1. Home
  2. Subaru Cars Forum
  3. Chewed wires + help identifying a part

Chewed wires + help identifying a part

2004 WRX.

I opened the hood to check the fluid levels and found leaves and pine needles resting on a part. Then I noticed a completely severed wire. A later inspection yielded a chewed cover over some ground wires - about 8 wires merged to the same connector bolted to the throttle body.

Yep - it was a mouse.

The ground wires seem to be in decent shape. Only a couple are exposed and I figure they can be easily patched.

I don't know exactly how to describe the first wire I noticed cut. It's located on the part just next to the alternator - to the right when looking from the front. The wire is gray with a plastic snap-in connector that goes to a wire leading to the wiring harness. The other end dissapears behind a plastic tab. Any idea what this does and how this might be repaired?

I checked a local Subaru dealer, and they said the wires were only available as a complete harness. If there's more damage, I might just go to my insurance company.

Reply to
y_p_w
Loading thread data ...

It sounds like you are describing the wiring for the air conditioning compressor.

True, Subaru will not sell you a partial harness or just the connectors. You might be able to get what you need from a wreck in a junkyard but I think if you're asking what the parts in the engine are you probably wouldn't be fixing this yourself.

Reply to
mulder

I'm thinking of fixing it myself. The ground wire bundle looks fairly easy to do with some high quality electrical tape (I heard 3M Super 33+ will do the trick) to cover the exposed insulation, and some heat shrink tubing to seal the bundle.

I'm not so sure about the wire on what you say is likely the compressor. It's knawed at several places along the length of the wire and severed almost right at the connector. There's not enough length to splice it. I'm thinking of attaching a new wire to the connector, and splicing it to the length of wire there now. I'm not sure this is possible though, although this may be some sort of standard connector. I'm not sure if this is a ground or a control wire. The other end seems to be really hard to reach, even though I can see where it goes. It's wedged really tight.

Reply to
y_p_w

I'm kinda buried at work today, but if you can wait til this evening, I'll snap you a bunch of pictures of the area on my wife's

04 WRX and email them to you.

-jim

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Oh - I have pictures.

Compressor wire:

Yes - it was the compressor. I have no A/C right now, although it's not a big deal in the winter. There's still a pine needle in the picture.

Ground harness:

Reply to
y_p_w

I'm sorry. I quickly read your post before I had my coffee and I thought you needed to know *where* the wires go. That's pretty clear from the pictures.

I'd not bother with an insurance claim. I think there would be too much trouble and risk that changing the harness would break something else.

The ground wire is easy. Just wrap it with some high-temperature electrical tape. I have a 3m product that's part teflon and part plastic good for something like 400 degrees C. I'll send you a partial roll if you like. Unfortunately, the color is white.

The compressor switch is a little harder. I'd pull off the connector that was on the flying lead and try to trim back the plastic until I could find some copper. Solder a new wire onto the copper, slather on some RTV or epoxy then apply headshrink tubing. Splice the end of the new wire to the old wire and tape or heatshrink. It looks like you'd have to tape it because there's not enough room for heatshrink. Alternately use a buttsplice.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.