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If you are excited by the challenge of installing a new wiring harness, as Ed Colbeth obviously is, go for it.
On my 250K 87 wagon, there were clearly only four wires that were bad, the four coming out of the large connector mounted on the firewall. The other 30 or so wires in the harness were OK. Whoever manufactured those four wires, cooked up a bad batch of insulation, or several bad batches, between 1982 and 1987. It is either that or a design flaw in that large grey connector. I know from repairing an old Kenmore washing machine, that if an electrical connection is marginal, the insulation on the wire coming off this connection will dry out and crack.
I was able to replace the two short wires, using a "pull thru" technique. The two long ones, which run under the front of the engine into the alternator area, I replaced by running two new wires across the firewall and up along the passenger side fender. I split open a six foot piece of thin, black, rubber hose and pushed these two wires inside this hose for protection and appearance. I also replaced the "suspect" grey connector with four insulated, spade type connectors. All this took about four man hours, about $ 10 of materials and a little soldering. This was about eight months ago and the wagon is still running fine.
In all honesty, I must admit that before this, I replaced a starter motor that probably did not need replacing. When that starter motor kicks in while you are driving 30 mph, it makes one hell of a noise.
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