Previous owner wiring hackjob. fix

[99sho-time]

I figured i'd post here because i'm sure a v8sho owner has never seen such a thing in our cars.
When i first bought the car I did not see the wiring harness condition. I test drove it the tranny wasn't too bad I figured it will need a tranny no big deal I got some help in that area. but down the road weird things started happening to my car I tried desperately to pinpoint things but only to get confused I was asking so many questions and thankfully alot of people in the v8sho community have been really amazing in helping me with my 10000 questions. I tried to remedy the wiring best i could but I ultimately decided the changes/damage go deeper than what its worth to fix it i need a new harness. thankfully to mister Nimz was kind enough to help mr through lot of stuff and got me a 99 harness. So before i even got the new one in I had to see what was going on in the old harness heres what i found. the new one is in the car drives better.

https://imgur.com/QeHJICy
https://imgur.com/EeOAihp
Melted, exposed chaffed transmission output sensor, steering rack and o2 sensors
https://imgur.com/UlQw8vP
https://imgur.com/QRw68WR
Many crappy solder joints and butt connectors everywhere
https://imgur.com/UZye4tA
https://imgur.com/mkkDZeb
https://imgur.com/HcZGbW4 old harness

 

[gamefanatic]

Yeah, that's really a bad deal. All those hacks definitely added to the problem. I am glad you were able to source a good harness.

I attempted to get one from Amazon that was used, but when I got it, many of the connectors had been cut off. I am going to rebuild the harness, so it didn't matter too much. Just seems like Amazon is getting too much like ebay these days...

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Do you have the impression that the last owner tryed to repair a toasted rear wiring or he tryed to hack something ? (I remember that you sent me a photo where wirings were modified near the computer...)

If he tryed to hack something, I'm wondering what he hopes to do.

I don't want to hijack your post, but looking at your IMRC and it seems like it was bolted upside down. (?)

Good to know that you resolved this problem, I would not like to face that kind of prob.

P.S. Gamefanatic, before you repair your wiring, are you able to post/send me photos of his shape ? I think mine is on his way as I still have some random misfires. I put protection but heat give it a bad shape before I found it. I'm thinking doing it each wire one by one. (any idea ? maybe a post on details on how doing this can be helpful)

 

[99sho-time]

im not quite sure what happened with the previous owner. I have a few theories tho it was either stolen the car and someone ripped the wiring up out of anger or he was having someone fix didn't pay them and they went hack happy. I dont see any evidence of fire or burned wiring.

the imrc is upside down because its from a duratec motor and only way i could see it working was upside down i ahvent had any issues.

 

[gamefanatic]

P.S. Gamefanatic, before you repair your wiring, are you able to post/send me photos of his shape ?

I have been debating on doing things in the original stock colors or just going with basic color schemes. I had been putting in the time to map out each wire / connector using the AllData Information and guess-timating the wire lengths. I have not measured the spare loom runs yet. Another issue I need to work out is the gauge of wires going to certain areas may be larger or smaller.

As it stands I have the wiring project on hold until I work out transmission issues. I can barely drive around town without putting a lot of load on the transmission without getting stuttering coming from it. Fairly certain the wiring issues I am seeing aren't related this problem as it has been getting progressively worse. So I am looking to dive into a minor rebuild over the next week or three as time permits.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Humm... Gamefanatic check your fuel pump. When it's starting buging, it let think it's a trans prob but no.

 

[gamefanatic]

No pump problems here. I've replaced the fuel pump (255lph) and the regulator. Watching the computer, the engine shows no issues with misfires or the like.

The only clue is a few times recently I have received ABS flashing noting transmission solenoid codes, and that the issue has continued to be progressively worse regardless of changes made to the engine. The issues occur under light load and/or going up hill on a more regular basis now. In order to get the shuddering to go away I nearly have to rev past 3500 rpm, let the car coast a bit, then rev back up. Not fun, truthfully. While I haven't done a pressure test against the transmission, these all lead me to believe there are hold problems either directly or indirectly coming from the solenoids (TCC / Pressure).

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Ok then, very strange. did you create a thread for this already ? Don't remember. Just for not hijacking this post. The fact related to climbing hill let think about fluid problem a wire which can move during this. Your in CA, did you put some additionnal cooling on the trans lines already ? (Not sure about the trouble is linked to that, but bypassing the cooler in the rad is a good thing over time too, because this part on the trans lines can be clogged). There is a TSB about that. Rev up = better flow in trans lines maybe.

A mechanic one day give a good image about what is a SHO. A bad "copy and paste job". Stronger motor and trans but with same SLO intake box and trans lines... It's better if you upgrade all, no ?

Keep me informed if you created already a post for that.