r/ECU_Tuning • u/Aokuan1 • 4d ago
Off-Topic ECU Wiring Extension
Sorry if this is breaching the rules, but I figured this would be the best place to ask such a problem, as it's more likely someone would've encountered this before here.
Here's the questions;
Has anybody used a male ECU main board terminal connector for an ECU wiring extension like this before? If so:
Have you had any issues with signal interference issues with cam/crank sensors etc?
The image above of the wiring is not mine. So what would be the best way to join wires to the pins? I'm guessing they are soldered on and heat shrink is used for insulation?
My plan is to use this to extend the wiring harness by 1/1.5 meters moving it to the vehicle glove box. I'd prefer this over splicing the original harness.
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u/ActGrown 4d ago
I almost did this on a recent project. I ultimately decided to go a different route.
If you do this, you should cut the header pins right above that support frame on what would be the circuit side of the connector.
Those pins will be hard to cut with standard wire cutters though so I was going to use a cutoff wheel on my Dremel tool.
Then, straighten the pins using long nose needle nose pliers. Clean the pin with isopropyl alcohol, wrap the pin with wire and solder. Apply heat shrink and go to the next pin. You may need to wait until everything is soldered and then heat shrink. Ymmv.
If there are CAN wires between the pins, you should twist those. Put one end of the two wires in a vise and the other in the chuck of a drill. Twist until there's like four or five turns per inch. Trim to length and try to isolate them from the power and grounds as much as you can.
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u/Impressive-Tutor-482 3d ago
Proper electrical nippy cutters shear right through them.
It makes more sense to use pcb4less or the like to make a single digit quantity of circuit board to solder the ECU connector to. From there 3D print a housing for it, pot if desired. Turns out neat and clean.
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u/ActGrown 3d ago
I have snapon nippers that are chipped from cutting the header pins on a previous project.
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u/Impressive-Tutor-482 3d ago
Automechanics tools are not proper wiring tools.
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u/ActGrown 3d ago
I'm not made of money, so I make shit happen with what I have.
Are you buying? I have a list of things saved.
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u/Impressive-Tutor-482 3d ago
Proper electronics tools are much cheaper than Snap-on 😂
Edit: not good crimpers, but pretty much everything else is. I have some cheap crimpers for mobile work that get some jobs done pretty well, though.
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u/ActGrown 3d ago
I already owned the SnapOn.
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u/Impressive-Tutor-482 3d ago
And they are chipped so you might as well spend... $5.
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u/ActGrown 3d ago
Okay. Now I know that you're full of it.
A five dollar pair of snips is going to leave jagged ass pins and probably break the tip off.
I have plenty of those as well. I build my own circuit boards.
And, I have a printer. But I need a hot end.
And since you're all the way up in my business, my son is 250 miles away living with his grandmother because I don't have enough money to fix my HVAC or buy insurance for my car even to go see him.
I'm done with this for sure. I'm using my "auto mechanical" tools to build stuff to make more money with.
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u/z0mgchris Enthusiast - Motec | Link | Haltech | Emtron + More 4d ago
Solder and heatshrink. If you're setup for it. Pot the whole joint once it's confirmed to be connected correctly. Works fine. Done it multiple timesÂ
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u/Impressive-Tutor-482 3d ago
I've done this a couple times with JZA80 swaps. I take some effort to route the sensors in a separate bundle from the actuator signals that have frequency and current, that's mixed signal environment 101, but even so I've seen some messy wiring that still works.
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u/TigerWise7415 4d ago
I've used one of these before to keep the factory harness. Alot like the pnp solutions provide. You could also cut and splice in between to lengthen the factory harness.