the guy before me jimi rigged the fuel gauge wire set up, so I am needing to replace a portion of it, but am unsure as to what size wire I need. I can barely get my big hands under there, so it is hard for me to really tell what size that wire is. does anyone know?

 

Define jimi rigged.

 

I think it's like "jury-rigged" and "jerry-rigged," but with a different guy...

Anyway, the wire's 18 gauge.

- Eric

 

used a butt splice, and just done shitty

 

Does the fuel gauge work or what is it doing? A butt splice is an accepted method of repair.

 

I would have used jury rigged as the term, but that implies that it might have worked. I used jimmi rigged because that means it will not work.

and thank you for the wire gauge

 

I would agree it would work if it was done right, but barley any isolation is taken off of it, and it was not crimped completely. I can get it to work for a moment now when I push the wire back into the splice, but it wont hold, I need to replace it, and I dont think there is enough wire to really do it right, so I need to get some extra and extend it.

 

Ah, now I understand.

 

A soldered butt splice is an accepted method of repair.

A crimped butt splice is not, especially on a wire that runs outside in the weather.




- Eric

 

Its not any different than a crimped ring terminal, a crimp is a crimp. I just put shrink over it.

 

Exactly. Which is why I solder all of those.

- Eric

 

I don't, but I don't use $hit terminals either.

 

That's a different story. If you use very good terminals, and a high quality specialized crimping tool, you can achieve the quality that GM achieved when they made these cars, which doesn't seem to develop increased resistance until 20 or 30 years down the line.

BUT, most people will not use good quality parts and equipment, and soldered connections will retain their low resistance connections essentially forever.

I'd caution the inexperienced that their crimped connections would probably not be as durable or pass as much current as a soldered connection.

- Eric