craigslist welder smoked my main wiring harness

in the name of saving time i hired a welder off of craigslist to burn out the rivets for my BAMF rear leaf hangers. haha i know everyone is gonna tell me it was a big mistake, and well IT WAS A BIG MISTAKE. He burned my main wiring harness that runs down the drivers side of the bed and he charred the casing on the wiring harness on the other side of the bed. All of the electronics on the truck work and there are only small bits of copper exposed on one or two wires, but im sure when the rain comes the issues will start to show up.

Im not going to try and put it back on the welder because he was a good guy who needs a break, so now im trying to see what my options are. Ive been speaking with Toyota and it looks to be a 3500 dollar fix and my insurance would cover it. what other options do i have?

 

It’s just copper, no sense in replacing a wire harness. Learn to solder if you not already know, cut that chunk of wire out and replace the wires. Be sure to use heat shrink on your work. When it’s all done replace the split wire loom with new stuff, put a little electrical tape across the loom. Doneski.

 

Assuming the truck is currently operating correctly? I guess you could electrical tape it up... run it until it stops working. Then either get the harness replaced or splice in replacements for the damaged wires.

Sux though. Good luck!

 

Covering it up with tape is a bad idea. You don’t want the wires to short on each other, you don’t know what the wires are for and what could happen if they short.

 

Replace that section of wire as someone else above described. I wouldn't drive it at all. Fix that right away before things get worse.

 

I was thinking that covering up the exposed copper (and all wires) with heat shrink would be good enough and heat shrinking everything together within the harness would be okay. The truck currently runs fine, but will be driving through snow and creeks and whatnot

 

If it were ME...I'd either have a chat with the welder or turn it in to my insurance.

Have it repaired correctly, i.e., the harness replaced. If you've EVER owned a vehicle where some dumb-ass has "Mickey-Moused" your wiring harness and you constantly chase electrical problems with your vehicle...you're going to "hating life".

Fix it correctly.

Ed

 

Wiring is cooked on the one, loom only by the look on the other.
On the cooked side, remove be the loom 12" either side of the burn. Working one wire at a time, cut the burned section out at least 1" beyond the charred area and solder in a replacement section. Cover each splice with appropriate sized marine grade heat shrink (with adhesive).
Try to stagger the splices as not to build too much bulk in the harness by putting them all in one spot.

Or, get it replaced under insurance.

 

Use liquid electrical tape and heat shrink you be good to go

 

Cut out the burnt wire and splice with new same gauge wire?

 

If I replace the harness myself does anyone know how to get cheapish harnesses? The main harness is 1100 from toyota

 

Junk yard.

 

Cover and insulate the exposed wires wire loom over the harness in the damaged areas .

Wait till a good used harness is to be had replace as needed .

 

Car-parts.com will show you junk yard inventories

 

Look like you learned your lesson the hard way. I would not trust any "welder" from craigslist.

 

I'd grab a Deutsch connector (autosport if you're fancy, DTM or something if you're cheap), cut out the damage, pin everything, and install a connector there. Other than having to work under the truck it wouldn't be that bad unless there's too much to cut out and not enough slack.

 

haha truth, I thought that because there was no actual welding involved I would be safe

 

I meant tape each individual wire up and then the bundle. Shouldn't have any shorting issue with that method. I think the only risk would be either increased resistance due to the lack of copper left, or them eventually breaking completely.

 

If it were me I would try to get the harness replaced and not just do a patch job. Vehicles these days have SO MANY electronics and gremlins that go along with it that I would be concerned with problems coming up later if you did a patch. Fix it right the first time for the peace of mind and so that you don't have to worry about issues in the long run.

 

Splicing in new wire is more than a correct way to fix this. Replacing a whole harness because of some charred wire is way overkill. I’ve worked in aircraft for years and even by FAA standards, what I described above is a proper repair. Nothing “Mickey-Moused” about it.

OP, you can replace the whole harness at a considerable expense, then go through the whole length of the harness and fight with every clip that’s tucked in some crazy place, every plug, etc... then you will have something that resembles new that’s super expensive and a ton of work. OR... you can splice the wires correctly and after a couple days you’ll forget anything ever happened. Just don’t cover it up as is, you’re asking for trouble.