Wiring, Cables, Connectors

Your vehicle is a tool to get you where you are going, but nowadays it also has a massive number of accessories to make it almost as comfortable as sitting in your house. The touch screens, radios, Bluetooth compatible connections, steering wheel controls, interactive dash boards and everything else you can imagine go together to make your vehicle as comfortable as you could possibly imagine. The wiring harness will help you to achieve that admirable goal.

Wiring harnesses use a fairly common style, so almost all of them will have black or white connectors on each end and can often be found under the hood and behind the dashboard. They will often be covered in certain areas by a special type of tape or sleeve, to prevent rubbing and moisture, or they may even have a sleeve along the entire length which will be easy to find. In order to find the individual harness that is causing you problems, you may need to consult the handbook that came with your vehicle.

Most vehicles have a number of wiring harnesses in them, and each one will run to a number of different parts. The advantages of a wiring harness are many, including that they are much easier to run than running 30 different wires to the one place, and this allows for easier replacement. They also bind the wires together tightly, which means they are at less risk from vibrations, and they can be protected from things like moisture or abrasions much easier.

Of course, as useful as they are, things can go wrong as they can with any component on your vehicle. They are often found in hot, moisture-filled areas, and this means the sleeve or tape can begin to wear and fail. When this occurs, the chances of a short are increased. The connectors on each end are also subject to vibrations every time you start and drive the vehicle, and they can begin to fail so they are not grounded, or there is simply no connection to the components they are running to.

When any of these problems happen, you will see a number of symptoms, with some being scarier than others. One of the more annoying but less scary symptoms is that certain accessories, like your radio or air conditioner, will stop working or will only work intermittently because the connections or wires begin to fail. However, a real problem can occur when you allow older wiring harnesses to remain when they are in bad shape, because the wires can rub together or be exposed to moisture, which can cause shorts and even fires in the most extreme cases.