Wiring Harness - tracing a wire out on a wrapped harness

DanPerryy

Well-Known Member
I was using a harness borrowed from Lonny and Adam as a model for my harness. I thinned my harness and upon comparing the harnesses I had trimmed a wire that was not trimmed on their harness. I needed to find out where the wire went and did not want to un-wrap their harness.

I have a toner (a device to trace wires) but it would not work as applying the tone signal to a single wire with all the other wires open allowed the signal to be present on all the wires. Trying to do a conductivity test would take hours.

What I did (and found the wire in 5 minutes).
Got a metal bowl of vinegar, connected one end of circuit tester (Continuity tester) to the wire I wanted to trace. Attached the other end of the continuity tester to the metal bowl.

I then put each of the harness connectors into the bowl until one of them showed continuity. That was the connector that the wire in Lonny and Adams harness connected to. I then tested continuity to the pins of that connector. Vinegar is a weak acid and is electrically conductive. I then rinsed the connectors with water and then dipped them in alcohol (non conductive) to insure the vinegar was gone.
 
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