As I was looking for the ground wire on my drivers side I found this hanging down. The previous owner may have done some nonsense under there.
What is this?
- Thread starter Smokngun
- Start date
We in the technical business refer to that wiring mess as a "rat's ass".
It would appear the plastic used for the plug end has the structural integrity of a dried white cheddar cheese (no offense to Wisco members). Mine is cracked and chipped but technically still there and, uh, pluggable.
Is this something I need to be concerned about? I am just trying to track down my dang dash light problem!
If your state has emissions testing or you need to read a code, it might be an issue. As to whether it's related to your dash electrical issues, I couldn't say for sure, but there are live data signals in those wires when the vehicle is on.
Not sure about getting a new replacement, but you can probably find a used donor. Should just be a matter of popping the pins out of the old one (what's left of it) and inserting them into the new/donor plug end. You should be able to find the pin-out for that connector in the FSM's posted here on the site.
Michigan Motorsports OBDII OBD2 Serial Port Harness Connector Pigtail ALDL Data Link Fitment for Dodge Jeep https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017BTRP6O/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I replaced the connector in my 2005 LJ using Mopar 5183481AA. In my case, I accidentally broke the mounting tabs off with my winter boots.
The actual replacement process only took about 15 minutes. I used Lisle 57750 to de-pin the leads and plug them into the new connector. You do need to pull out the gray tabs to release the pins. My kit only came with 1 replacement tab.
I took the below photos before starting but the Resources section has a link to the manual. The connector will be listed under Wiring, Connector Pinouts.
View attachment 442786
View attachment 442697
The actual replacement process only took about 15 minutes. I used Lisle 57750 to de-pin the leads and plug them into the new connector. You do need to pull out the gray tabs to release the pins. My kit only came with 1 replacement tab.
I took the below photos before starting but the Resources section has a link to the manual. The connector will be listed under Wiring, Connector Pinouts.
View attachment 442786
View attachment 442697
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Suspect this is pretty common, it's just asking to get kicked.
Given the chunks of mine that are missing, I'd guess it has a kick or two left before it capitulates to my human hamfistedness, or hamfootedness, as it were...
If the loose pins that you have touch each other you could have all kinds of problems, such as the PCM not being able to communicate with the cluster, etc. Even worse if one of those loose pins is the 12V from the battery and it touches another pin that can't handle 12V.
Go to the junk yard and pull a replacement connector then cut your mess off and splice the replacement in. They are easy to find and easy to access, usually just held on with a couple of bolts.
The wiring diagram in the FSM for your model year will give the wire colors and tell you what goes where when splicing.
Andy
Go to the junk yard and pull a replacement connector then cut your mess off and splice the replacement in. They are easy to find and easy to access, usually just held on with a couple of bolts.
The wiring diagram in the FSM for your model year will give the wire colors and tell you what goes where when splicing.
Andy
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