Major problems, need advice! - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

RonRdRcr · 02-10-2005, 01:46 AM

Ok, so I get into the truck today and go to start it. Smoke started filling the cab and I took the key out immediately. I discovered that one of the wires for the radio had completely burned through itself and 2 other wires, one of which goes to the starter. So now the truck will not start and I have a lot of burnt wiring. I was going to just replace the burnt wires, but then the wife said she would let me buy a whole new wiring kit for it. So I'm looking around and found the following choices that look pretty good to me. The first is from E-Z wiring, #EZ-21 Here is there description:

Our EZ 21 pre-wired fuse block will wire your car from headlight's to taillight's. It features 18 fuses and 21 circuits. The circuits are Radio, Coil, Dome Lights, Headlights, Horn, Power Door Locks, Cig Lighter, Wiper Switch, Elect. Fuel Pump, Gauges, Hazard Lights, Power Windows, AC/Heat, Elect. Fan, Backup/Cruise, Radio, Turn Signal.

It also Includes Horn Relay and Connector, Turn and Hazard Signals, Dimmer Switch Connector, Circuit Breaker for Headlights, 2 Flashers, 1 Alternator Plug, 2 Ignition Switch
Connectors Plus more.
Price: $165

www.ezwiring.com

Only thing is I don't know the warranty on this one.

This other one I found is from Keep it clean wiring.

http://www.keepitcleanwiring.com/det...o?itemid=KICKB

Price $149.95

This one has a limited lifetime warranty
WIRING MADE SIMPLE! The Hoffman Group's Keep It Clean heavy duty 32 terminal system w/ loom wire & steering wheel column pigtail kit offers an easy to install design and expandability for future growth. Keep It Clean wiring systems use only the highest quality wire and parts resulting in the ultimate wire system. To make installation and future wiring easier all wire is color coded and labeled. Kit comes complete with wire all parts need to wire up your vehicle. Keep It Cleans Ultra small design makes it ideal for all applications. Kit includes all componets needed including steering wheel pigtail, all wire looms, connectors, and terminals! Detail instruction insure quick and pain free installation. Backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Give me some opinions guys, this will be my first rewire of a vehicle so if any of you have done this and have some helpful tips, please share.
Thanks

Ron

dyingdeadman · 02-10-2005, 02:27 AM

alot of people have real good look with painless wireing

jhow66 · 02-10-2005, 02:55 AM

Used the EZ in the last rewire (1950 Ford Street Rod from scratch). Easy to use with diagrams-each wire labeled the full length.

**VetteVet** · 02-10-2005, 03:13 AM

I echo DDM on the painless wiring harness. I know several people who have used their products and all of them have been very satisfied.
If you replace the harness you are going to learn a lot about your truck since you will be going into every part of it. The routing goes under the floor, along the frame and inside the dash so it will be time consuming but rewarding IMO. It might be advantageous for you to find the short that caused your problem even though a new harness may fix that I would sure hate to go to all that trouble and have the same thing happen because of an internal short in the radio or the starter.
My .02
Vettevet

Russell · 02-10-2005, 03:40 AM

Don't let the wiring scare you

Its really not too tough! Just take care with all of your connections, and check everything 4 times over before you hook the battery up. I agree with VetteVet, check to see if there was a short in the stereo, starter or something before you hook em back up.

Also, consider yourself very lucky! Your truck could easily have burnt down due to this, infact I know of a guy on another forum who's truck just burnt down becuase of blotched wiring...

dyingdeadman · 02-10-2005, 03:51 AM

i was just thinging about this. with any type of radio or amp install, make sure you have an inline fuse. had a amp installed that I didnt put an inline fuse on and the wire got nicked on something, i didnt notice, but that wire shorted out burned all the way from the battery though the dash and almost up to the amp before i caught it. all kinds of smoke. burned several important wires. had to do a little rewiring on that one.

RonRdRcr · 02-10-2005, 03:14 PM

The problem was the po had wired the stereo directly to the battery with no inline fuses. It appears the ground wire was laying over the ignition wire under the dash and that is why the truck will not start now, it melted that wire also.

jhow66
What is the warranty on the EZ harness you purchased?

Huskerboy2 · 02-10-2005, 03:48 PM

Somebody's got a 18 circuit painless wiring kit for sale on the parts board right now.

jhow66 · 02-10-2005, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonRdRcr

The problem was the po had wired the stereo directly to the battery with no inline fuses. It appears the ground wire was laying over the ignition wire under the dash and that is why the truck will not start now, it melted that wire also.

jhow66
What is the warranty on the EZ harness you purchased?

Never did notice--see no reason it would not last as long or longer then original.

meathead95 · 02-10-2005, 05:16 PM

you might check out www.gmcpauls.com i have heard alot of good things about the m&h kit he sells

Mel Foye · 02-10-2005, 05:48 PM

Might be a good time to add MAD's starter selnoid set up. Mel

GreyHoundSteve · 02-10-2005, 06:08 PM

I redid my harness with a painless one and im very happy with it. It comes with many late model revisions and gives you alot of room to add things later as your needs change. I was also able to get it through a local O'reileys at a very good price. Someone on the parts board is selling one too, might be worth a look.

rustyold72 · 02-10-2005, 06:47 PM

I got the m&h harness, looks like the original (if that's important to you) seems to be a good quality harness, the Painless would be fine too if you don't care if it looks original

BubbaGreen · 02-10-2005, 09:46 PM

I have used both painless and M&H. Both have there +/-....If you just want to put things back to somewhat original, go with M&H. If you want to add a little more and dont mind spending time studying the wiring, what it does, where it goes, then I suggest painless.
M&H will come with all the stock plugs and connectors.
Painless won't. I really like the TXL wire that painless uses, but if you go with there 67-72 kit, the fuse box (is great) but wont fit the stock cut out. I have made custom wiring harnesses as well, all the way to include TBI/TPI for these trucks. Its not that difficult, but understanding the basics is a great help.

72402 · 02-10-2005, 11:38 PM

If you want a good quality, economical wiring harness, the EZ Wiring system is the way to go. It is, however, a universal harness. If you want the original look, I think the M&H harness has the original style plugs and connectors. Frank

02-10-2005, 01:46 AM	#1
RonRdRcr Are we there yet? Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lakeland, FL Posts: 205	Major problems, need advice! Ok, so I get into the truck today and go to start it. Smoke started filling the cab and I took the key out immediately. I discovered that one of the wires for the radio had completely burned through itself and 2 other wires, one of which goes to the starter. So now the truck will not start and I have a lot of burnt wiring. I was going to just replace the burnt wires, but then the wife said she would let me buy a whole new wiring kit for it. So I'm looking around and found the following choices that look pretty good to me. The first is from E-Z wiring, #EZ-21 Here is there description: Our EZ 21 pre-wired fuse block will wire your car from headlight's to taillight's. It features 18 fuses and 21 circuits. The circuits are Radio, Coil, Dome Lights, Headlights, Horn, Power Door Locks, Cig Lighter, Wiper Switch, Elect. Fuel Pump, Gauges, Hazard Lights, Power Windows, AC/Heat, Elect. Fan, Backup/Cruise, Radio, Turn Signal. It also Includes Horn Relay and Connector, Turn and Hazard Signals, Dimmer Switch Connector, Circuit Breaker for Headlights, 2 Flashers, 1 Alternator Plug, 2 Ignition Switch Connectors Plus more. Price: $165 www.ezwiring.com Only thing is I don't know the warranty on this one. This other one I found is from Keep it clean wiring. http://www.keepitcleanwiring.com/det...o?itemid=KICKB Price $149.95 This one has a limited lifetime warranty WIRING MADE SIMPLE! The Hoffman Group's Keep It Clean heavy duty 32 terminal system w/ loom wire & steering wheel column pigtail kit offers an easy to install design and expandability for future growth. Keep It Clean wiring systems use only the highest quality wire and parts resulting in the ultimate wire system. To make installation and future wiring easier all wire is color coded and labeled. Kit comes complete with wire all parts need to wire up your vehicle. Keep It Cleans Ultra small design makes it ideal for all applications. Kit includes all componets needed including steering wheel pigtail, all wire looms, connectors, and terminals! Detail instruction insure quick and pain free installation. Backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Give me some opinions guys, this will be my first rewire of a vehicle so if any of you have done this and have some helpful tips, please share. Thanks Ron

02-10-2005, 02:27 AM	#2
dyingdeadman Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san marcos,tx Posts: 266	alot of people have real good look with painless wireing __________________ 72 GMC sierra 3/4 ton 402 bb 68 GMC 3/4 ton 2010 camaro rs: daily driver

02-10-2005, 02:55 AM	#3
jhow66 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Knoxville Tenn. Posts: 3,058	Used the EZ in the last rewire (1950 Ford Street Rod from scratch). Easy to use with diagrams-each wire labeled the full length. __________________ 56 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr. HT (purchased new) 71 Chevy Cheyenne SWB PU (502HO) 65 GMC short bed step--work in progress and my gofer

02-10-2005, 03:13 AM	#4
VetteVet Msgt USAF Ret Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan Posts: 8,714	I echo DDM on the painless wiring harness. I know several people who have used their products and all of them have been very satisfied. If you replace the harness you are going to learn a lot about your truck since you will be going into every part of it. The routing goes under the floor, along the frame and inside the dash so it will be time consuming but rewarding IMO. It might be advantageous for you to find the short that caused your problem even though a new harness may fix that I would sure hate to go to all that trouble and have the same thing happen because of an internal short in the radio or the starter. My .02 Vettevet __________________ VetteVet metallic green 67 stepside 74 corvette convertible 1965 Harley sportster 1995 Harley wide glide Growing old is hell, but it beats the alternative.

02-10-2005, 03:40 AM	#5
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Don't let the wiring scare you Its really not too tough! Just take care with all of your connections, and check everything 4 times over before you hook the battery up. I agree with VetteVet, check to see if there was a short in the stereo, starter or something before you hook em back up. Also, consider yourself very lucky! Your truck could easily have burnt down due to this, infact I know of a guy on another forum who's truck just burnt down becuase of blotched wiring... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

02-10-2005, 03:51 AM	#6
dyingdeadman Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san marcos,tx Posts: 266	i was just thinging about this. with any type of radio or amp install, make sure you have an inline fuse. had a amp installed that I didnt put an inline fuse on and the wire got nicked on something, i didnt notice, but that wire shorted out burned all the way from the battery though the dash and almost up to the amp before i caught it. all kinds of smoke. burned several important wires. had to do a little rewiring on that one. __________________ 72 GMC sierra 3/4 ton 402 bb 68 GMC 3/4 ton 2010 camaro rs: daily driver

02-10-2005, 03:14 PM	#7
RonRdRcr Are we there yet? Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lakeland, FL Posts: 205	The problem was the po had wired the stereo directly to the battery with no inline fuses. It appears the ground wire was laying over the ignition wire under the dash and that is why the truck will not start now, it melted that wire also. jhow66 What is the warranty on the EZ harness you purchased?

02-10-2005, 03:48 PM	#8
Huskerboy2 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Austin, Texas, USA Posts: 1,628	Somebody's got a 18 circuit painless wiring kit for sale on the parts board right now. __________________ '72 Chevy Blazer

02-10-2005, 05:16 PM	#10
meathead95 computer illiterate Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 6,446	you might check out www.gmcpauls.com i have heard alot of good things about the m&h kit he sells __________________ 72 2wd blazer 72 swb 4x4

02-10-2005, 05:48 PM	#11
Mel Foye Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 42	Might be a good time to add MAD's starter selnoid set up. Mel

02-10-2005, 06:08 PM	#12
GreyHoundSteve Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: DFW TX Posts: 769	I redid my harness with a painless one and im very happy with it. It comes with many late model revisions and gives you alot of room to add things later as your needs change. I was also able to get it through a local O'reileys at a very good price. Someone on the parts board is selling one too, might be worth a look.

02-10-2005, 06:47 PM	#13
rustyold72 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Ark City KS Posts: 505	I got the m&h harness, looks like the original (if that's important to you) seems to be a good quality harness, the Painless would be fine too if you don't care if it looks original __________________ 71 Chevy C10 "The Rust Bucket" 72 Chevy C10 apart in the garage 02 WS6 T/A Fast Black and bad@$$ 93 Nissan Pathfinder "Emily" Totaled RIP girl 05 Jeep Grand Cherokee-HEMI powered 87 Iroc Z28 305 TPI auto (crying out for an LS1 swap)

02-10-2005, 09:46 PM	#14
BubbaGreen Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Cedar Park, TX Posts: 686	I have used both painless and M&H. Both have there +/-....If you just want to put things back to somewhat original, go with M&H. If you want to add a little more and dont mind spending time studying the wiring, what it does, where it goes, then I suggest painless. M&H will come with all the stock plugs and connectors. Painless won't. I really like the TXL wire that painless uses, but if you go with there 67-72 kit, the fuse box (is great) but wont fit the stock cut out. I have made custom wiring harnesses as well, all the way to include TBI/TPI for these trucks. Its not that difficult, but understanding the basics is a great help. __________________ 71 Chevy C-10 SWB Fleetside RamJet-350/4L60e & Compushift/3.73Posi See it at www.prismnet.com/~grzanich

02-10-2005, 11:38 PM	#15
72402 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Cameron, Oklahoma Posts: 199	Wiring If you want a good quality, economical wiring harness, the EZ Wiring system is the way to go. It is, however, a universal harness. If you want the original look, I think the M&H harness has the original style plugs and connectors. Frank



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