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Age, plastics, and electrical lines

Well, TFrog is back from the shop.

When turning the key to ON, no sound from the fuel pump. No fuel pump, no start. I'd have thought it was one of two things - either the fuel pump crapped out or the fuse link was bad. But, no, mechanic traced it back to a corroded section of wire and spliced in a new piece. TFrog is fine.

Except TFrog is not fine. It's coming up on 16 years now, and I have to wonder about the state of its electronics in general. I know that rubber tends to deteriorate over time (bushings, wire coatings, weatherstripping, etc.), and I suspect that wiring may one day become a cascading issue. How do you guys with the REALLY old Mustangs deal with the electronics? I suppose a harness can be replaced, but there are wires throughout the car from bow to stern. Should I worry?

Meanwhile, it was nice to see that TFrog is still firmly planted at 100mph. (Couldn't help myself.) While the convertible is no slouch, TFrog is just much quicker, much easier to throw into the turns, and a flat-out joy to drive. I always forget how much I miss it when it's out of action...

dwight

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dwight
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The only wires that I've had any trouble with yet are under the hood, I have to assume because of petroleum based fluids and heat. I have one ign wire that needs to be replaced right now.

Reply to
WindsorFo

I'll add to this there were a couple of those hard plastic vac lines that I had to replace with rubber hoses because they got brittle and cracked into pieces.

Reply to
WindsorFo

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:53:27 -0400, dwight rearranged some electrons to say:

My 40-year old Torino has had very little problems with wiring going bad. I have only replaced a few sections under the hood, and I rewired the taillights so I could put some new sockets in the fixtures. Everything else is original. Wire insulation has not been made of rubber since the

50's... in auotmotive use it's either PTFE (Teflon) or more likely PVC (poly vinyl chloride).
Reply to
david

My 64 tbirds wires were basically all original. the areas that cause problems are places that get really hot, like under the hood and esp close to the engine, and some of the crimped connections and switch contacts. The wires themselves generally seem to hold up fairly well if you don't start pulling and bending them too much. I'm working on the tbird replacement now, 69 firebird, and it's pretty much the same, the bad wire is pretty much just the parts near the really hot stuff and the insulation cooks and cracks. The real problem in this car was that the water that got into it corroded the fuse block really bad so I bought a new harness. When I had the 88 and 90 Fox GTs a couple years ago the wires were still ok in them.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Well, you and David have reassured me. I'll rest easy.

I suspect that this particular wire may have become corroded in part because of a prior heater core leak. This passes through a grommet that would likely have radiator fluid dripped on it.

Thanks, guys.

dwight

Reply to
dwight

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:08:55 -0400, dwight rearranged some electrons to say:

Yep, that would do it.

Reply to
david

I found the ground connector for the computer over by the batttory 1993 5.0 lx, was all corroded, and was making the car die while driving and other wierd stuff. I cut out the connector and soldered the wires together. Runs OK now. Getting new motor mounts put on now. They lasted to 145K miles, not bad.

8# KB on a 1993 ex cop car, very fast for around town.

Reply to
maryk

do you know where the line was corroded?

dont worry too much I have had no problems at all, (except the acid eaten connector)

Reply to
maryk

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