Ok, everyone can laugh but I really suck at electronic junk. So anyways, I was in the middle of switching to my tpi dual snorkle intake and it ocurred to me that I have to make that wire that plugs in to the air canister longer to fit into the snorkel. How do you do this? And what kind of wire do I need to make this sensor longer? Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Thanks if you can help!!!

 

I dont know how to do that either man , so dont feel bad at all . I'd like to know this to , b/c one day I know I will end up having to do it .

 

Cut original wire A. Take some wire of the same gauge, B, and insert between the two broken pieces of A. Preferably solder the pieces together.

 

You guys are dope as hell! Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to know!

 

if u dont wanna solder go to autozone and get connectors that u can crimp on ... thast easier i think...

its like a small tube wires go in both sides and it can be crimped using a wire crimp tool which is very handy

go to autozone and look ull understand what i mean

if u want to T connect they have a splicer that is like press fit and u geta connector that can be removed also ...

bottom line go to autozone or even walmart and look at the crimp stuff they have......

 

Preferably......more like mandatory. I would never ever splice a wire without soldering it.

EDIT: yeah, crimping will also work....but I personally dislike it.

 

crimping is not the best way out...

but if u have wire A going between 2 points and u dont wann cut it ..that crimp connector will allow ya to cnnect a wire B to it w/o having to cut wire A

thats how i make connections to my ECM in the car..like my custom made A/F gauge and other stuff i make

 

Be careful about those blue "splice" connectors! That metal blade you push in to cut thru the insulation will also cut through the center wire eventually. I had this happen to my tachometer. I used the blue splice connector that came with the tach... a kid I knew at the time told me that was a bad thing. I told him I'd see how it goes- and yep, he was right. One day, many years later (3? 4?) I was driving, and my car just stopped. I yanked into an empty parking lot, and looked around. Nothing visibly wrong. So after trying a few things, I started wiggling the harness wires to the coil. The car started up. I found that if I touched that blue splice connector with the car running, the car would stall.

Upon removing that blue splice connector, I found out that it eventually (due to engine vibration?) cut away all of the copper strands in that coil harness wire- except for two! Now that wire's soldered & heat-shrunk. However, I used a ton of these suckers when I installed my Viper (before I did my tach), and they're all doing fine. I think it has to do with the vibration of the engine compartment.

If you don't want to cut the original wire, and if you're careful, you can strip back a bit of the insulation of the original wire without cutting the copper. Take the exposed copper, and separate the strands so theres a hole in the center. Take the wire you're splicing in, and thread it through that hole, just like a needle. Then wrap the splicing wire around and around the main wire, and solder it up. That's about the best splice you can get.

Heat Shrink is available at Radio Shack. It's a small plastic tube that shrinks when it's heated. (Guess that was obvious, eh? ) You cut the tube to a length a bit longer than you'll make the connection (usually cut the tube to 3/4" or 1" long, longer is better), and slide it over one wire. Slide it FAR away from your soldering point!! Otherwise, the heat from the soldering will shrink the tube and you won't get it over the join.

When your solder cools, then you can slide the heat shrink over the connection. If you don't wait for that joint to cool completely, a bad thing happens- as you slide the heat shrink over, one end will suddenly shrink as it hits the still-hot (or even warm!) solder joint, and you'll be screwed; the shrink won't go over the joint. You'll have to either re-do the solder job by cutting out what you've done (and then replace that heat shrink with a new piece), or, cut it off carefully with a blade knife, and use electrical tape. Remember to always slide the heat shrink onto the wires first!!

Another thing- if you ever strip a wire from a wiring harness in the engine bay, you might notice the copper isn't very shiny underneath the insulation, and the strands feel very coarse. This is due to corrosion that got inside the insulation. Flatten the copper strands out, and gently slide a fine-grit (I dunno, I guess 600 or 400?) sandpaper over them. This will remove the corrosion, and make it much much easier to solder the wire.

And one more while I'm at it- if you use a butt connector to join two wires, this is also an accepted method. Buy a pack of the non-insulated butt connectors. Crimp them onto the wire (slide your heat shrink on FIRST!). Then use your soldering iron to solder each end of the butt connector to the wires that go into it. Then cover the whole piece with heat shrink.

After wrapping a join, and before soldering, if the twisted wires look too "thick", I'll usually give 'em a squeeze with pliers.

 

Where you want to go for your parts if you want to crimp is a store that sells marine type electrical stuff (Home Depot even has that sort of stuff here) such as a West Marine or BOAT US etc. Get the butt connectors with heat shrink on them, the correct size for your wire gauge (blue for16 -14, red for 18, yellow for 10 - 12). Also get a set of real crimpers, not the ones that also have bolt cutters and strippers built in. A good choice would be the Anchor ones. If you use this stuff, you are unlikely to have crimp problems. The wire (tinned) is also available in these places. I would look at Radio Shack as a last resort for this kind of thing.
None of this is to talk you out of soldering. The good heatshrink, by the way, has a meltable glue coating inside which seals the connection even better.

Avoid the "trailer wire" connectors discussed above like the plague!

 

i have a tpi dual snorkel too, but i havent switched my sensor over yet either. i still have it hooked up to the stock airbox. its bin about a month and ive had no problems with it. does it have to be done or can it be left alone?

 

are ya guys talking about the IAT ...??

GM Went from dual snorkkel (which was used on v8's too)to single coffee can ...i wonder why...

 

It's a MAT for 3rd gen cars, IAT for fourth gen, but anyway...

As long as the sensor is reading a temperature that's close to the intake air temp, it's fine. All the Firebird's with port fuel injection (since '85) had that coffee can on the side; the hood slopes too low for the dual-snorkel. Maybe GM decided to save $$ and put the side intake on everything?

 

a few more notes on soldering...

Use a rosin core solder... acid core solder and some fluxes are corrosive. Use rosin core solder, and a good paste flux, then when the joint is cooled CLEAN the connection with a solvent and a toothbrush, then heat shrink it.

Also heat shrink tubing is available almost anywhere... Hardware stores are my favorite places to get it. Its available in all sizes and colors.

The only time I use crimp connectors is when I'm in a tight space where a soldering iron isn't feasible (like behind the radio)...

 

Haha, I'm one of those idiots that solders the radio in at the wiring harness. Do they even sell acid-core solder anymore? I thought it was replaced by rosin flux?