1996 American wiring question

[1996 Eagle]

1996 American Eagle. Was looking over things to take a trip to the coast. Cking stuff under the engine cover and found a lot of bare wires going into the plug on the driver side front in the engine compartment. No sigh of any heat or other problems. Some one in the past had covered them and used black tape to cover them up. Want to remove wires from the plug one at a time and shrink sleeve them for a more permanent fix. Been trying to get them out but no luck. Have tools that are supposed to slide down the pin to release the lock but nothing has helped get them loose.

First question is what wiring runs through that plug and anybody have a clue on any special tools? Spartan parts don't have a clue even though customer service says they sell the tool.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by 1996 Eagle

1996 American Eagle. Was looking over things to take a trip to the coast. Cking stuff under the engine cover and found a lot of bare wires going into the plug on the driver side front in the engine compartment. No sigh of any heat or other problems. Some one in the past had covered them and used black tape to cover them up. Want to remove wires from the plug one at a time and shrink sleeve them for a more permanent fix. Been trying to get them out but no luck. Have tools that are supposed to slide down the pin to release the lock but nothing has helped get them loose.

First question is what wiring runs through that plug and anybody have a clue on any special tools? Spartan parts don't have a clue even though customer service says they sell the tool.

Pictures would help greatly

[1996 Eagle]

Here is a pic of the connection in question. Just spade terminals and should not be a problem to remove. Been trying off and on for the last 3 days. Plug on the right is the one with the problems.

[GlennLever]

You should be able to remove the spade from the plug as you have said you have tried. That style plug it is difficult to do. There is a reverse tang that flares out from the spade when you push it into the plug from the back side. You need to slide a thin "blade" into the plug from the connection side to disengage the locking tab from the spade from the body of the plug and then pull the wire and spade out of the body of the plug from the back side.

Two common problems, you could be sliding the tool into the plug on the wrong side of the connector (not disengaging the tab on the connector from the body of the plug. and second the tab has been bent in half and will not allow the connector to come out of the plug.

If this has happened you have wiggle tool and pull/push the wire. sometimes the wire will pull out of the crimp in the connector when doing this. It would be best to have the correct connector on hand before you attempt this.



You should be using something like the green handled tool in the lower left of the picture.

How to use Weather Pack Connectors

[1996 Eagle]

Thanks for the reply. Have the tools pictured. Know about the reverse tang holding them in. It seems that something else is holding it in. Can move the spade in and out a little(more than when I started) Going to make a trip to another store to see if I can find a different tool to try. Getting abit of a pain as I have done a lot of different types and had no problem. Guess I will keep plugging away at it.

[1996 Eagle]

As I got into this thing it became more apparent that I was going to get more involved in this than thought. What should have been an fairly easy job has turned into a pain. Called American coach,Spartan, and cummins and none could come up with what the harness was for(each put it off on the other). Called a couple of rv junk yard(one had a couple of 96 eagles) on getting a used harness or just the plug, One had the harness but wanted 700.00 for it or would sell the plug and 8in wire for 200.00. Being a cheap sob I wasn't going to pay that kind of money for some plastic. After much looking I figured out that it is a Delphi/Packard c100 connector used on many GM cars! In this case it matched the firewall plug on a 87 Camaro. Bought one at the u pull it yard for 5 bucks to confirm. Matched perfect. Wires were well sealed in it and instead of getting it apart I went looking for new. Internet search turned up the GM p/n for the plug(metri pack connectors) as well as p/n for the pins. Place called Mouser had the connectors(3.47ea)+shipping. Found the pins at a couple different places but had to buy in bulk. Pico also make them. One place would sell them a piece at a time so I bought what I needed as well as a few extras. All for less that 40.00 inc shipping. Now instead of knocking my head against the wall I'm going to clip the wires at the plug, crimp on new ends, and install into new connector. Hope maybe this will help someone with a similar problem.

[twinboat]

I have removed the pins many times.

First and important, grab the wire and push it into the connector and told it there.
From the other end, slide a test light probe or something simular in, along side the pin, ( not sure which side, there should be a grove on the wire side, to follow ), then pull the wire out.

If you pull the wire first, the tab duds into the plastic and you can't push the lock tab flat and it won't come out.

Sometimes the tabs get flat so check them befor replacing them.
I just pry them out before pushing them back in.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by 1996 Eagle

As I got into this thing it became more apparent that I was going to get more involved in this than thought. What should have been an fairly easy job has turned into a pain. Called American coach,Spartan, and cummins and none could come up with what the harness was for(each put it off on the other). Called a couple of rv junk yard(one had a couple of 96 eagles) on getting a used harness or just the plug, One had the harness but wanted 700.00 for it or would sell the plug and 8in wire for 200.00. Being a cheap sob I wasn't going to pay that kind of money for some plastic. After much looking I figured out that it is a Delphi/Packard c100 connector used on many GM cars! In this case it matched the firewall plug on a 87 Camaro. Bought one at the u pull it yard for 5 bucks to confirm. Matched perfect. Wires were well sealed in it and instead of getting it apart I went looking for new. Internet search turned up the GM p/n for the plug(metri pack connectors) as well as p/n for the pins. Place called Mouser had the connectors(3.47ea)+shipping. Found the pins at a couple different places but had to buy in bulk. Pico also make them. One place would sell them a piece at a time so I bought what I needed as well as a few extras. All for less that 40.00 inc shipping. Now instead of knocking my head against the wall I'm going to clip the wires at the plug, crimp on new ends, and install into new connector. Hope maybe this will help someone with a similar problem.

Good Job!

Originally Posted by twinboat

I have removed the pins many times.

First and important, grab the wire and push it into the connector and told it there.
From the other end, slide a test light probe or something simular in, along side the pin, ( not sure which side, there should be a grove on the wire side, to follow ), then pull the wire out.

If you pull the wire first, the tab duds into the plastic and you can't push the lock tab flat and it won't come out.

Sometimes the tabs get flat so check them befor replacing them.
I just pry them out before pushing them back in.

There is always a trick to make it easy, thanks for sharing, I will remember the push then pull.

[1996 Eagle]

Well finally got all the wires repaired with 3 layers of shrink sleeve and installed into the new housing. By golly it plugged right into the existing harness plug. Went to start it up and for some reason the oil pressure gauge decided not to work. Showed an open circuit somewhere. Cked the plug and tested good thru it. Went to the sensor and tested open. Go figure that. Replaced it and all works good. Hopefully I has prevented a possible fire in the future. Thanks for all the help. Now lets go on a trip!