Wiring Hell

[Sparky73]

Im trying to figure out where all my wires go, and replace ones that need it..and all the wires look decent except for a couple of kind of thick looking wires that seem to be Brown in color. They head off toward the front of the GT somewhere, and I just can't figure out what they are. Not sure if they are really brown or just dirty and discolored. They are really bad, plastic is all baked and cracked..falls apart just when you touch it, and the wire itself is pretty much the same. Any one know where these go, and what gauge wire it is possibly? Thanks
JON

[baronbors]

Looking at my GT wiring diagram, it seems that all of the brown wires are connected to the ground system in some way or another. Are they original or an add on from a PO? Are they going through the fuse box in any way?

[tekenaar]

The most notorious wires that have "crumbling, cooked" insulation are the headlight wires, actually WERE yellow and white BEFORE "cooking". That's my guess from your description anyway.

[namba209 (R.I.P.)]

Tom, there are 2 brown wires in the fuse panel connectors, according to my DESTEC schematic, The horn wire from the White steering column connector and the main instrument panel ground to the tach housing goes through the Green instrument panel connector. HTH.

Jon, You will note above that I referred to my DESTEC schematic, You really need one to do any kind of electrical trouble shooting on a GT, granted there are minor disparities between the years of the GT as far as the wiring goes, most of it in the headlight wiring, but for the most part very comprhensive and easy to read. Each wire is color coded and the gage of wire is also indicated. They are one e-bay from time to time, or you can order one from J. J. Wheatley direct. To contact him, go to the members list and search for DESTEC, you can e-mail him from there. HTH.

[kwilford]

Sounds like the dreaded headlight wiring rot! Do they look like these? If so, you are in good company, because EVERY Opel GT has these, until they are replaced. HTH

[Sparky73]

Sounds like the dreaded headlight wiring rot! Do they look like these? If so, you are in good company, because EVERY Opel GT has these, until they are replaced. HTH

Thanks..your a lifesaver! Hopefully if my dad doesn't shut me out on work again today..we'll getting working on replacing those. After fixing them few wires, and any others that look bad, I think I'm gunna end up re-taping all the wires in the front...just to kinda hide them again. Once again, thanks for the help!!!

[namba209 (R.I.P.)]

Jon, I just noticed that no one answered what gage the wire is in the headlight area, so, I'll tell you the three wires going to the headlight sockets are all 12 gage wires. If you haven't exposed the wires for visual inspection from the headlights back to the fuse panel, I would suggest doing it. If the wires got hot enuff to breakdown the insulation, then somewhere along the harness, it is possible the smaller wires got burned too and may have flakey insulation as well. You have it kinda all apart, better to check it out now than have it all together, then tear it out again after you have a short, or other wiring problem in that harness. JMTCW, only because like a lot of us, I've "Been There, Done That".

[Sparky73]

Like I've said probably 100 times before..everyone here has had a lot of the same problems, and its great how we can all get along and help each other so well. On another note..after un tangling my whole harness (its still all connected to the fuse block) I traced those 3 wires that were shot, back as far as I could see they went..then I hit something interesting, they were no longer connected! I figured they just broke off or something, but I also remembered while the GT was still a complete car..everything worked, including the headlights. After further inspection, and looking at the wiring diagram, I came to find out, the previous owner replaced 20 or so wires with higher grade stuff..and just left the rotted wires in, which made things very confusing! Each enough for me, just relabled all the wires to where they go (as I was going to do anyway) and on the copy of the wire diagram I got, I traced the replaced wires, and filled them in with the new color! So..now that I took a couple hours, Electrical Taping the "bunches of wire" back together to kinda straighten things out..After about a year..the wires finally get set back into place..

Not completed with that task yet, I still have to use my Doner car to help trace exactly where the wires up in the front end go, and kinda just temporarily tape the wires in there needed location. HOPEFULLY get that done tomarrow..than back to school on Monday, and I'll be working on dropping that "Car onto that Engine " sometime probably Mid this week, since I still have to borrow a Cherry-Picker from my friend! But yea, kinda all good news for me after seeing the car sit outside for as long as it did.

[jordan]

How far back does the headlight wiring need get replaced? about 8 inches from the headlight bucket the wire seems to be in good shape and plyable. Couldn't I just replace that section of wiring? I seems impossible to strip the outer wire sheath around the brake master cylinder, not enough room.

[kwilford]

How far back does the headlight wiring need get replaced? about 8 inches from the headlight bucket the wire seems to be in good shape and pliable. Couldn't I just replace that section of wiring? I seems impossible to strip the outer wire sheath around the brake master cylinder, not enough room.

Have a look at the photos. All the wires that are insulated with rubber MUST be replaced. The first time, I did what you have suggested, and thought..."there, that's a good job". But when I decided to have a better look, the rubber insulation was deteriorated ALL the way back to the junction. DO NOT JUST REPLACE THE OBVIOUS ROTTED WIRES! GO ALL THE WAY BACK!!!!