How the heck do I pin this connector?

I’m trying to make a sub harnesses connector for swapping the black ac panel into my 07 taco. I’ve read the write ups and all that and know what I’m doing, but I’m having a strange issue. I simply cannot get the pins to go into the new connector.



I got these from eastern beaver like mentioned in the other popular post about this swap. It’s all new pins and all new nh025 connector from them. But they go like 1/4 of the way in and just full stop.

I even took the faceplate off thinking perhaps it’s help if I push on the hammers (the plastic locking tabs that hold the pins in place). But that didn’t help.

there’s also an obvious locking tab on the underside of the connector but lifting this to its maximum position also isn’t helping except for the first 1/4 that it goes in, as those locks are on the rear.





I even took a spare pin and pushed on the table thinking I wasn’t pushing hard enough was all (these pins are small and very easily break or bend) but that wasn’t it either. I’ve tried multiple pins in multiple slots and I can’t get a single one in. I know the pins oriented right bc of the little tab sticking up and the groove in the plastic piece (they can only be inserted in two orientations, but in only one way does the groove and tab line up, but I tried both just to be sure and nothing works).

I feel like I’m losing my mind. I’ve been at this for an hour. What’s the trick here? I can’t find a write up or video online. I’ve done plenty of de-pining and re-pining connectors before and never broke a sweat, but this one’s kicking my butt.

 

Are you sure the pins are correct for the connector body?

 

They appear to be yes, and they came with the connector in the same package.

 

Not sure then, they should go right in with it unlatched like that.

Maybe @caribe makaira has an idea.

 

Sometimes there is doing a thing to save a buck or two. Sometimes it may be cheaper to pay a professional.

 

I am a professional lol I work on vintage motorcycles for a living. Wiring and carburetors are my specialty. But old bikes don’t have these new fangled mini pin style connectors. Still the process shouldn’t be any different. idk wtf I’m doing wrong

 

I have not used these particular pins/shell, but I also can't quite see the pin details.
Can you provide an up-close (macro) photo of the different sides of the pins?
I am more concerned that the wires are not properly crimped to the pins.
I have attached a document showing how the crimps should look.

 

Are you sure any retention latches on the connector body are undone/opened? Those can sometimes be tricky in Toyotaworld.

 

So in a last ditch effort, I removed the lock completely.



Only to find the upper row of pins has to pass through the lock otherwise the lock can’t be reinstalled.



so idk but that ain’t it. The problem seems to be when the lock is in the unlocked position you don’t have a straight shot into the hole attached to the lock. So the square pass through hole in the lock doesn’t align with the square hole in the connector body. So you get stuck trying to pass through the lock. But obviously with the lock engaged you can’t pass through. And with it removed you can’t pass through. So wtf


also what crimper are you using for these? i dont usually work on stuff with pins this small. so i bought a crimper with a 1.6mm and 2.0mm on it, but the 2mm die doesnt fully crimp the back tabs so they wont fit in the connector, and the 1.6mm die keeps cutting my wire. granted im using 18 gauge, i thought i could get away with it by removing a few strands, i even did the proper math, or rather had AI do it for me after getting a stand count on my 18g wire:


1. Cross-sectional area of 18 AWG:
Approx. 0.823 mm²

2. Cross-sectional area of 20 AWG:
Approx. 0.519 mm²

3. Assume all 16 strands are equal in size
Then each strand in 18 AWG is:
0.823 mm² ÷ 16 ≈ 0.0514 mm² per strand

4. How many strands to match 20 AWG?
0.519 mm² ÷ 0.0514 mm² ≈ 10.1 strands

So you'd need to keep about 10 strands, and remove 6 strands.

But i still had to shave the insulation down to fit the connector holes anyhow so this is also a bad solution.

I'm going to order proper 20 gauge wire and re order my connectors and have another go at it. But im worried my crimper will continue to break the pins. I mic'd it at 1.6mm but i recon i need a 1.8 die?

 

Ok I finally got it. I think this is the most tedious thing I’ve ever had to do, and I work on carburetors for a living.



The trick was doing the bottom row without the lock on the connector at all, then install the lock and unlock it, once the locking tab is slightly cracked open I had to then put my screwdriver on the backside here:



And pry the locking tab towards the back of the connector like .25-.5mm. Then every top row pin slid right in like it’s supposed to.

important note: use 20g wire if you can. With probably a 1.7-1.8 die if you can. My 1.6 die would cut the 18g wire or break the terminal even after removing strand to effectively make it a 20g wire. And the 2.0 die was too large. The 2.0 die worked great but I did have to go back over about half of them with pliers to shape the pins a bit as they were just slightly too wide to fit down the hole. I also had to razor blade the insulation at the ends so it would fit down the hole on the mini connector.

what a nightmare. I have probably 5 hours in figuring that soab out. In hindsight I should’ve used longer wires. FYI the diagram on TW showing the pinouts shows a33 front facing, which is confusing bc it shows the other terminal pinouts rear facing. So I ended up having to weave more wires around than I thought so it made it very tight. One wire pulled some strands out trying to weave them into place, so I’m probably going to re order parts and redo the whole thing with longer wires this time.

hopefully this helps some other poor soul

 

For the pin and wire sizes you mention, I can recommend a couple of generic crimpers (low cost, prototype work).

Molex 0638111000, Digikey#WM9999-ND,
$73.85,
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0638111000/243789

Engineer PA-21, Amazon, $39.85,

$42 ENGINEER PA-21 Engineer Precision Crimping Pliers, Crimping Tool, Open Barrel, Long Barrel Terminal

https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-PA-21-Universal-Crimping-Pliers/dp/B002L6HJ8W

Note that all pins/sockets are made for a specific range of wire gauge along with a max insulation thickness.

 

Yeah I was surprised 18g wire didn’t work. Eastern Beavers website claimed these pins worked with 18-22g. the 18g seemed too fat. At first I thought maybe this was an issue with not using the proper sized die, but the 2.0mm die crimped it well, the pin was just too small to actually fold in on itself properly, which created other issues like not fitting in the plastic.

I didn’t have any 20g wire around but I tried with some 22g tinned wire I had. It was too small for the 2.0mm due to crimp it, and the 1.6 again just cut through it like it was doing the 18g with stands removed to a 20g.

so I think a 1.8 or 1.9 die would probably be best. Which makes the molex there a good option, I think I’ll buy that one, thanks!

do you have any more professional ones you’d recommend? I wouldn’t mind spending more for a nice crimper.