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ericdab
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Rewiring a G
Has anyone personally overhauled a '85 280GE's electrical system? I've been experiancing some issues and want to resolve them as well as ensure no future problems. My questions are; is it worth it to do on my own (no previous experience but can get knowledgable help)? are there "kits" to do this? Any advice on the subject would be appreciated!
-eric |
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G350DT
Date registered: Dec 1899
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Vehicle(s):
| Re: Rewiring a G
Doing it yourself may be a bit much. There are a lot of wires going here and there and everywhere. I have done some rewiring work on my G and tracking down things that are mucked up are a pain.
If you do decide to do it yourself make sure you take your time and do one step at a time. Do not pull everything out and try to put it all back in.
Getting someone to do it on the otherhand would probably be very costly so if you feel you are up to the task and have the time and patients go for it |
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ericdab
Date registered: Dec 1899
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Vehicle(s):
| Re: Rewiring a G
point taken. maybe I"ll just take it one problem at a time. thanks. |
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Mopagi
Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: New York /Toronto
Vehicle(s): 2005 G55K GE
Posts: 127
| Re: Rewiring a G
I'm not sure about a 85, but the harnesses used now are massive and quite complicated. There are some assembly pictures from Graz around. Just disassembling your current harness will be a job and a half. Due to the fact that this is a truly hand built truck, you may also find that you have some one of a kind fixes that may not be documented. MBUSA repurchased my 03 due to the fact that after they tried to replace the harness, they were unable to properly reassemble the truck.
Good Luck! |
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dai
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Oregon USA
Vehicle(s): 300GD 300TD BMW R100RS Landini 80F
Posts: 2110
| RE: Rewiring a G
Your truck has around 12 fuses. 14 if you have seat heaters and perhaps a couple of stealth fuses if you have a Webasto system or something creatively added. The system on the early trucks is very straighforward. I think Dave Gomes has an article on the clubgwagen website tech pages that talks about upgrading some of the wire connectors. Some of these G's wiring has been screwed up by fedralizers adding lights and making the wiring fit the US standards of the day. Don't Panic!  The wiring diagrams are pretty easy to follow. You need to translate the color codes into the language you are most comfortable with if German isn't it. Remember the brown wires are Ground/Earth. What is the nature of your "issues"? It may be grounding gremlins that are common with these early rigs. There are no kits that I know of. A good voltmeter will be of help to you and a test light. There are quite a few people here who have had to deal with a lot of these problems. They will help you I imagine. What are the problems?
-Dai |
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ericdab
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| RE: Rewiring a G
generally I would attribute them to the previous owner (naturally...) but in the process of my interior restoration I had pulled 5 speakers and two amps which were well "creatively" placed and wired and things have not been the same since. Also, there is, I assume, a grounding problem with the dash where the gauges like to stop working (a good smack gets them working).
I got the G coming up on two years ago and am planning to keep it for a lifetime. For this reason I don’t mind replacing the entire system so that future problems don’t arise.
How long do you think a project such as this would take?
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G350DT
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
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| Re: Rewiring a G
If you plan to re wire the whole car TAKE YOUR TIME !!!
go one by one or sets, like lights, dash and so forth, set up a list of tasks almost like a project plan. It is a long, not a one weekend, deal. If you try to just go balls to the wall you will get frustrated and give up truct me.
I had a turn signal issue when I got my G. The flasher unit had been placed where no other G had it. After about 2 weeks and about 100 posts I sneezed when looking and the flash light saw something that looked like the flasher socket.
Take your time I can not stress that enough. Also use high qualith wire and connectors. Get heat shrink tubing to water protect connetors, use rubber grommets when running through holes. You may spend more time and money but to make it "last a life time" do it right now so that in 10/20 years you are not here asking the same questions |
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dai
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Oregon USA
Vehicle(s): 300GD 300TD BMW R100RS Landini 80F
Posts: 2110
| RE: Rewiring a G
I can't imagine the problems would require a rewire. If the wires are melted or fused then yes replace stuff. But if you have a couple of bad grounds and some nucklehead sound system wiring then take it back to stock and then properly add sound power etc.
I have the same year G. The wiring is straighforward and logical. Take the plastic shroud off of the instrument cluster and you will see an example of how the thing is wired. Old School. There are some connections under the hood that would benifit from the new silicone gasketed connectors. If the truck has been in a humid environment then start disconnecting terminal blocks, clean up the oxidation and use dialectric grease on them before they are reconnected. I see no reason to rewire an entire truck unless there has been extensive melted insulation or a fire. Relplace the damaged sections. To rewire a truck correctly would require exact match color code wire to match the wiring diagram and major dismantling of the vehicle to run the new conductors.
I know of a '90's S class Mercedes that had an electrical fire that melted the harness. It has been apart in the shop slowly being rewired one wire at a time for several years. Most of the stuff works now. I wouldn't wish that sort of job on anyone. 
-Dai |
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ericdab
Date registered: Dec 1899
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| RE: bye the workshop manual !
Already did! |
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