Shoot me a DM on Instagram if you need to.
Thanks for this video! Had my passenger side one done by the auto electrician and it cost me $200. Have purchased the part to do it myself. Just curious about the wiring colours. The new connector has red and black the wiring on the car is brown and white. Which goes to which?
The color of the wires themselves doesn't generally matter. What matters is where the wires go. So for example if it's only a two wire connector, it probably doesn't matter much, but with the connector in the same orientation, you should have the same wires connected to the left and right sides of the connector as they were before. If it were a three wire connector, you would want each wire to be matched up to the same contact it went to on the old connector before you cut it. $200 at least isn't the worst quote I've seen. I know someone in the comments said $450 which is absolutely insane. It's less than an hour of labor for most connectors in pretty much any shop and the supplies are very cheap.
A couple additions from someone whose been around the block a time or two... 1. There is a butt splice that has solder in-between the wires inside the heat shrinkable butt splice. 2. Something to remember when splicing multiple wires for a single connector is to stagger them. Make each splice about an inch away from the nearest splice. This’ll save you if the heat shrink ever wears down (causing a short) and will make the harness slimmer and closer to factory since you’re not cramming 3 butt splices next to one another. These were probably some ocd things on my part, as the method shown obviously works, but they are tips nonetheless.
Thought I replied to this. Maybe it didn't go through. Yes the solder seal connectors work as well. For most applications I'd just boil it down to preference. Agreed on the staggering, especially if you need the harness to fit in a tight space. Thanks!
Not bad! Personally I would’ve soldered but you did a good job with those connecters… One thing I would recommend though is some dielectric grease on the connecter before you plug it in, that’ll save it corroding up.
It may actually be wire shielding as in for electronic interference. I'd look that up and see if it looks like what you're dealing with. If so, you should ideally replace it with shielded wire. Otherwise what you are looking for is generally called wire heat sleeve I believe.
@@802Garage thanks, I was able to find some shielding tape today. Got everything back together for the 4th time and realized that the new oil cooler came with a defective oil temp sensor so now I have to undo everything and put the old sensor in. Great haha
Yep very much still going. Honestly took a winter vacation of sorts and now trying to ramp back up. Definitely want the entire series to start releasing this spring. 😁
Hi there, I changed my light twice and each time it works for only 1-2 minutes (bulb isn't burnt however, but connector socket seems melted on one side, how could that happen?). I think now nothing works and I have to change the connector, what could cuase the overheating ? At 1:42 you mention blowing fuses does that mean light bulbs ? Thanks
I would guess the issue is with your connector, but I can't be 100% sure. If you had a wiring issue like a short, it would blow the fuse for your headlights, located in the fuse box in your engine bay. That's what I was talking about when I mentioned a fuse. Technically, a headlight bulb works similar to a fuse, but obviously it is not supposed to blow, it is supposed to glow. I would examine the connector itself for any discoloration, especially black or dark brown spots on the connector, on the wiring, or on the contacts. The contacts should ideally be shiny metal and not corroded or burned looking. You can also smell the connector and if it smells like burning plastic or wiring, that's generally a bad sign. Check the wire leading to the connector for any brakes or damage or hot spots as well. The other main reason your bulbs could be blowing so quickly is if there is a ton of moisture in the headlight housing, but usually they would have to directly touch the water for it to be an issue. Since you aren't blowing a fuse, and it seems you only have the issue on one side of the car, I would say the connector is the likely culprit, but again I can't be certain.
@@802Garage Thanks alot for your insight. I will probably take it to my garage. Sucks but sometimes best let the experts do the changes. I had my car cleaned and I think the problem happened after. I wonder if that had anything to do with it ?
@@miguelh4750 It's definitely possible moisture is the culprit if they pressure washed the car. There's nothing wrong with pressure washing, but it might have exposed a problem that already existed like cracked wiring or a bad headlight seal. Best of luck.
On our 2003 Chevy Cavalier the burned socket has 3 wires: Black in the middle, Red and Green (Green is burned) on the sides. A new socket I bought has 3 wires - all Black. Does it matter which one goes on Red which one on Green, if I connect central Black wires together? Thank you for so useful and informative film.
Yes it matters. Generally you have to connect the wires in the same order they were before! So you must connect black from your harness to the middle black on the new socket, green to whichever side green was on in the original socket, and same for red. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for the comment.
Is there a reason you dont solder wires instead of crimping? I have a pigtail to attach and i keep seeing videos with crimp tools are they better than soldering?
The quick answer is for automotive applications, yes. Soldering has more room for error and the issues are less obvious. The two main problems are cold joints or inadequate solder and too much solder or hard brittle joints. With a correctly sized crimp and the correct crimping tool, such as what I showed in this video, it's much easier to get it right. Even this isn't professional level crimping, but the heat shrink butt connectors add water proofing and strain relief, ensuring the repair will last longer. With soldering you need heat shrink and silicone paste or glue lined heat shrink to accomplish similar protection. Hope that makes sense. If you look up crimping vs soldering for cars there are a lot of good videos out there by big names like High Performance Academy and Haltech. Wiring is a deep rabbit hole, but worth going down to get informed.
Getting so close to driving, life has just been crazy. There are recent updates on TikTok/Instagram/Facebook. TH-cam needs to make Shorts 90 seconds and then I could post more here hahaha. The full build will be coming to TH-cam in long form though. 😁
@@802GarageI successfully repaired my lights yesterday. I cut too much wire on one headlight, so I removed the headlight itself. Thank you so much! I saved $450 and now know how to splice wires together. You’re probably making mechanics angry, but you’re doing good in the world!
Always an option! If I'm not space constrained, I like to do it this way because it just makes the process simpler for me. Thanks for the great comment. :)
I know about that technique and almost always forget about it until after it's too much work to go back and do that. Definitely a good method, and sometimes even a vital one when the finished bundle needs to be fed through a small hole!
Great video!! I know feel confident to do this myself. I had both headlight bulbs burn into the socket and it's completely ruined. The mechanic wanted $340. That's just not affordable but I understand their time is worth it.
Nope I have just been focused on short form content on other platforms and very busy. Finished an entire build of a rotary swapped BRZ with some friends. That series will be coming to the channel very soon and then the full V10 Impreza build. Gonna be a big year, I just had to step away from TH-cam when the way I was grinding was not producing results. I am hoping my new approaches and mixed content will be a lot more successful. No plans of giving up. I do have a ton of more recent content on TikTok and Instagram, some on Facebook as well. :)
Thanks a lot. Definitely more tutorial videos like this coming. I have many I just never edited. They're good for the channel long term. I also have the full V10 Impreza series coming of course. :)
My connectors look just like yours, though they may be a different Chinese brand. I constantly have a problem trying to shrink them over the wire with a lighter, burning the plastic instead of just melting it to conform to the wire.
Agreed always best to figure out why something failed before just fixing it. Beyond the scope of this video, but I do mention it. No driver for this headlight, just a simple relay. Usually when these older connectors fail it's because one of the contacts got bent or broken when installing a new bulb and isn't making good contact. That or corrosion on the wires. Only seen a couple fail out of numerous 25 year old cars so can't complain. Thanks for the helpful comment!
@@tonypitsacota2513 Awesome and thanks again! I just added another link for a different version that comes with a bunch of the butt connectors. Any of them seem to work quite well I've used my IWISS version tons of times now.
Pretty sure that headlight connector just burned up from lack of spring tension in the connectors over the years, causing more heat buildup from a bad connection at an item that's already known to be pretty darn warm.
@@MrTheHillfolk Yea I agree. But I had the same problem in a Ford Headlight driver module that had bad diodes which caused overcurrent, melting connector after connector and eventually the housing itself.
Intelligent & instructive, mes amis ! It SHOULD be obvious knowledge, but...the rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) that is employed at 02:15 , should NOT be sipped during this repair...or at anytime !
I have a friend who likes to buy cars with, uhh, "problems," especially electrical problems. I've noticed that vehicles built 2012 or later, regardless of manufacturer, tend to melt the low beam headlight connectors. Here's a quick, TEMPORARY solution - remove the burnt plugs from the headlights, and run some speaker wire from the fog lights to the low beam bulbs. You will lose the "auto on" ability for your headlights, since the low beams will now be switched on and off by the fog light button. Also, if your low beams aren't working, and the connectors are melted... If you just sand down the contact points with some 80 grit sand paper, and maybe hit the contacts on the bulb as well, you'll be good to go for a couple weeks. If your plugs look melted, hit them with some sand paper first - I promise you that they'll work again. Long enough for you to replace the plug end.
Soldering is cool, but it requires a good amount of practice to do it properly. In this case, soldering will of course work fine, but there is no electrical advantage and it won't last longer. Overall for automotive work, crimps are what I and many others recommend. If you want to get super fancy, you can buy open barrel crimps and just use adhesive heat shrink tubing, but I feel these connectors are less intimidating. Thanks for the comment!
Good advice! If anything as to how to do wiring and properly use of electric tape. Thanks. To tell the truth I came here after getting tired of Scotty Kilmer rants and looking for parodies. Something is wrong in this world. You deserve better.
Hahaha kind of amazing it led you to this video at least! Thanks for the kind words. Repair going strong after over two years now. Took me ages to get around to editing. 😂
It's best to do the job with the right tools, but even with a cheap crimper and crimps that don't shrink, some heat shrink insulation can help water proof it. :)
I promise I will! I have everything filmed for you too I just have to edit it eventually. The car is almost driving I have just had many other things go on including the rotary swap BRZ build.
Nice video. However, I could not use it. Because my wires are different colors. All your wires were the same. That would make it easy. Lol. But thank you. I still give this video I thumbs up..
I'm sorry it wasn't more helpful for you. The only adjustment you have to make when your new connector has different colored wires, is you have to make sure you match the wires based on where they lead to in the connector. For example, if it's a three terminal connector, and the first terminal has a red wire on the original connector, but your new connector has a blue wire on the first terminal, you have to connect the blue wire on the new connector to the red wire on the car's harness. Match each wire to the corresponding wire based on position rather than color. Hope this helps.
I figured you had a similar pedantic nature to me. If you're going to fix something, fix it properly. In the past six months, I've arguably spent as much on proper tools and ancillaries as I've spent on parts.
My need to have decent tools caused me to replace my 20 dollar multimeter with a 200 dollar plus one that even measures temperature, RPM and Dwell angles etc. But I'll probably only ever use it to test my wiring...but hey, you never know when you might need to check the temperature of your coffee or something, so good buy in my eyes. ;o)
No I would have soldered, those connectors add resistance. Try this in a situation like splicing a injector pulse signal where resistance has to be very specific and you'll be in a world of trouble.
@@TeamGun Any connection adds resistance. A bad solder job will add far more. Wiring repair and motorsports wiring professionals in general will almost always recommend crimping over soldering. The exceptions are connections to boards, when there is not enough wire length, and potted connectors. Search crimping vs soldering and watch some videos by channels like HPA, Haltech, Holley, etc. if you don't believe me.
@@802Garage Yeah thats wrong, I've been doing electronics repair since the early 90's. Grab a multimeter and test it, you'll find a solder joint adds next to no resistance vs one of those connectors. The car I'm working on currently require resistance for the injectors to be between 13-15 ohms, you literally can't use those connectors on injector pulse wire to PCM.
@@TeamGun Every. Single. Automotive wiring repair expert I know in the industry disagrees with you. Period. Soldering CAN of course be done properly and be effective and reliable. It simply is not the preferred method for automotive wiring repair, nor is it suitable for novice repair jobs because the margin for error is too large. If a crimp adds more resistance than a solder joint, the crimp was done incorrectly. If a solder joint is cold or inadequate, it will also add resistance. It might not even be measurable on a typical multimeter, but every splice and connection adds resistance. You will never introduce anywhere near an Ohm of resistance with a crimp or solder joint unless it is done completely wrong. People crimp injector adapters all the time. "Did you know solder is NEVER used in a professional motorsport wiring harness? Did you know that a properly executed crimp joint is actually stronger than the base wire?" www.hpacademy.com/technical-articles/solder-vs-crimping/ One of numerous sources I can provide you. This video demonstrates one of the most basic types of crimp which also is not suitable for motorsports applications as a general rule, but it is still effective, waterproof, and permanent when done properly.
@@802Garage dude, I’m just telling you if you take a multimeter, and do some testing, you’ll see what I’m saying is true. Other things as well, like the fuel sending unit on the fuel pump, the amount of fuel you have is dictated by resistance. And it’s like fractions of an ohm. You can’t be crimping connections like that. If you don’t want to test things yourself it doesn’t matter, feel free to believe what you want. I don’t agree, and I can post articles arguing against it as well but I won’t because I’ve tested this myself. You can test it yourself if you want. For shit like lights, yeah it won’t matter, but some stuff it does.
@@TeamGun Dude, I'm just telling you I have done said testing. There is also an entire industry of experts who know everything I said. You are grossly exaggerating how much resistance any properly done crimp will add. I'm not going to argue what is settled knowledge. I can provide you with unlimited sources if you'd like. I get it that you have always done it a certain way and you're gonna keep doing it, but saying that soldering is superior or not to use crimps is simply wrong. There are no current articles by professionals which disagree with me. I have tested plenty. Watch these videos and learn something. As they say, a good solder joint is better than a bad crimp. A good crimp is better than a bad solder joint. If both are good, a crimp is ALWAYS preferred for automotive applications unless specific constraints require soldering. Again, this is especially true for professional style open barrel crimps, but used correctly the crimps in my video are just as effective and will not add significant resistance. Certainly less than the actual harness connectors themselves. I am aware that proper solder joints can add less resistance than crimping, but the amount is so incredibly small as to yes, be negligible, for all automotive applications, which is why crimping is still preferred. Looping back to your original comment, it is also of course perfectly adequate for the purpose in my video. th-cam.com/video/EAr2z6rGV7o/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/faLn-SjVfwY/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/pOTrS6-mNtA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/E_m8xf3vfYE/w-d-xo.html
I've seen worse from professionals. Nothing you did was horrible and the repair looks like it will serve well for years. Things to think about are... FIRST Extract info from the old harness before cutting it off. It may not work but it isn't without informational value. Note pin position and color of wiring at pin location for performing the repair. If you need to pass a harness through an opening the harness cuts should be at different lengths to avoid bulking up the harness with three crimps at the same position. Shrinking should be done for all insulated butt connectors at the same time to reduce time spent on that step by picking up and putting down tools over and over.
All great tips! Agree with everything. In this case I was targeting people who will buy an aftermarket flying lead connector or connector with pigtail harness attached. I should have mentioned making sure you match up the correct wires more though. I have another tutorial to edit which shows how to make a connector with flying leads from scratch. I hammer home pin and wire position more in that one. This repair style is definitely targeted at the amateur and DIY crowd. Just intended to be leagues better than a bad solder job with electrical tape or a hardware store butt connector left to trap water and corrode to heck, hahaha. Thanks again!
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Never had a single one of these fail. What's important is using decent quality crimps and the proper crimpers. Most people are not good enough at soldering to make reliable connections for automotive applications. Professional wiring outfits in general almost never use solder on vehicles unless absolutely necessary such as to boards, with extremely limited wire length, or in potted connectors..
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You should pin this so its the top comment.
@@NickFrom1228 Why thank you! It was supposed to be, hah.
This video saved me between $250-$500 (estimate from the repair shop I had an appointment with). New connector cost $15 at autozone and the tools needed were about $20 all together at walmart. Easy to follow tutorial. Much appreciated!
That's awesome! Exactly why I made this video. Thanks so much for the comment.
Do you still make videos? @@802Garage great channel btw
All you need is 3 bucks to get into the junk yard and a sharp knife and pockets lol
Thanks for this video. I've always wondered why my passenger side marker light won't turn on, initially I thought like most other busted light the bulb went bad, however it wasn't after I took out the light I noticed the two wires completely ripped apart (you could see the copper), and I saw black electrical tape with two heat shrinks. I would assume the previous owner did this, as it's a really old sedan and I'm the third owner. I'm planning to reconnect the two wires after I buy the wire strippers and heat shrinks, as I don't have any of those. I've stripped wires many many years ago, and pretty much forgot all electrical knowledge. I got electrocuted once in my country (240V) so didn't want to touch wires again LOL... Hope it goes well. But I have one question, what happens if you mix the two wires up, and connect them to the wrong one? They are both black in my case...
Luckily the chance of any harmful electrocution working on a car is extremely slim! Unless it's an EV of course. I'm sure you can handle it. With a standard bulb, it won't even matter if you hook them up backwards. If it is an LED bulb, it simply won't work, though you may be able to flip the bulb in the socket as well. Some LED bulbs can also work in both polarities. I'd just try to match the look of your old socket with the new one in terms of which wire goes where. I'm sure you can handle it!
Excellent instructions!
The one thing I would do differently is simply a minor order of operations change; leaving the built-in heat shrink on the connectors unshrunk until all the wires have been crimped in. As shown in your video, your order works just fine, I can just see myself holding the connector at a weird angle and partially shrinking the unused side by accident, potentially forcing myself to start again. I imagine you can get more shrinking done with less lighter fluid that way, too.
Again, great instructions! Hopefully this ends up being what people come across when they're looking to learn how to do this!
Def a great idea! I ended up doing things in a bit of an awkward order for the sake of demonstration. I'm still not sure my favorite way to do everything. Appreciate the comment! 😁
I love how u Take your time to respond to everyone's questions and comments. It's very appreciative and you're video is very informative. Could my headlight being put back in the wrong way and not being locked into place be the cause of the connector melting? What is it just a very strong coincidence? This is why I always want to do everything myself. Because when other people do things and stuff gets messed up. I can't help but feel like it's something they did....
Thanks very much! It is possible that your headlight not being assembled or installed correctly caused the connector to burn up. It really depends on the style of bulb and assembly. If it was able to knock around and the connector came partially loose or if the connector was not fully installed, it could cause excess heat. This is because if the connector contacts are not fully mated, the current has to go through a smaller area which will add resistance and create heat. This can cycle into thermal breakdown. It's also possible something shorted causing the melt. I always advocate learning how to DIY as long as you are comfortable trying and do you research! If you post a pic to Instagram or something I could take a closer look. Could very well be coincidence, but most likely if a new headlight was installed and the connector burned up, something wasn't done quite right. Could be that the connector was forced and it actually bent a contact for example.
When possible, I pull the pins out of the connector and swap them to the new one. I work at a collision repair/body shop and I deal with this quite often. I don't like splicing wires unless I have to. Especially since newer vehicles have extremely thin wires and if you try to splice them the computer won't receive the correct voltage and can cause problems. Sometimes it works, but if you splice wires on a newer vehicle and it still doesn't work. That might be your problem
Great tip! Yeah CAN bus wires are especially finnicky. I have another video to edit about making new connectors from scratch which will include installing pins. I'll try to make a tutorial on what you recommended in the future too. In this case of course, the pins themselves were totally destroyed. Avoiding splices always best, but making sure the splice is waterproof is next best I'd think. :D
Good to nnow
Rats..... So then you don't recommend me, who is in no way, shape, or form a mechanic, attempting to splice my own wires for my headlight With no knowledge other than videos like this and reading on the internet...... I just watched a video where they pulled the pins out. That is definitely something. I may have been able to do it, but mine are basically melted, so it's definitely gonna have to be the wires 😵
Are you crimping or soldering? Or boff em
What if the connector has 2 wires while your car only has one? The part from the auto stores and everywhere online it has 2 wires, seems plug with one wire doesn't exist for some reason. Will it still work if I connect just one wire on the connector?
If it is the same connector and it clicks together then yes. It's just a single wire in a two wire connector. If it's a different connector entirely then it's just not as common and you'd have to find the right one, or you can replace both sides. If you need more help, tell me what connector it is on what car.
does it matter which color of wire goes first? Should i disconnect battery first? i have red, blue, and black wires on the old connector and new one which helps but im not sure if theres a certain order to do them in
It is always a good idea to disconnect the battery when working on anything electrical. Just unhook the ground connector and make sure it is tucked away from the battery terminals. In truth, as long as the key is off, it would be hard to mess anything up here. Still best practice! It does not matter which order you splice the wires in as long as the correct wires are spliced. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions. Shoot me a DM on Instagram if you need to.
Great tutorial, saving to my headlight folder and sharing to my dad to he can help me replace my wiring connector
Just saw this, but thanks a lot!
Thanks for this video! Had my passenger side one done by the auto electrician and it cost me $200. Have purchased the part to do it myself. Just curious about the wiring colours. The new connector has red and black the wiring on the car is brown and white. Which goes to which?
The color of the wires themselves doesn't generally matter. What matters is where the wires go. So for example if it's only a two wire connector, it probably doesn't matter much, but with the connector in the same orientation, you should have the same wires connected to the left and right sides of the connector as they were before. If it were a three wire connector, you would want each wire to be matched up to the same contact it went to on the old connector before you cut it. $200 at least isn't the worst quote I've seen. I know someone in the comments said $450 which is absolutely insane. It's less than an hour of labor for most connectors in pretty much any shop and the supplies are very cheap.
FELLOW VERMONT BASED AUTO TH-camR, HELLO! love your content man. mine is motorcycle based but nice to know I'm not alone in our snowy corner
Hey that's awesome! I subbed back. Check out A Rural Vermonter too if you haven't. :D
@@802Garage will do!
Will it applied to fog light repair? I have a Lexus fog light pig tail harness that don’t work due to corrosion.
@@kevinbmx98 Yes same basic procedure. :)
A couple additions from someone whose been around the block a time or two...
1. There is a butt splice that has solder in-between the wires inside the heat shrinkable butt splice.
2. Something to remember when splicing multiple wires for a single connector is to stagger them. Make each splice about an inch away from the nearest splice. This’ll save you if the heat shrink ever wears down (causing a short) and will make the harness slimmer and closer to factory since you’re not cramming 3 butt splices next to one another.
These were probably some ocd things on my part, as the method shown obviously works, but they are tips nonetheless.
Thought I replied to this. Maybe it didn't go through. Yes the solder seal connectors work as well. For most applications I'd just boil it down to preference. Agreed on the staggering, especially if you need the harness to fit in a tight space. Thanks!
Not bad! Personally I would’ve soldered but you did a good job with those connecters… One thing I would recommend though is some dielectric grease on the connecter before you plug it in, that’ll save it corroding up.
Not a fan of solder in vehicles, but I know the debate will rage on. ;) Dielectric grease def a good idea. Thanks!
I had a harness break, down near the engine. The wire has the high heat tinfoil wrap on it. Any idea where to buy that stuff?
It may actually be wire shielding as in for electronic interference. I'd look that up and see if it looks like what you're dealing with. If so, you should ideally replace it with shielded wire. Otherwise what you are looking for is generally called wire heat sleeve I believe.
@@802Garage thanks, I was able to find some shielding tape today. Got everything back together for the 4th time and realized that the new oil cooler came with a defective oil temp sensor so now I have to undo everything and put the old sensor in. Great haha
Oh no that's such a pain! Hope you got it sorted.
@@802Garage yep all fixed! 👍
@@oxygen454 Good good!
Where is your videos about v10 swap? Is the project still going?
Yep very much still going. Honestly took a winter vacation of sorts and now trying to ramp back up. Definitely want the entire series to start releasing this spring. 😁
Great video, and them shrink fittings are fantastic , The company I worked for Raychem invented thrink tubing .
Raychem makes really good stuff. When you're on a budget there are luckily all the clones hahaha. Thank you!
@@802Garage yes I worked with Electron Beams cross-linking the tubing and military products.
Helpful video. Good tools recommended.
Thanks a lot! I use these tools regularly.
Hi there, I changed my light twice and each time it works for only 1-2 minutes (bulb isn't burnt however, but connector socket seems melted on one side, how could that happen?).
I think now nothing works and I have to change the connector, what could cuase the overheating ?
At 1:42 you mention blowing fuses does that mean light bulbs ?
Thanks
I would guess the issue is with your connector, but I can't be 100% sure. If you had a wiring issue like a short, it would blow the fuse for your headlights, located in the fuse box in your engine bay. That's what I was talking about when I mentioned a fuse. Technically, a headlight bulb works similar to a fuse, but obviously it is not supposed to blow, it is supposed to glow. I would examine the connector itself for any discoloration, especially black or dark brown spots on the connector, on the wiring, or on the contacts. The contacts should ideally be shiny metal and not corroded or burned looking. You can also smell the connector and if it smells like burning plastic or wiring, that's generally a bad sign. Check the wire leading to the connector for any brakes or damage or hot spots as well. The other main reason your bulbs could be blowing so quickly is if there is a ton of moisture in the headlight housing, but usually they would have to directly touch the water for it to be an issue. Since you aren't blowing a fuse, and it seems you only have the issue on one side of the car, I would say the connector is the likely culprit, but again I can't be certain.
@@802Garage Thanks alot for your insight. I will probably take it to my garage. Sucks but sometimes best let the experts do the changes. I had my car cleaned and I think the problem happened after. I wonder if that had anything to do with it ?
@@miguelh4750 It's definitely possible moisture is the culprit if they pressure washed the car. There's nothing wrong with pressure washing, but it might have exposed a problem that already existed like cracked wiring or a bad headlight seal. Best of luck.
On our 2003 Chevy Cavalier the burned socket has 3 wires: Black in the middle, Red and Green (Green is burned) on the sides. A new socket I bought has 3 wires - all Black. Does it matter which one goes on Red which one on Green, if I connect central Black wires together? Thank you for so useful and informative film.
Yes it matters. Generally you have to connect the wires in the same order they were before! So you must connect black from your harness to the middle black on the new socket, green to whichever side green was on in the original socket, and same for red. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for the comment.
@@802Garage Thank you! I thought I need to go by orientation, but wasn't sure.
@@olenaerhardt7725 Yep spot on. Wire order is more important than color. Have a good year!
@@802Garage Thank you. Happy new Year!
Is there a reason you dont solder wires instead of crimping? I have a pigtail to attach and i keep seeing videos with crimp tools are they better than soldering?
The quick answer is for automotive applications, yes. Soldering has more room for error and the issues are less obvious. The two main problems are cold joints or inadequate solder and too much solder or hard brittle joints. With a correctly sized crimp and the correct crimping tool, such as what I showed in this video, it's much easier to get it right. Even this isn't professional level crimping, but the heat shrink butt connectors add water proofing and strain relief, ensuring the repair will last longer. With soldering you need heat shrink and silicone paste or glue lined heat shrink to accomplish similar protection. Hope that makes sense. If you look up crimping vs soldering for cars there are a lot of good videos out there by big names like High Performance Academy and Haltech. Wiring is a deep rabbit hole, but worth going down to get informed.
@@802Garage thanks for the fast answer
@@Jacob-rt6on Sure thing!
what type of gloves are those?
is the v10 soombaroo done yet? or will you work on it soon?
Getting so close to driving, life has just been crazy. There are recent updates on TikTok/Instagram/Facebook. TH-cam needs to make Shorts 90 seconds and then I could post more here hahaha. The full build will be coming to TH-cam in long form though. 😁
@@802Garage youtube is bad enough. i don't go to that other filth. just quit your job and excommunicate everyone you know until it's running
Thank you! My mechanic wants $450! And he said the bumper has to come off. No thanks, I’m gonna try to do it myself
Even if the bumper has to come off, you can handle it. Just watch a tutorial and take it step by step.
@@802GarageI successfully repaired my lights yesterday. I cut too much wire on one headlight, so I removed the headlight itself. Thank you so much! I saved $450 and now know how to splice wires together. You’re probably making mechanics angry, but you’re doing good in the world!
Hey I only just saw that. So awesome! Hope it's still working well for you.
Great video! What gauge size wire did you end up using?
Thanks for sharing your experience. Currently l'm in the same situation. I used to do the same but now I'm more confident after seeing your video.
Thanks for the comment! One wire at a time and it'll all be right. 😁
one thing id have done different is staggered the splices so it looks neater under the heat shrink
Always an option! If I'm not space constrained, I like to do it this way because it just makes the process simpler for me. Thanks for the great comment. :)
I know about that technique and almost always forget about it until after it's too much work to go back and do that.
Definitely a good method, and sometimes even a vital one when the finished bundle needs to be fed through a small hole!
Great video!! I know feel confident to do this myself. I had both headlight bulbs burn into the socket and it's completely ruined. The mechanic wanted $340. That's just not affordable but I understand their time is worth it.
@@Nah481 Jeeesus you could screw it up 5 times and still save money. Definitely DIY. 😁
I bought new fog lights just to be surprised to find the connection on one was completely stripped off, dangling. Thanks for the video 👍
@@dannyboots Sure thing!
Really want to see the 13b-rz build on here!
I have everything recorded and will upload the full series Soon™!
He's back!!!
Doing my best! Still have a lot more to edit.
Ayo hes back
Yes indeed! Plan to actually release a lot more long form content here this year. Thanks as always. :D
@@802Garage wonderful to hear, looking forward to it!
@@samurboi8007 Really appreciate the support. 😌
Is there a new channel or something?
Nope I have just been focused on short form content on other platforms and very busy. Finished an entire build of a rotary swapped BRZ with some friends. That series will be coming to the channel very soon and then the full V10 Impreza build. Gonna be a big year, I just had to step away from TH-cam when the way I was grinding was not producing results. I am hoping my new approaches and mixed content will be a lot more successful. No plans of giving up. I do have a ton of more recent content on TikTok and Instagram, some on Facebook as well. :)
Great video man. Id really love to see more videos like this! Could definitely help grow the channel and im sure itll be fun in the end
Thanks a lot. Definitely more tutorial videos like this coming. I have many I just never edited. They're good for the channel long term. I also have the full V10 Impreza series coming of course. :)
@@802Garage god ive been anticipating that v10 series for so long im sure itll be awesome
@@samurboi8007 Hahaha me too! Hoping it will impress the algorithm as well. XD
My connectors look just like yours, though they may be a different Chinese brand. I constantly have a problem trying to shrink them over the wire with a lighter, burning the plastic instead of just melting it to conform to the wire.
One good thing to go for is to stagger the wiring so the solderless connectors don't bulk up next to each other.
I would have diagnosed the melted connector first. I've seen faulty driver modules. This problem might occur again if that's the actual problem.
Agreed always best to figure out why something failed before just fixing it. Beyond the scope of this video, but I do mention it. No driver for this headlight, just a simple relay. Usually when these older connectors fail it's because one of the contacts got bent or broken when installing a new bulb and isn't making good contact. That or corrosion on the wires. Only seen a couple fail out of numerous 25 year old cars so can't complain. Thanks for the helpful comment!
@@802Garage Thanks for the nice video. Very well done. I'm going to buy that crimper.
@@tonypitsacota2513 Awesome and thanks again! I just added another link for a different version that comes with a bunch of the butt connectors. Any of them seem to work quite well I've used my IWISS version tons of times now.
Pretty sure that headlight connector just burned up from lack of spring tension in the connectors over the years, causing more heat buildup from a bad connection at an item that's already known to be pretty darn warm.
@@MrTheHillfolk Yea I agree. But I had the same problem in a Ford Headlight driver module that had bad diodes which caused overcurrent, melting connector after connector and eventually the housing itself.
Thanx man ❤
Welcome!
Intelligent & instructive, mes amis !
It SHOULD be obvious knowledge, but...the rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) that is employed at 02:15 , should NOT be sipped during this repair...or at anytime !
Thanks so much as always for your support. You are of course right. That alcohol is for rubbing, I guess, not drinking. ;)
Loved this and chock full of good information!
Hey I only just saw your comment, but thanks a lot! Either that or I replied before and it didn't go through, hahaha.
I have a friend who likes to buy cars with, uhh, "problems," especially electrical problems.
I've noticed that vehicles built 2012 or later, regardless of manufacturer, tend to melt the low beam headlight connectors.
Here's a quick, TEMPORARY solution - remove the burnt plugs from the headlights, and run some speaker wire from the fog lights to the low beam bulbs.
You will lose the "auto on" ability for your headlights, since the low beams will now be switched on and off by the fog light button.
Also, if your low beams aren't working, and the connectors are melted... If you just sand down the contact points with some 80 grit sand paper, and maybe hit the contacts on the bulb as well, you'll be good to go for a couple weeks.
If your plugs look melted, hit them with some sand paper first - I promise you that they'll work again. Long enough for you to replace the plug end.
Yo yo yo. Where did you get your channel name from?
PS I saw the license plate at the end of the video. I knew ya were from VT. That’s dope
Yep Vermont strong! Thanks for commenting. I assume you're in the area? I plan to host more meets in the future too.
I rather glue with metal to ensure connections.
For the sake of less time, crimping.
For if you have the time, solder.
Soldering is cool, but it requires a good amount of practice to do it properly. In this case, soldering will of course work fine, but there is no electrical advantage and it won't last longer. Overall for automotive work, crimps are what I and many others recommend. If you want to get super fancy, you can buy open barrel crimps and just use adhesive heat shrink tubing, but I feel these connectors are less intimidating. Thanks for the comment!
Great video bud.
Thanks a lot! It's doing way better than I expected.
V10 subaru?
Lots of updates on TikTok. Full build coming to TH-cam soon. :)
Great channel 👏 👍
Thank you! Plan to be a lot more active this year. You were first. :)
Good advice! If anything as to how to do wiring and properly use of electric tape. Thanks. To tell the truth I came here after getting tired of Scotty Kilmer rants and looking for parodies. Something is wrong in this world. You deserve better.
Hahaha kind of amazing it led you to this video at least! Thanks for the kind words. Repair going strong after over two years now. Took me ages to get around to editing. 😂
Dengan peralatan kerja yang lengkap pasti kerja jadi mudah
It's best to do the job with the right tools, but even with a cheap crimper and crimps that don't shrink, some heat shrink insulation can help water proof it. :)
Please continue the v10 swap
I promise I will! I have everything filmed for you too I just have to edit it eventually. The car is almost driving I have just had many other things go on including the rotary swap BRZ build.
Thank you very much. Very detailed and articulate
Nice video. However, I could not use it. Because my wires are different colors. All your wires were the same. That would make it easy. Lol. But thank you. I still give this video I thumbs up..
I'm sorry it wasn't more helpful for you. The only adjustment you have to make when your new connector has different colored wires, is you have to make sure you match the wires based on where they lead to in the connector. For example, if it's a three terminal connector, and the first terminal has a red wire on the original connector, but your new connector has a blue wire on the first terminal, you have to connect the blue wire on the new connector to the red wire on the car's harness. Match each wire to the corresponding wire based on position rather than color. Hope this helps.
I figured you had a similar pedantic nature to me. If you're going to fix something, fix it properly. In the past six months, I've arguably spent as much on proper tools and ancillaries as I've spent on parts.
Thanks man!
Thank you!
No. Only soldiering. Great filming
Hahaha nooo. The great debate continues. ;) Thank you though! At least I finally released a video.
My need to have decent tools caused me to replace my 20 dollar multimeter with a 200 dollar plus one that even measures temperature, RPM and Dwell angles etc. But I'll probably only ever use it to test my wiring...but hey, you never know when you might need to check the temperature of your coffee or something, so good buy in my eyes. ;o)
Yo!!!!! Where the 802 at????? Hope you are ok.
I am indeed! Uploads coming Soon™ I have soo much to edit.
Canadian strippers are better than American in my experience
Why did this take me a second to get? I was like... What brand of tools is made in Canada? Hahaha.
No I would have soldered, those connectors add resistance. Try this in a situation like splicing a injector pulse signal where resistance has to be very specific and you'll be in a world of trouble.
@@TeamGun Any connection adds resistance. A bad solder job will add far more. Wiring repair and motorsports wiring professionals in general will almost always recommend crimping over soldering. The exceptions are connections to boards, when there is not enough wire length, and potted connectors. Search crimping vs soldering and watch some videos by channels like HPA, Haltech, Holley, etc. if you don't believe me.
@@802Garage Yeah thats wrong, I've been doing electronics repair since the early 90's. Grab a multimeter and test it, you'll find a solder joint adds next to no resistance vs one of those connectors. The car I'm working on currently require resistance for the injectors to be between 13-15 ohms, you literally can't use those connectors on injector pulse wire to PCM.
@@TeamGun Every. Single. Automotive wiring repair expert I know in the industry disagrees with you. Period. Soldering CAN of course be done properly and be effective and reliable. It simply is not the preferred method for automotive wiring repair, nor is it suitable for novice repair jobs because the margin for error is too large. If a crimp adds more resistance than a solder joint, the crimp was done incorrectly. If a solder joint is cold or inadequate, it will also add resistance. It might not even be measurable on a typical multimeter, but every splice and connection adds resistance. You will never introduce anywhere near an Ohm of resistance with a crimp or solder joint unless it is done completely wrong. People crimp injector adapters all the time.
"Did you know solder is NEVER used in a professional motorsport wiring harness? Did you know that a properly executed crimp joint is actually stronger than the base wire?"
www.hpacademy.com/technical-articles/solder-vs-crimping/
One of numerous sources I can provide you. This video demonstrates one of the most basic types of crimp which also is not suitable for motorsports applications as a general rule, but it is still effective, waterproof, and permanent when done properly.
@@802Garage dude, I’m just telling you if you take a multimeter, and do some testing, you’ll see what I’m saying is true. Other things as well, like the fuel sending unit on the fuel pump, the amount of fuel you have is dictated by resistance. And it’s like fractions of an ohm. You can’t be crimping connections like that. If you don’t want to test things yourself it doesn’t matter, feel free to believe what you want. I don’t agree, and I can post articles arguing against it as well but I won’t because I’ve tested this myself. You can test it yourself if you want. For shit like lights, yeah it won’t matter, but some stuff it does.
@@TeamGun Dude, I'm just telling you I have done said testing. There is also an entire industry of experts who know everything I said. You are grossly exaggerating how much resistance any properly done crimp will add. I'm not going to argue what is settled knowledge. I can provide you with unlimited sources if you'd like.
I get it that you have always done it a certain way and you're gonna keep doing it, but saying that soldering is superior or not to use crimps is simply wrong. There are no current articles by professionals which disagree with me. I have tested plenty.
Watch these videos and learn something. As they say, a good solder joint is better than a bad crimp. A good crimp is better than a bad solder joint. If both are good, a crimp is ALWAYS preferred for automotive applications unless specific constraints require soldering.
Again, this is especially true for professional style open barrel crimps, but used correctly the crimps in my video are just as effective and will not add significant resistance. Certainly less than the actual harness connectors themselves.
I am aware that proper solder joints can add less resistance than crimping, but the amount is so incredibly small as to yes, be negligible, for all automotive applications, which is why crimping is still preferred. Looping back to your original comment, it is also of course perfectly adequate for the purpose in my video.
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Missing your videos, bud.
Thanks it means a lot! I'm actually going to try to work on the first part of the rotary BRZ swap tonight. So look out for that soon.
👍
@@pablopotato5967 Thanks!
Hi 👋
Hiii Stella!
Hello
Oh heeey! 😁
I've seen worse from professionals. Nothing you did was horrible and the repair looks like it will serve well for years. Things to think about are... FIRST Extract info from the old harness before cutting it off. It may not work but it isn't without informational value. Note pin position and color of wiring at pin location for performing the repair. If you need to pass a harness through an opening the harness cuts should be at different lengths to avoid bulking up the harness with three crimps at the same position. Shrinking should be done for all insulated butt connectors at the same time to reduce time spent on that step by picking up and putting down tools over and over.
All great tips! Agree with everything. In this case I was targeting people who will buy an aftermarket flying lead connector or connector with pigtail harness attached. I should have mentioned making sure you match up the correct wires more though. I have another tutorial to edit which shows how to make a connector with flying leads from scratch. I hammer home pin and wire position more in that one. This repair style is definitely targeted at the amateur and DIY crowd. Just intended to be leagues better than a bad solder job with electrical tape or a hardware store butt connector left to trap water and corrode to heck, hahaha. Thanks again!
The video is awesome, friend. We have launched the 4modes led headlight bulb, would you like to try it? We wanna send it for you to try. Please check your email, hope to hear from you, thanks.
Thanks very much. Will do!
@@802Garage Didn't see your reply, did you not see the email, friend? Maybe it's automatically entered into spam.
@@summerli2700 Found the email. I will reply when I have the time thank you.
@@802Garage Okay, look forward to your reply.
Barrow connected are garbage solder it back
You’ll thank me later
Never had a single one of these fail. What's important is using decent quality crimps and the proper crimpers. Most people are not good enough at soldering to make reliable connections for automotive applications. Professional wiring outfits in general almost never use solder on vehicles unless absolutely necessary such as to boards, with extremely limited wire length, or in potted connectors..