Old wiring

[caddycat]

I have a 1985 Cadillac Deville that is having trouble with the fuel injectors wiring. One injector had to be wired into the other injectors wiring in order for it to work. The mechanic said the car should be rewired but didnt know who to send me to. Does anyone know if this is a costly procedure?

 

[Aaron J Williams]

Could you take the engine wiring harness off of a junkyard car and use it to replace your harness? I would think that would be cheaper than building a new one from scratch.

 

[caddycat]

possible distributor problem?

After thinking about what was going on when the car started acting up again, I remember I took the car through the car wash. The mechanic thinks now maybe the distributor got wet and theres nothing I can do about that. I cant go without a car every time the distributor gets wet. Do you have any suggestions? I would think the distributor cap should prevent any water leakage.

 

[Aaron J Williams]

When we build demo derby cars we put a bead of RTV silicone around the bottom of the distributor cap where it meets the distributor and use dielectric grease on both ends of the plug wires to seal out moisture. You could also put dielectric grease on all the wiring harness connectors going to the distributor.

 

[caddycat]

not the wiring

So far the mechanic has done the following:
1. Repaired a loose grounding connection-a common problem with this car
2. replaced the map sensor
3.new battery- went bad while diagnostics for map sensor was being done
4. new starter- " "
5. heater core replaced
6. Tune up
7. rewired the fuel injectors back to the original state using same wires
8. Found back fuel injector fuse and replaced

Now the car dies rarely when at a stop. Will hestitate at 70 mph and will die unless I am feeding gas. When these things happen I smell gas. Any suggestions?

 

[caddycat]

addendum

The problem now only happens when it rains or the car goes through the car wash.

 

[bufordtpisser]

Since it only happens...................

The problem now only happens when it rains or the car goes through the car wash.

Since it only happens when wet, I would get a few cans of silicon wire sealer and spray the hell out of all of the engine compartment wiring. I had similar issues with a 1983 Edlorado, and after the third can of the sealer was applied, the problem went away and never came back. I had the car for an additional 3 years and would have had it longer if they had not given me such a great trade in value towards a 1992 T-Bird. You could also try replacing the entire engine compartment wiring harness with one from a salvage car, just make sure to check out the harness really well before you install it.

 

[caddycat]

The problem has been solved by applying dielectric grease to the distributor connections. It cost only $2 and about 15 minutes of my time. I didnt do this when first suggested because my mechanic was certain it wouldnt help. I should have done it anyway. I think I will go ahead and spray the wires with silicone wire sealer for good measure. Thanks for the help.