Valve cover gasket - 3.4 v6 Damaged wiring harness solution

So decided to add this info here because I couldn’t find a solution when I was changing
my valve cover gaskets.

When changing the valve cover gaskets the wiring harness gets pulled and tugged on
trying to get the valve covers off the engine.

The wire harnesses are now coming up on 20 some years old on these trucks which means
the plastic is getting brittle and breaks very easily depending on how many miles you have.

One side of my wiring harness, the drivers side that sits under the supercharger is completely
broken and falling apart with the added heat.
The passage side there are cracks and the taps to bolt the harness are both broken.

So my solution was as follows.

The drivers side I got heat resistant wiring loom and then use the high heat resistant tape made by Tesa and taped up all the areas on the harness.

The passenger side I taped the remaining plastic heat shield from the OEM shield giving it extra protection and strength.

Then I used the Napa loom clamps that fit perfectly to hold down the wiring harness on both sides as shown.

The passenger side I bought new plastic loom wire because the original was completely broken and wrapped it with the tape.
Passenger side I was able to wrap the original wire loom as it was still intact.
Make sure the new wiring loom fits in the new metal wire brackets.

The passenger metal wire bracket will need to be bent down or hit with a hammer gently after installing it to clear the throttle body lower section

It looks great, has all the heat protection now and both sides are secure.

The Tesa wiring harness tape is one of the best heat resistant 300 degrees ratings tapes available.
“Tesa 51026“
BEWARE OF FAKE TESA TAPE THAT DOES NOT STICK WELL

Product description
Product Features tesa® 51026 is a PET cloth wire harness tape with an acrylic adhesive. Major Features: High temperature resistance 150°C/3000h
(300 degrees) High abrasion resistance Color: Black Main Applications tesa® 51026 is designed for the engine compartment, providing high abrasion protection.

A comparison is black electric tape is rated at 180 degrees compared to Tesa heat resistant tape at 300 degrees. Tesa tape is NOT used for electrical purposes.

 

Good job and nice fix. I will have to look into that tape. Where did you get the tape from?

 

eBay, Tesa 51026 tape was 13.00 or so

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tesa-51026-Highest-Quality-Heat-Proof-Engine-Compartment-Wiring-Tape-used-by/302942808290?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Very cool

 

I love It! that’s fuckin genius, I’ll be doing my valve cover gaskets too I’ll be sure to post up my pics. My harness on one side broke and no way the dealer is getting me to buy a new plastic harness thats 20 or so yrs old, lol. That’s a clean fix, it looks like top secret aircraft style is in your blood, you made Toyota your b****.

 

Amazon has it for 12.49 w/prime.

 

hm, thinking new corrugated loom, electric tape THEN the high temp tape.

 

Sorry to revive this semi-old thread. How flexible is the Tesa tape? The harness in the engine bay on my old Acura TL is falling apart and plan on re-taping it.

 

It’s pretty flexible and is made for wire harnesses.

 

I had done something similar with 3/4" loom. I'll get a roll of that tape next time I'm under the sc

 

You will definitely love this tape and wish you had found it sooner like me

 

Did you use 3/4" ID wire loom @1997tacomav6 ?

 

should it cause any problems if just left broken and loose?

i did not see any before pics of what it looks like broken under supercharger

 

Generally not a good idea to let wires be exposed and not secured. A considerable amount of heat is concentrated there and the engine is constantly shifting. That's why Toyota went through great lengths to cover them. It serves as abrasion and heat protection. I installed Tesa tape when I did my VC job, and it has held up just fine (coming up on 2 years).

 

I believe so

 

This is awesome, I'm doing my injectors and valve cover gaskets tomorrow and I'm taping my looms like this. Thanks for the suggestion on Tesa Tape, it's the first I've heard of it. Do you remember what size bolts you used? I noticed one of the bolts is missing on the front right.

 

The bolts were the stock ones I used that hold the new wire loom brackets on.

 

The valleys on your engine are so clean you could cook your tomato bisque in there!

 

Ah, guess I'll make a trip to Ace Hardware once I get it apart. Those bolts on yours look aftermarket!

 

I don’t actually remember, maybe I did get some aftermarket bolts that were a hair longer because of the wire loom bracket thickness but don’t remember mmm don’t think so.