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Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

posted by  Jesse B on  Wed Sep 23 01:49 CST 2009
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last visit: Fri Oct 24 11:47 CST 2014
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Hi all,

The wiring harness in my '82 242DL looks good up near the fire wall, but a wire near the alternator looks a bit crusty. It rests right near the oil filter. I'm wondering if it's safe to carefully wrap it in electrical tape for the time being, to protect it. It seems like it would be easy to damage when trying to remove the oil filter.

Jesse








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    Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

    posted by  CARLOS DE LA CAPLOCK on  Mon Sep 28 01:52 CST 2009
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    I HAD A FRIEND THAT OWNED A SAAB INDY SHOP.....

    WAS SOP TO RUN A SEPARATE GROUND WIRE FROM THE ALTERNATOR TO A GROUND LOCATION ON THE BLOCK.....ON THE 900 MODELS(ROUGHLY IN LINE WITH THE 2OO SERIES VOLVOS--YEAR WISE)......

    SOMETIMES HE'D USE THE REGULAR LOCATION FOR THE GROUND ON THE ALTERNATOR, SOMETIMES HE'D JUST USE WHATEVER SCREW HOLE THAT WAS 'OPEN' ON THE BACK OF THE ALTERNATOR....

    HE WASN'T REAL PARTICULAR WHICH SCREW(OR NUT) HE USED ON THE ENGINE EITHER...HE JUST MADE SURE IT WAS A GOOD HEAVY GAUGE WIRE AND WELL CRIMPED AND SOLDERED ON BOTH CONNECTION ENDS.....
    --CARLOS








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    Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

    posted by  NewMexico240 on  Sun Sep 27 03:13 CST 2009
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    Hello Jessie,
    Is the wire one that gounds on the engine at the same area?
    or
    Is the wire one that runs under the belt pullies then runs
    up on the driver side of the engine?

    That may help us help out.

    Joseph in New Mexico








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      Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

      posted by  Jesse B on  Sun Sep 27 10:06 CST 2009
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      It's the wires that ground on the engine block.

      Thanks for your help!

      Jesse








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        Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

        posted by  Onkel Udo II on  Sun Sep 27 18:03 CST 2009
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        last visit: Fri Oct 24 08:50 CST 2014
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        If it is the ground wire...that is any easy fix. Your electrical tape is OK, but the oil will make it come off soon. The wire doesn't go very far and on my '81 it a standard sized spade plug and a large ring terminal on the other end. Making a new wire does not cost much or take much time...trust me, for that age of car it is an important fix because:

        Rant # 36: Most people don't even realize a Volvo has a seperate ground wire for the alternator but because the alternator is isolated from the engine by rubber bushings, the ground wire is essential. It tends to fail inside the ring terminal from a combination of vibration, oil and corrosion. It looks perfectly fine, but the wire will pull right out of the ring terminal which means your ground is intermitent.

        Do you really want another troubleshooting headache down the road. I have had two of these fail and the first one cost me dearly to diagnose (new regulator/brush pack, rebuilt alternator, battery, lots of time troubleshooting). The second time it happenned the fix took 30 minutes, most of it spend finding the stuff I needed in my disorganized garage.

        On kel Udo








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          Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

          posted by  transit wind on  Sun Sep 27 19:20 CST 2009
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          last visit: Fri Aug 15 22:40 CST 2014
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          I also had my ground wire break one time on the way camping. My speedometer read slow and if I remember right the instrument cluster lights where doing something funky. I taped it together and made it home that weekend.

          I just pulled a ground wire off another donor car.








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    Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

    posted by  P1800nut on  Sat Sep 26 17:18 CST 2009
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    last visit: Sat May 31 23:05 CST 2014
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    You might consider brush-on electrical tape (a rubber coating that comes in a small can with a brush). I imagine it would be neater and might last better than electrical tape, though I've not tried using it in high-temp areas.








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    Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

    posted by  Kascca on  Wed Sep 23 01:59 CST 2009
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    last visit: Sat Sep 8 19:19 CST 2012
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    Where does the wire terminate? This will determine your best course of action IMO. If it terminates in the block near the oil filter then this is your oil sender wire and could be wrapped without repercussion. If this terminates at the back of the alternator then replacement of the rotting section would be the most prudent course of action since this will negatively affect your charging performance.








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      Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

      posted by  transit wind on  Sat Sep 26 19:53 CST 2009
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      last visit: Fri Aug 15 22:40 CST 2014
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      Both my 83 and 86 had bad wiring to the alternator. On my 86 a mechanic rewired it by routing a new wire to the grey connector at the fire wall. The wire was routed to the passenger fender and then up along the firewall instead of in front of the engine.

      I recall him telling me the only other option was to replace the harness and he put some astronomical figure up in the air. The alternative sounded like a much cheaper solution. He still charged me a pretty penny to wrap a regular wire with electrical tape and crimp it to the nearly bare wire at the grey connector. Its all about selling it as a difficult job isn't? These mechanics always making up for losses on the hard jobs.








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        Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

        posted by  Jesse B on  Sun Sep 27 02:05 CST 2009
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        last visit: Fri Oct 24 11:47 CST 2014
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        IPD even sells kits to do that, and I'm tempted, but I don't know which wire to cut into on the plug at the firewall. All the wire going into that plug look good. The ones near the alternator look like frayed speaker wire, and at the very least, I'm worried about oil spilling on them.








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        Rotting Wire Near Alternator - Coat with Electrical Tape? 200 1982

        posted by  zima on  Sun Sep 27 01:44 CST 2009
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        last visit: Thu Nov 3 20:02 CST 2011
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        As my old mechanic would probably say... It's not the length of wire. it's knowing WHICH wire. And knowing which wire is one reason why we're all here.

        So how much was that wire??







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