D-jet Harness Build- wire/terminals/tools/crimping

[raygreenwood]

Before I get into the harness build:


General wire terminal crimping- “how-to” and resources:
I created a different thread in response to some of my posts and questions in this thread in the Performance section:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=780774

This D-jet build thread which was linked to by moderator Glenn is MOST specifically about building a D-jet fuel injection wiring harness.

While it has a lot of the information you might need for crimping of any kind- what kind of terminals, where to get them, what kind of wire, where to get tools, heat shrink materials, weather sealing, sheathing, wire numbering, what constitutes a good crimp, why use crimping instead of solder….it is a very long thread about a very specific wiring harness and uses crimp terminals that are NOT main stream.

If you are not building a D-jet injection harness, most of what you need would require tons of reading to get out of this thread.

The thread just for general terminal crimping materials will be this one.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10062557#10062557


D-jet fuel injection harness build and crimping how to:
Part 1:

My apologies that this thread will have a good bit of reading. I will try to keep it short but there is a lot to go through. There are too many issues to just make a list and say “buy this” and do that.

I am doing this build NOW because I hope to finish the 1.8L engine build for a friend in the next two months and will need a working D-jet system to break it in here (even though it will be running on L-jet when it gets in the car)

Time saving book marks I will put in this thread:

If you are building a stock harness using:
• Stock plugs
• Stock terminals
• Stock spec but NEW wire….

If you just need the tools for crimping I will leave a big red marker for the tool section which comes before the section on wire that you can quickly scroll down to. You need tools and wire.

If you are building that same harness and already have the tools,
I will also leave a big red marker you can scroll to just for buying the wire and moving forward to the crimping section.

If you are building a new harness with the new plugs and terminals and new wire and do not have the tools and need to know what wire and where to get it and do not yet know how to crimp….you might want to go through all of this.

HELPFUL NOTE: You may not even be building an EFI harness. You may be doing chassis harness crimps. You will learn what you need for that here as well and the same tools will be needed.

Some long winded but important items:

1. During the build of this harness, some of it will not LOOK exactly like the stock harness. This may not be ideal for some. This is not a stock harness outside of the ECU connectors.

2. My goal is improved reliability with BETTER function than the factory harness in all areas and build quality as good or better than stock. This is primarily about FUNCTION but it will look as professional as any factory harness.

3. When mine is fully sheathed, it will probably not be using the exact same form layout. The factory harness had some wires (like the injector grounds) that went from each injector plug, back up into the harness, get bundled up inside of the sheathing and then they turn back and exit at a different point to join together right before the ground star on the case centerline.

While I do not really think this is bad, it’s not ideal for what I will state next.

4. At the main ground star, currently, #1 and #2 join together and #3 and #4 join together. Each occupies one leg of the three point ground star on the case centerline. The third point is also a double wire connected to #11 on the ECU and #14/47 on the TVS.

These groupings will not change but the ground star itself will no longer be used. I “might” use the same ground point on the case centerline but because the grounding of the engine case is directly dependent on the quality of the tail cone ground on the transmission and virtually nothing else (except maybe the alternator case), it’s not a great ground point.

The ground star commonly can work loose; it gets oxidized or gets covered in oil and the stock wire connectors that plug onto them work loose from vibration and heat cycling. We can do better than this and visually no one will notice.
Loose or poor ground connections at this point have caused me almost as many running and tuning issues as the wiring harness itself.
It would be far smoother and a far, far better ground to bolt them all to a single CHASSIS ground point over on the firewall near the relays and a few inches from where the harness enters the engine bay.

5. MOST IMPORTANT: If you want or need a factory exact harness (maybe with some improved materials from what I hear) meaning a harness that looks and is just like the factory made, the work done by JMSkater and Jeff Bowlsby is beyond compare.

I am not doing this “how to” to cut into their business or take away from their work.

If they charge you $500 or $600 or more for a “restoration” factory exact level harness with perfect function and/or you just want a great functioning harness but do not have the time, tools or desire to build your own….their prices are a bargain. Give them your business please!

If you do not already own all of the tools to do this, it will cost you some $. Not a huge amount but a little bit. By the time you acquire the crimper frame, dies, connectors and materials (and a few small tools that I think you should have as an ACVW owner anyway) your cost will be within $150 to $200 or less of the cost these guys charge. Not to mention your effort and time.

• In my opinion, your best, longest lasting harness will be made with Teflon coated/silver plated copper wire. Not so much for the Teflon insulation but for the silver plating.

• The most affordable and slightly simpler to make (crimping wise and heat shrink/strain relief wise) will be standard PVC coated copper wire.
Both are EQUALLY functional.

This thread is NOT really about saving $’s. It’s about making the best, longest lasting and electrically cleanest harness I can.

6. This is the most important…. “DISCLAIMER”:
This thread will be as much about “how to crimp” as it is about finding materials and parts as it is about actually BUILDING the harness.

Part of the issues we have with crimping is that the connectors we will be using originally had very specific and/or slightly unique factory dies. For some of these like the component end female connectors, the dies we can get for our manual crimper frames are close enough that it does not matter very much.
One of the big differences is that while sections of the dies we will have are correctly shaped, the spacing/length/width will not be identical to the original dies used.
This means that some of these terminals may have to be a “two-step” crimp. You might need to crimp/set the strain relief first then do the main barrel crimp. As long as you use the crimpers correctly, size the wires correctly etc., they will look and work like factory.

But we have to lay out the crimping method first. We will do that in the crimping section later
Sorry for the length of this preamble!

Tools, Connectors and wire (in that order):

Tools:

Crimper tool pliers/frame: Try not to just buy the absolute cheapest crimper frame. What you buy should fit the Paladin/Greenlee dies because those are some of the better consumer level dies. I can find new Paladin 1300 series or Greenlee compound crimper handle/frames in the $60 range. I find lightly used ones on Ebay for $35.

Pro’s-kit/Lunar brand are good as well. There are a few more brands. Even the Harbor Freight tool is fairly good but whatever you buy, it must be a compound crimper, it should fit Paladin/Greenlee dies and have a crimp depth adjusting wheel secured by a screw.

Crimper dies: You need dies that fit the Paladin 8000 and 1300 series crimper frames. The Paladin/Greenlee 2096 and 2097 dies are mostly what I am using here. If you can afford only one get the 2096. It will allow you to do the standard size terminals that connect to relays and grounds and does a decent job in the smallest die cavity with the EFI terminals but it takes a little work and a double crimp.

If you can’t get the 2096 get the 2033. The 2033 is basically the 2096 with one more die cavity that is larger so you can use it on some of the normal female terminals under your hood.
Also, differences in the 2096 and 2033 are that the 2096 is a metric size die. More on this in the crimping section.

If you can afford two die sets get both the 2097 which is dedicated to the EFI terminals and either a 2096 or 2033. If you can afford three die sets then you should also get all three.

Bear this in mind, outside of the normal sized terminals we find in our chassis harness and fuse block, none of the hand crimper frames of virtually any “common” brand are exactly correct for connectors for the fuel injection system. Used properly though….they are good enough.

There are also other brands of tools (some of which were actually used in the factory and repair shops) that are more precise, more exact and better. But for the extreme cost, for building 1 or 2 harnesses that will be nearly factory perfect, they are NOT better enough to be worth the cost.

Wire stripper: This is a critical tool. Don’t strip your wire ends by hand or with pliers. We are trying to be as professional as possible.

Use a wire stripper and not pliers or a box knife. No matter how good you are it usually damages the wire.

I already owned the Ideal model 45-292 wire stripper. It’s a pretty good tool (Home Depot and Lowes for $32). It will do most everything “non metric” and a few metric within its size range which is 10-22 AWG. It does everything except Teflon coated wire. In a pinch it will work fine if it’s all you have,
If you do not have a wire stripper and need to shop for one for this project….DO NOT buy this tool or one that is similar in function to it. There are better tools for the same price.

When I started looking around in the world of wire strippers I found MUCH better tools. I recommend 100% - 100% - 100%!! buying the Knipex model 12-62-180. It is FAR, FAR better than the Ideal model I listed above. There are numerous Knipex models and most are more expensive than this. Do not get lost in the wide range of Knipex models unless you plan to also use the stripper for much larger wires or solid core wires.

The differences in the other more expensive Knipex models that look very similar are usually that it strips a wider range of wire sizes. This one I am recommending does 10-24AWG. What few wires I have in my car that are larger or smaller are so few that I can handle them.

The Knipex has an adjustable stop for setting stripping pressure so you do not damage the wire and has an adjustable depth stop to always strip the exact same amount from each wire. It does it effortlessly. It is also instantly self-adjusting to wire gauge.

It’s made in Germany and is on Amazon for ~$38-$45. It’s a bargain. The next strippers up from Knipex are $110 and $150-ish respectively that work from about 8AWG down to about 30AWG.

Why buy this tool and not the other “type”?

The difference in the ideal stripper (and any brand that is similar to it of which there are many) is that you have to select a hole in the die plate that closely matches the wire/insulation you are working with.

When you squeeze the handles the wire is gripped by the closing jaws and pulled through the sharp die. However, there are many wires that are not standard in their insulation thickness or hardness. This is why the Ideal stripper has issues with Teflon coated wire.

So, although it WILL strip Teflon coated wire, you need to select the die hole one wire gauge smaller than what your wire is. It does not strip quite as clean because it scrapes the wire bundle and scars the silver plating. If you are not using plated or tinned wire it’s not a HUGE problem (but it is a problem). But if you are using plated wire, this is the problem:

This is 18 AWG silver plated Teflon coated wire stripped through the Knipex. Notice that the helical twist is still there and there are no nicks on the wire strands or plating.

This is the same wire stripped through the Ideal tool. While it did not break any strands, it gouged them slightly and stretched and unwound the helical twist. Not great.

“Bald” pliers: Go to wall mart or probably even Harbor Freight. Look in the arts and crafts section for jewelry and “bead craft” tools. For about $4 they sell small needle nose pliers that have no serrations or teeth on the jaws. Get a pair.

Hemostats: Go to Harbor freight and buy a pair of the small ones. They are 3.5” and are item 99931. About $4

Scissors: Do not skimp on these. Buy what I tell you to! You will not be sorry!
ESPECIALLY if you are recycling ECU connectors and will be using special pigtail splices. You will need the scissors for them.

Go to any store that carries Fiskars scissors. You want the Fiskars 1905001001 Softouch Scissors, 5 in. You can get them on Amazon or at Walmart for about $16. There are several models of this exact shape of scissors. The differences from model to model are great but irrelevant for this usage. It’s the handle and blade form and function we want so buy whichever you like or can best afford. They will all work.

You will use them for thousands of things later on but they work perfectly for what I will show you later. I carry a set everywhere for work.

They look like this. They are only 5” long and razor sharp and high leverage. They are perfect for cutting connectors off of reel strips and trimming butt/pigtail connectors. You will see why you need them later.

Dremel tool: Any variable speed Dremel tool. You also need cut of wheels and a mandrel, preferably not the fiberglass backed ones.

The Dremel is primarily required if you are going to reuse your old ECU terminals by either method I outline.
The rest of the tools are various picks, knives and tools you already have. Nothing special.

Most VW owners who work on their own car will probably have the Dremel, the Hemostats and probably even a small pair of bald needle nosed pliers but the rest is what you probably need to buy. If you already own better tools that are still correct…good deal! But these are the minimum high quality and the cheapest.

$66 for the crimper (could be as low as $35)
$35-$45 for a die set
$45-ish for the wire stripper
$16 for the scissors
Not including any shipping, you are at $15-ish for tools….all of which can be reused for many things on your car or elsewhere. If you do not want to invest this, then buy your harness from one of the aforementioned gentlemen.

Connectors and plugs:

Connectors:

Let’s start with the hardest ones to get first:

1. The “Y” card edge fork connectors for the ECU: If you have access to new connectors you will need to stay close to the stock wire DIAMETER to properly crimp them.

Notice I did NOT say gauge. I mean actual SIZE/diameter.

The factory harnesses have roughly 2-4 distinct wire outer diameters spanning only two actual “gauges”. We will discuss actual wire “gauge” later.
Many of you may not be able to get new connectors, depending on when you read this and when you finally start your build. I recommend buying some of these NOW, long before you need them and while they are available.

Don’t worry, I will also be showing two different methods of recycling your original ECU connectors. Both will look and function like factory new terminals. Even if you can get new terminals and plan to use them, DO NOT throw away your old terminals. They will be worth gold in the future when there are no more NEW terminals to be found.

I’m lucky happen to have ONE whole set of new original ones. Exactly 25 of the original part #. I got them 23 years ago. 18-20 wire gauge, tin plated connectors.

This is my whole stash of Amp 583362-2 original tin plated 18-20 AWG connectors I got as a sample from AMP. There are 25 of them. All of your connectors, even the female ones will come on “sprues” or reels like this one when you buy them from TE Connectivity/AMP or Digikey or Mouser. They are in this form to load automatic crimping machines in the factory.

There is currently only one LIVE part # for this part that I can find that is available to buy in small quantities. I will highlight that part # below. They are not the exact correct wire size but will work with careful crimping and wire sizing. GET THEM NOW while you still can!

VERY IMPORTANT NOTES about the “Y fork” ECU board connectors:

Google search these part numbers for these “Y” fork connectors often. They were probably not only used on the D-jet system. You might get lucky. You need a bare minimum of 25 connectors. 22 of them will actually be used in the harness with three left over to practice setting up the crimper. Personally, I would get extras because some wire crimpers require more set up practice crimps.

These are listed by TE-Connectivity (TE-Connectivity is Tyco-AMP as “board-to-board” wire connectors.

Back in the 60’s, 70’s and maybe even 80’s, these connectors might also have been used to plug onto a double sided rigid circuit board in something like a large computer enclosure or server or inside of industrial equipment and plug onto another double sided board via a harness. There is no telling what else these connectors may have been used on or for how long.
I have also found an identical connector made by a different company in Europe I am exploring. More on this much later.

Back around 1999-2000, Tyco would not sell these parts even though they had more than 25,000 in stock. They were proprietary to VW/Robert Bosch. They would send you a free sample of about 25 of them…LOL…enough to build a harness. I did this twice! Things have changed since 2000.
They will sell these parts now. But some part #’s they will sell only in high quantity.
TE-Connectivity/Amp-Tyco can and will still manufacture these terminals. However, somewhere around 25,000 to 50,000 is the minimum quantity for order.
The reason why you need to keep searching and pay attention is that with various part #’s and various stocking dealers, things come and go.
When you Google search these terminals and end up at TE-connectivity, Digi-Key, Mouser or other electronic materials sites, pay attention to all the page details. If the page has notes like “see also” or “related part numbers” …..CLICK ON THOSE LINKS!

There are actually several part numbers of these connectors. Some of them are the same connector with different attributes, most of which can work fine for our application.

Those in our systems were Tin plated. There are also selectively gold plated terminals. Still others that I have just recently found are bare phosphor bronze (ours are tin plated phosphor bronze). This last one can be taken to a local plating house and either Tin or Nickel plated.

In short, once you start figuring out the part number codes and you see that across a range of 3-4 different plating schemes and 2-3 different wire sizes that there were quite a few permutations made of these “Y” fork connectors back in the day you may find them at other sites. At some level all but one of them can be made to work.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you find any of these terminals made of bare copper or phosphor bronze (or any electronic crimp terminal for that matter) you should not use them until they are plated. Brass is fine….but bare copper and phosphor bronze are not.


Why?

Because copper oxidizes, and as the oxide/tarnish approaches the level of “dark penny” color, the surface conductivity drops like mad. It becomes higher in resistance. As the oxide color approaches dusty white or green it becomes totally NON-CONDUCTIVE.

This very reason is why bare copper connectors are not allowed to be used in mission-critical aerospace electronics or in medical device electronics where a failure can cause dropping out of the sky or death. All copper terminals have to be plated. All copper wires have to have sheathing. All copper circuit traces must be laminated (like Kapton) or have laminated or liquid conformal coating.

ECU “Y Fork” part # list (active and inactive):

The board-to-board/wire to board “Y Fork” connector part # list:

This is the unplated connector. 20 – 18 AWG Wire Size, 1021 – 1624 CMA Wire Size, .52 – .79 mm² Wire Size, Unplated, Reel, Wire & Cable, 5 A. Non-stock but can be made in high quantity.

This is the part # that I have. Centerline/itch-3.96mm/ tin plated/ 20-18AWG- wire size: 0.5-0.9mm2 non-stock but can be made in high quantity.

Centerline pitch-3.96mm/gold plated/24-20AWG-wire size: 0.2-0.6mm2 non-stock

Centerline pitch-3.96mm/gold plated/24-20AWG-wire size: 0.2-0.6mm2 in stock but minimum order is over 25,000 parts.

Centerline pitch-3.96mm/tin plated/24-20AWG- wire size: 0.2-0.6mm2 non-stock

Centerline pitch-3.96mm/gold plated/24-20AWG- wire size 0.2-0.6mm2 IN STOCK
This one above is in stock! You can only buy them in minimum quantity/groups of 60 and they are selectively gold plated and ~46 cents each! BUY THEM NOW! I just bought 120 of them for $55.

Centerline pitch-3.96mm/gold plated/24-20AWG- wire size 0.2-0.6mm2 non-stock.

These seven part #’s are probably not the only ones that have ever been made but they are the only ones I have found so far. Somewhere you will also probably find connectors that are made for double wire connections.

A question that you are probably asking:
Most of these part #’s look the same and have the same specifications so why are they different part numbers? It’s because not all of the specifications are listed in those “snap shots”.

On the actual Tyco/Amp blueprint attached to each of the pictures above, what I usually find is that the variations are a difference in plating thickness of tin or gold or complete plating versus selective/spot plating or the spacing of each part on the reel strip designed to fit different automatic crimping machines in the factory or in some cases even loose parts designed for hand crimping in repair facilities.

Every tiny change gets a new part # on the blueprint.

When we get to crimping and wire sizing there will be more about these connectors.


New style component end plugs and female connectors:

I will NOT be using the original D-jet female connectors and plugs.

Depending on where you buy your plugs, what I am about to show could cost you a little bit. You can still find them in the junkyard for cheap if the right cars can be found.

Because of the efforts of Brad Cushman (his handle in the forums is cushjbc), a Mercedes D-jet guy, in steering me toward an AMP plug body that fits our components but uses a modern EV-1 style “dual cantilever” terminal (just like L-jet, Digifant and all modern injection) we will have to make sure that the wire we choose fits the crimp barrel and strain relief of our new terminals.
These plugs were used on a variety of cars.
Here is Brad Cushman’s quote from a thread on the “Benz-World” forums:

[raygreenwood]

Update/Edit to part #1:

Apologies, after all of the tech on wire I forgot to post what wire I bought and where I got it!

As you can see, I opted for all 20 AWG. With added amounts for each wire in the system (a bare minimum of about 4" or more), my calculations showed I needed right at 115 feet.


Ordered 125 feet of Teflon coated, silver plated wire from Allied Wire and cable.

Allied Wire & cable

Main page link:

https://www.awcwire.com/

PTFE hook up wire page link:

https://www.awcwire.com/hook-up-and-lead-wire/ptfe-wire

Link to the wire I bought:

https://www.awcwire.com/product/1199-20-19

Their site is excellent!
At that last link you can see that they have this broken down in 100' increments. Not needing to spend the money or have an extra 75 feet of Teflon wire laying around, I took a chance and clicked the "quote" button and asked if they could quote me an exact amount....125'.

I heard nothing back for about 3 days and just figured they blew me off. Then got an email and phone call. Customer service was EXCELLENT and the price was spot on!

The quote:

I think shipping was ~$12. That price works out to 82 cents per foot without shipping. That is an outstanding price for this wire.

It came in on a nice storage spool in a nicely padded box. Ship time was about 4 days.

The specs on the wire:

So this is a 20 AWG 19/32 (19 strands of 32 AWG wire). Its core wire bundle is ~0.038" in diameter which really helps on the small connectors we are using and the OD is listed as 0.083". I have not yet measured exactly but I have also seen this same wire listed as 0.078".

Edit: With a light touch, these measure 0.059" to 0.061". Sounds odd....but it is 19 strands and they are 0.008" diameter (which IS 32AWG).
Its "possible" that they actually gave me "ET" class wire.
Looking....the closest seems to by Mil spec M16878 Type EE.

But my part # is E 20 19 9...19 strands, class E and 32 AWG per strand. Just odd measurements but the wire will do fine!

More to come shortly in part 2!

Ray

[tmitoraj]

two questions

could you post a link to purchase the dual cantilever connectors?

Would it make any sense to change out all the electrical connections in the engine bay to the dual cantilever connectors?

Thanks Tom

[raygreenwood]

[Lars S]

Exellent documentation Ray, many thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

/Lars S
_________________
Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold

[raygreenwood]

Crimping-what is it and why we use it:

First, what IS crimping and why do we use it instead of soldering and what is good crimp?
WHAT IS A GOOD CRIMP CONNECTION?

(Quote from SM-Contact corporation)

“Crimp connection is a gas-tight joint formed by compression between electrical components (most often wires and cables) and a specifically designed crimp termination or splice band. Compressed terminal reshapes all strands in a wire like it is cold-welded to create a low resistance solderless electrical connection.

In a nutshell: The type of crimping we are speaking of really only pertains to STRANDED wire. Wire crimping for solid wire (like house wire) is totally different in the tools it uses.

We use stranded wire because it is much more flexible and durable in high vibration environments. In a perfect world we would be using SOLID wires because it’s a larger more direct conductor and a solid wire of equal size to the diameter of the bundle of strands our wire has, will conduct far more amperage.

We crimp the wires into the round section of our terminals (called a barrel- these are barrel crimps) to compress the strands to a gas-tight solid core of metal.
As I noted earlier, if you cannot get NEW ECU card edge (Y-Fork connectors), FEAR NOT! If yours are in good shape, not bent or corroded, I will show you how to reuse/recycle them.

Recycling old ECU connectors:

“Y” Fork ECU terminal recycling methods:

• The first method is to cut your original good wires about 1 foot from the circuit board, meaning outside of the ECU enclosure and wire clamp. You are making “pigtails” out of them and you will be splicing them to new wire. But you will NOT be using “butt” connectors of any kind. I used to but I learned and found better connectors.
PROPER connectors!

I will share correct/proper/cheap, easy to get part numbers for what are officially called “pigtail splice terminals” and show you which crimping die is needed. These are a factory part used by automotive and appliance manufacturers.

• The second method uses a different type of pigtail splice crimp terminal but actually calls for a little bit of tedious but simple prep to your old ECU terminals to allow crimping new directly to the terminal itself.

Method #1- Connecting a used “Y”-Fork connector with a pigtail of old stock wire to a new harness:

I save ECU pigtail sets by hacking them off just below the outer clamp. The wire inside of the ECU cavity is the most pristine left and is usually pliable.
This is saving more old wire than you really need.

All of these pigtails will be trimmed to length and crimped so that all of the joints between new and old wire will be inside of the ECU cavity and under the gray plastic slide plate, nice and clean.

So here is an individual pigtail wire we are going to splice to new wire and reuse.

NOTE: We are NOT going to be using butt connectors of any type. We especially are not going to be using these horrible PVC coated butt connectors. They do have their uses, just not in a car.

At one point in time, I used some far better and very well made butt connectors like these:

While these are light years better, in order to get anything like “hermetic” seal where the air and moisture is squeezed out of the wire strand bundle (like a proper crimp), the wires needed to be a dead fit and a proper crimper with a hexagon die needed to be used.

If you cannot get the type of terminals I am going to suggest, use the butt connector I just showed you in the proper wire size and buy this die. It can produce a hermetic crimp but it’s harder to monitor.

By the time you buy the die (which is a great die to have) and get the butt connectors, you have spent more than you would buying the proper crimp terminal (coming up) and using them with a die you should already have.
I am going to show crimping with two different types of readily available, cheap “pigtail crimp” terminals. You can get them at Digi-Key.

This first connector is not ideal but will work fine with some modification. They are cheap at 20 cents each.
They are actually designed to join either two pairs of double wires or wires that have much thicker insulation than we will be using. They have too much material in the strain relief area so we will be trimming them.

If you bought the hemostats and scissors I recommended, this takes about 20 seconds per terminal to trim.

Notice the excessively long and bulged strain relief flaps. Too much metal for our small wires.

So, we first snip it like this

Then we snip it like this. If you want you can spend a few seconds with the Dremel taking off sharp burrs. I did not because I just wanted you to get the concept.

Insert the wire in one side and tighten the strain relief slightly with the small pliers so it holds onto the wire so you do not have to play around putting it in the die.

After crimping the first strain relief. You can crimp it harder but there is no need to.

Both wires are in and both strain reliefs are crimped.

Here it is from the side. Use a small plastic or metal pick and stuff all the wires down into the center crimp barrel.

I recrimped all three crimps a 2nd time.

NOTE: The ugly texture is from the black wrinkle finish Teflon coating that the Greenlee brand dies come with. In the earlier Paladin dies, all of the critical areas in the dies are mirror polished and do not make this texture. It looks ugly but does not hurt anything.

MY OPINION: these pigtail crimps work fine when trimmed but I will not use these for this task unless I cannot get the next ones I am going to show you.

This next “pigtail splice” terminal comes in several sizes. There are many different variations you can find in the TE-Connectivity catalog that will work. Some right out of the box and some need tweaking. The “ideal” one to get (just out of what I have found so far) is this one:

I did not get these right off because they are listed as magnetic. Either this is because they are made of steel or are nickel plated. Neither is an issue but I was not sure how well they would crimp. I did not want another layer of experimentation right now so I opted for the next one.

These did not list as “magnetic” but I think they are actually the same construction. They are just fine. They are tin plated steel I think. However, you will notice that they are for connecting two different size wires together.

So again, just a little trimming.

By the way, these do not have strain relief but you really do not need it on a pigtail splice. We will be heat shrinking this and it’s out of a “strain risk” area.

Before trimming

After trimming. It’s not perfect but is close enough that it does not matter. Again, I would spend 10 seconds and take off the sharp burr even though it does not matter.

First wire crimp.

You can see here that I narrow the barrel slightly with pliers for a better fit in the die. I did this to the first side crimp as well.

Both crimps are finished. Seen from the side. This is a much better crimp terminal for our use. These may look ugly under the microscope but to the naked eye they look like factory. They are also very tightly sealed.

The two sides have a very slight twist between them because I did not hold the terminal with pliers/hemostats as I finished the crimp. I found its just as easy to straighten it after you are done….with these types of terminal.

The next step is sealing these splices. You can use any decent circuit board varnish. Do not use an RTV or sealant. The acetic acid in the RTV may corrode the wire. The object is to seal any imperfections and bare metal to keep oxygen and moisture away.

This insulating varnish is available at Digi-Key and many places on the web. Its bullet proof. It’s actually “Glyptol” and is sometimes called “glyptic” varnish.
It is the same product that for about 100 years or more has been used to coat the inside of oil field pump unit gear boxes. It produces a nearly “ceramic” like finish. Once it is dry virtually nothing takes it off. Impervious to oils and chemicals and even fuel to a good extent. Its solvent/air dry and dries fast.

Just brush it on and into every crevice until its glossy looking. Let dry for about 30 minutes.

Here is the larger brass splice terminal. Heat shrink it and you are done.

This is the smaller splice terminal with no strain reliefs getting heat shrink.

Another item I am testing:

This is a “silicone” heat shrink. It stays very pliable. It may not be useful here but may be useful elsewhere.
It is very high temperature (400° F +). However, it can only really be used on Teflon clad wire because it takes an actual torch to shrink it and needs 500°-ish to shrink. It will damage the insulation on PVC coated wire.

An Important Note on Sealing barrel Crimps:

The factory does not do this. On both old and new cars, they rely on the rubber boots and in later plug assemblies they rely on seals and grommets to keep moisture away from the crimp areas.

I think we should use a sealant because some people may not have perfect crimps. Perfectly serviceable yes but perfect may be hard to do because as already noted, our dies are not perfectly matched to our terminals.

If you look around the web you will eventually find sites like some of the vintage motorcycle sites where people SOLDER the brush area of their terminals.

This is a very old “for repair” ONLY method (not a factory method) where for the same reasons, hand crimping versus machine crimping, some mechanics worried that the crimp may not be sealed so they sealed them with solder. Make note that most of these terminal types were solid copper or brass plated with tin.

Our ECU terminals are neither copper or brass.

This is a VERY, VERY bad practice on fuel injection terminals for one reason alone. While it does make a good seal, you should never solder these types of “micro” terminals. The heat destroys the temper phosphor bronze which ruins the terminals. DO NOT SOLDER ON THESE TERMINALS. If you are worried, use a sealer.

Larger scale terminals like ring terminals and headlight terminals which are mainly brass or tin plated copper will be just fine with solder sealing.

Crimper notes for these pigtail splices:

You can use die set 2096 or 2033. The difference between the two:

The 2033 has three cavities. The largest cavity is 12-10 AWG. We will not be using that one. The one in the middle is 16-14 AWG. I mostly use this cavity.
However, do not be afraid to use the smallest cavity on this die if you think the crimp barrels are not getting compressed enough. I typically do any “re-crimping” or finish/straightening crimping with the smallest barrel which is 22-18 AWG.

Notice that we will ONLY be using the part of the die that normally does the main barrel crimp (yellow arrow). We will not be using the strain relief crimp section (the larger section). The yellow arrow points to the main barrel crimp section of the 16-14 AWG die cavity.

The Paladin 2096 die set:

This die set only has two cavities. It is also “Metric”. It may help you if you find that the middle die cavity on your 2033 is way too big (not enough compaction) and the small dies cavity is also too big. This can happen if you are using all 20 AWG replacement wire.

The smaller cavity fits 0.5mm to 1.0mm metric wire gauge terminals. The 0.5 size is right between 24.5 AWG and 24 AWG. The 1.0mm wire size is right between 18.5 AWG and 18 AWG. So, its slightly smaller than the smallest cavity on the 2033 die set.

The larger cavity in the 2096 is listed as 1.5mm to 2.5mm. The 1.5mm size is slightly smaller than 14 AWG and 2.5mm is between 11 AWG and 10 AWG.
So really, the only cavity on the 2096 die set that will be useful with these pigtail splices is the smaller cavity.

Crimper settings:

The crimper depth wheel was set on “1” meaning the first notch on the negative side. This is the lowest setting for all of these. Every once in a while with all PVC wiring I will use the 2nd notch. With Teflon coated, anything but the first notch is too much and cracks the insulation. Your results may vary so do your testing.

All of these were full cycle crimps (7 clicks). Most of these, as I placed the crimp terminal in the crimper, I advance to the first click to hold the terminal still. This is also stated in the instructions from Paladin/AMP.

Method #2- Crimping old “Y”-Fork ECU terminals directly to new wires:
1999 Technology:

I dreamed this one up way back in 1999 when I used to patch harnesses by using old terminals stripped from junk harnesses and using picks, needles and jewelers screwdrivers to remove the wire strands inside of the crimp barrel and then re-spread the crimp. It works but will tear up your fingers and test your nerves and you need a big pile of terminals just to get a few that can be re-crimped.

Then I wondered if I could put a new crimp barrel onto an already used old terminal. You can!

Here is one of the first examples I made using simple 1/16” ID copper tubing. I ground the existing crimp barrel and leftover wire into a flat “tang”. I crimped it onto the modified terminal with one of my crimping dies.

Yes, it works, but bare copper is not ideal and it would have taken weeks to do 22 terminals but I kept the idea on the shelf.

MODERN DAY TECHNOLOGY: So, in method #1, we can use a proper “pigtail splice” crimping terminal and effectively join one wire to another and reuse an old D-jet ECU terminal as long as it has a wire still attached to it right?

So, if we wanted to connect an old used D-jet connector that DOES NOT have a wire attached anymore to a new piece of wire, we can use a version of that same ‘pigtail splice” terminal.
However, we must modify the old terminal by getting rid of enough of the crimp barrel to make a uniform “tang” so it can be crimped onto a wire using a pigtail splice terminal.
In short, we are going to TREAT THE ECU TERMINAL JUST LIKE A WIRE and simply crimp it to another wire with a pigtail splice terminal.

IMPORTANT:

Before we get into crimping, a few terms I will be using should be defined. Think of this like a mini glossary so everyone knows what I am speaking of.

• “Brush”: this is the small amount of wire strands that are protruding from the main barrel crimp after crimping. There should be “some”. You do not want there to be no “brush”. It is part of the sealing process. There are actually length standards for this that are not really important to our process. Just make sure they are not so long that they interfere with the locking tab.

• “Pre-setting” barrel crimps: This does not need to be done in factory automated crimping or if it does, it is done automatically by part of the die and jig. It means that with a small pair of pliers or a pair of hemostats, I bend the flaps/petals of either the strain relief or main barrel crimp inward slightly so they fit in the cavity of the die better without wanting to rotate as we close the crimper tool.

This also helps to hold the connector securely on the wire while you insert it into the crimping tool. This especially helps with Teflon coated wire.

Factory crimping does not have this issue and part of this is because, as noted, the dies we are using are not dedicated to the crimp connectors we will be using.

A brand new female terminal is on the left for comparison. On the right here is the properly stripped wire that is going into it. This is a 20 AWG going into an 22-18 AWG capable terminal. We need to narrow those flaps both to grip the wire (strain relief) and to fit the die better on the main barrel crimp.

On the left you can see that the strain relief has been lightly closed to make contact with the wire and keep the terminal from freely twisting too easily or falling off the wire. This is “pre-setting”. On the right you can see what I did. One side needs to go under the other first.

These are different than our original D-jet terminals and some other terminals (if you look at the picture of the original terminals) because the flaps are not directly across from each other on the “Y” fork terminals. They are triangular.

On the left you can see now as step 2, I “pre-set” the main barrel crimp to narrow it to fit into the die better and straighter so it does not squirm sideways as we close the crimper.

• “Ground” versus “un-ground” terminal: This is purely used for what we are doing when recycling terminals. As you will see, we are grinding off half of the original factory crimp to produce a flat uniform “tang”. That is a “ground” terminal.

There are a few test crimps in the next section where I simply snipped the old wire off the terminal and crimped it into a splice terminal with the old wire inside (which is also a simpler working method but produces crimps that are less perfect).

The “un-ground” terminal is on the left. You can seethe wire and strain relief has been snipped off. The “ground” terminal is on the right. It was ground to form a more uniform, thinner “tang” to crimp on to.

Preparing the old ECU terminal (making a ground terminal):

This is a stock terminal and crimp with the wire still on it. It is a #3 which is 18 AWG wire.

Use a sharp scissors or ships and cut off the wire and the strain relief.

They all will vary within a few thousandths but the original crimped barrel width starts out at ~0.085” and the thickness is ~ 0.050” just for a benchmark until you get the hang of what we are going to do next.

I have a microscope and lots of magnifiers but I suggest buying just a cheap lighted magnifier to help you know how you are doing. There are thousands of designs on Amazon and elsewhere. Spend what you want but something this cheap at 5X will be good enough to do this. My microscope shots are at 50-60X.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/carson-minibrite-5...lsrc=aw.ds

IMPORTANT NOTE:

From this point on, no matter what you see in my pictures (especially the next picture): all grinding work you will do on these terminals will be with the terminal gripped by a pair of cheap disposable hemostats or small pliers locked onto the terminal like you see here.
This is mainly because the hemostats act as a guard for the Dremel grinding wheel to bump up against so you do not accidentally grind anything on the main terminal body and ruin it.

The left picture shows what we are going to be doing to the crimp barrel. You will touch it flat to the cut-off wheel at lowest speed for a couple of seconds at a time. It should take no more than about 15-20 seconds total.

The right hand picture shows the hemostats locked on as a grinding guard. DO NOT do what I am doing in the left picture. It’s not about not getting hurt. That’s not really an issue. It’s about grinding on the terminal where you should not be grinding.

Wear safety glasses! There WILL be flying debris as the wire strands fly out after you grind away the surface of the crimp barrel. Once those wire strands are gone you are done with this step.

The object is this. After about 10 seconds the wire strands will vacate the barrel as you grind it in half.

AGAIN, use the hemostats to hold the terminal. Holding it with my fingers was just an easier way to take the picture.

The grinder is held in the vise and my other hand held the camera. You just want to touch the cut-off wheel to each side of the TANG to get rid of grinding flash and make them as straight as possible and thin the walls slightly.

Then as a final step I use a flat, diamond needle file (Harbor Freight $6.99 a set of 10) to give it just a few swipes on each side of the tang. You can use a regular needle file or even Emory board around 220-320 grit.

After this work, the width of the barrel/tang has gone from ~0.085” to ~0.050” and from a thickness of ~0.050” to ~0.030”.

This work takes very little time. The first couple will seem a little tedious. Go slow and you will see how easy it is. After just a few terminals worth of practice, each one takes about 3 minutes of work. You can finish the whole set in a little over an hour.

Crimping tests for recycling stock Y Forks:

IMPORTANT crimping pliers notes:
The crimper settings/information we need to gather and keep a log of to CONSISTENTLY crimp these terminals:

• Which die you are using

• Which opening/cavity in the die

• Which crimp are you doing first- the strain relief, the main barrel crimp that contacts the wire core bundle. With this method you cannot do both at one time.

• What is the crimp pressure setting (the adjustment of that toothed wheel on the crimper)
• Are the crimp pressure settings the same for both strain relief and main crimp barrel? Sometimes they may be different, especially if you have thick or thin wire insulation.

• Are you using a full cycle of the crimper, meaning are you squeezing it all the way until it quits clicking and opens up on its own or are you using a partial cycle?

The Paladin 1300 series has 7 clicks in a full cycle. Some crimps, especially these as compared to the “pigtail splices”, require stopping the cycle early and using the release lever to prevent crushing part of the terminal.

• Do either the man barrel or strain relief “flaps” need to be narrowed or tightened up with pliers before placing the terminal in the crimper?

• Do you need to pre-set the terminal in the die by inserting and ratcheting to the first click? This is pretty much universal in these hand crimps and is mentioned in the AMP/Paladin literature.

Important note: These last items are worthy of mentioning.

• Remember that I noted that the dies we have for our manual crimper tools are not really identical to what was used for these same terminals in the factory.

• In a crimping die, you have a lower/bottom section that could be described as the “saddle” or anvil. It is a longer dish shaped area that the terminal sits in. It supports the backside of the terminal opposite where the wire is crimped on.

• As you squeeze the “hand crimper” tool, the top section of the die which has an identical curve in each side, contacts the legs or flaps of the terminal driving them inward and causing them to curl inward toward the center as they bend.

• This bending/curling motion, if both legs or flaps are not perfectly aligned, may cause the upper die to contact one leg or flap first by a few thousandths of an inch. This causes the terminal to twist in the die. While it may still make a strong crimp, it will be an ugly lopsided one and will probably not be gas tight.

• In factory automatic and semi-automatic crimping machines this is not an issue because the die sets had a flat ledge and sometimes even an outline/indentation of the terminal that supports and forces the terminal to be flat and square to the crimp die and always set up in the right location. And, these crimp terminals were on strips coming off of a reel.

• They were located by pins in holes on the metal sprue and held tightly. The crimping and cutting the terminal off the reel was done in one operation. We do not have this luxury in the hand crimping tool.

Terminals on reels were located in the die and “fixed” by these pin holes for the sprocket drive so the position in the die was flat and perfect.

You can use any of these three cavities for these crimps as long as the flaps on the terminal are pre-set or bent correctly and the crimp depth/pressure I adjusted properly.

Do some test crimps to find out which one works best for your crimper tool and die set model/brand.
We will be doing both strain relief and main barrel crimp on the same segment of the die cavity shown by the arrow (the tighter section) so this is a two stage crimp.

As noted at the start of this section, sometimes, for more than one reason, we need to take a small pair of pliers and “pre-bend” or “pre-set” the flaps of either the strain relief or the main crimp barrel either so it fits deeper in the die cavity and sits flatter or to hold onto the wire tighter. This is especially true when using Teflon coated wire.

The first few of these test crimps are using Amp part # 62516-2 pigtail splice terminals because I have more of them to play with.

We are trimming half of this off with the Fiskars shears like this:

This actually is just making this part AMP 60806-1 out of an AMP part # 62516-2

My test crimp wire is silver plated copper with Teflon outer sheathing:
Teflon wire sample #1 from McMaster (old) part # 7304K13
18AWG
Core bundle diameter: 0.047”
19/30 wire stranding (meaning it has 19 strands that are each 30 AWG
Strand diameter: 0.0097” (micrometer) 0.0095 caliper/ 0.010” spec
OD- 0.0715 caliper 0.0718 micrometer / 0.07” advertised spec
This equals 1.06mm gauge or 19BWG or ~ between 17.5AWG and 18 (using micrometer)
Strip length is 0,254” (6.5mm)
Stripper settings for Knipex 12 62 180 model stripper:
Strip length on 1st notch from left.
Strip pressure on 2nd notch from left

Crimping tests/experiments:

Important comment before we start: Some of these crimps may look totally hideous. However, I purposely included all crimp experiments I made, even the ugly ones, in the order I made them and with all of the detail changes I made on each crimp.

Seeing how the sausage is made is useful! You get to learn from my mistakes without wasting rare terminals!

I could have just skipped to #15 and showed you my final crimping recipe but there is a lot to be learned in showing all of the tests.

Some visible issues:

• Keep in mind that the connectors that were recycled for these crimp tests were 50-ish years old, not always perfectly straight etc. They were stored in a film bottle and rattled around a lot. They are essentially scrap as compared to ones I might harvest out of my “pigtail stash”.

The object for this testing was not to make pretty and perfect connectors each time, it was to figure out what combination of settings and modifications to the Y connector, pigtail crimp connector and/or wire would be required to make a proper/repeatable crimp.

• My microscope can create stark, highly detailed images that can make even the factory crimping look poor unless I spend the time to work with the lighting and software settings (too much time for this). This is why I also included a microscope shot of a factory crimp (which we are all fine with) to give a kind of a “viewing benchmark”. The crimps that I consider definitive look excellent to the naked eye just like factory crimps.

This was a #3 wire from a type 4 harness. It looks perfect to the naked eye. Under the microscope, while what you see is excellent, it also looks a little “ratty”.
The wire “brush” (meaning the excess wire protruding from the crimp barrel) is a little long and a little mangled and the crimp barrel seems to not be totally closed (though it is closed enough that nothing is getting outside of it).

Keep in mind that what you see above was state of the art enough to work perfectly for nearly 50 years. The microscope level of detail simply brings very minute details to the forefront. Keep that in mind when looking at the crimps we will be making.

That factory terminal crimp picture will reappear in the section where we are crimping new connectors on new wire as well.
Important rule before we start!

Because these ECU terminals are “rare”, I do not believe in wasting a single one whenever possible but you have to do crimping tests/experiments or you may end up wasting them all.
The rule is that whenever you are doing a crimping experiment, crimp the terminal onto the pigtail of your ROLL of wire. In this way, if it turns out viable even if it’s a little ratty looking, you can make a complete wire of any length in the system.

Experiments:

#1:
Die: 2096
Crimp cavity: large/1.5mm to 2.5mm using the smaller main barrel crimp section ONLY for both strain relief and open barrel crimps.
Crimp depth: #4 for both crimps
Connector: A100700CT-ND splice (this is half of the actual pigtail splice connector)
Tang: ground tang.
I make note of this TERMINOLOGY because some of these crimps I tried without grinding off half of the barrel crimp and without getting rid of the old wire inside. While they probably work just fine, it just leaves more access for air and moisture to get in.
Brush: on tab side. The term “brush” refers to the cluster of strands that protrudes outside of the barrel crimp. It’s a crimping term.

Comment: The main crimp barrel is excellent from the front side. But the brush is too long and interferes with the locking tab. The strain relief works well but has too much metal material in the strain relief part.
It should have the petals/flanges trimmed. The crimp depth appears a little excessive on the barrel and strain relief looking from the back. The crimp depth also cracked the Teflon sheathing. While this would not be a problem because we will be adding varnish and heat shrink, it should be fixed.

#2:
Same wire stripper settings. We will be using the same crimper and die settings for all of these.
Connector: A100700CT-ND splice (this is half of the actual pigtail splice connector)
Die 2096 1.5-2.5mm cavity
Crimp depth: 2
Crimp Strain relief first/ crimp barrel/ re-crimp strain relief all done on the main barrel section of the die
NOTE: this is crimping the wire on the backside (non-lug side) of the terminal to not interfere with tab

Comment: better but either crimp depth is excessive or the metal volume in the terminal and splice is excessive. The indentation damage and distortion to the ferrule is too high

#3
Same die and settings as #2. Splice terminal cut shorter on one side. Two stage crimp just like #2. Wire crimped on tab side of terminal like #1

Comment: Indentation still excessive. Metal on strain relief is too jagged. Shorter strain relief is better. Pressure on wire from die is too high and cracking the Teflon. “Brush” of wire bundle is still excessively long and interferes with the locking tab.

#4
Same as #3 with double crimp in barrel section of die on the strain relief

All settings same as #3, just different positioning in the die. The main barrel is not fully crimped right near the Y-fork terminal
Comment: pressure and metal volume is still too high. The pigtail connector cracked.

#5
Everything the same as #4 but the spice ferrule was trimmed down on the SR side

Comment: much better but you can see the high level of indentation on the Y fork end of the splice and the excessive metal that wraps around.

#6
Same as #5 but with half-length strain relief and reversed brush to back side of Y-fork away from tab

Comment: looking better but still too jagged on the back, still too much pressure, still cracking the Teflon.


#7
Same as #6 except that the barrel has not been ground off of the Y-fork and the SR end of the splice connector has been trimmed even further past the hole. Just an experiment.

Comment: Looking cleaner and just as tight as a ground “tang”. There is still too much excess metal on the backside of the strain relief.

#8
Same as #7 except that SR is cut even shorter in both side height and length like this:

Comment: The strain relief is the right length now. The pressure is still too high. This one is also done with an “un-ground” tang which is why it is too “fat”.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
I think this particular brass pigtail splice whether it is using half of part # 62516-2 or the shorter 60806-1….is just too much metal to try to compress into the die. You can see how low the outer/lower bottom hangs. The next few are changing to part # 61021-1.

However, this is a splice that allows joining a 16 AWG to an 18 AWG wire. We “may” have to trim these as well.

#9
2096 die using the 0.5 to 1.0 smaller die opening with “brush” trimmed ~1/16” and is one backside. This means the wire was trimmed with shears just slightly. This also used an “un-ground” Y-fork meaning I just snipped off the old wire and strain relief and crimped it in. The pressure setting was on 1.

Comment: cleaner, but notice the crack on the lower side of the main barrel in the back picture. This means that it is still a pressure setting issue and also that the Y-fork should be ground to make it thinner. The strain relief looks better.

#10
Same as #9 except that wire/brush was flipped back to frontside and the strain relief section was trimmed shorter.

Comments: getting there but its sloppy

#11
Same die and cavity as #10. Same crimp pressure setting. The strain relief was “pre-set” or narrowed to fit in the die better using small pliers.
All of the strain reliefs and main crimp barrels will be “pre-set” for all of these moving forward. I explained that with pictures at the very beginning.

Comment: Notice that NOT 100% of the main barrel was crimped right next to the body of the Y-terminal. I had to go back and re-crimp to get all of this.
With this terminal type the 18 AWG side which we are using for the strain relief was trimmed in length by exactly 50%. This one is also using a “non-ground” Y-fork.

#12
Pigtail splice 16-18 AWG/ 2096 die smaller cavity- 1.5-2.5/ 16 side trimmed above ridges/18 side cut in half/ brush on back/ setting 0/ground terminal.

Comment: So, with these last two crimps, we notice that the crimp barrel does not close all the way. This means that the non-ground “tang” of the connector is too wide.
It is plenty tight though, and when the wire brush is put on the side of the connector tang that is opposite the gap in the crimp barrel, it will be hermetically sealed. The rest moving forward will be using ground connectors.


#13
Same as #12 above but I stopped the strain relief crimp on the 5th click. As a reminder the strain relief is using the 18 AWG barrel and the terminal and wire are using the 16 AWG barrel. I stopped the main crimp barrel on the 5th click as well. The wire/brush is on the back side. The crimp setting is still 0. Notice that the crimp barrel is now fully closing.

#14

Same starting set up (die and cavity). I trimmed the 18 AWG side of the pigtail connector by ½ to make a shorter more normal strain relief. I stopped the SR crimp on click #4 and released it. I stopped the main barrel crimp on click 5. This terminal was ground and the brush is on the back. The crimp setting is still 0. This is looking a lot more uniform. Less cracking issues and excess metal.
Notice that with less length on the strain relief I am getting better control on the closure and tightness of it.


#15- The FINAL/Best recipe so far:

I would say this is the DEFINITIVE set up so far. I used every trick in this one.

Complete Recipe/spec list:

Die 2096-1.5-2.5mm cavity.
The terminal is ground.
The brush end of the wire is trimmed ~1/16” to be flush with the end of the main crimp barrel.

The brush on front side where the terminal locking tang is.
The strain relief was crimped 4 clicks and the ratchet was then released.
The tangs of the strain release were pre-set to slightly grip the wire to aid in keeping the wire in the right place while installing in the die.
The crimp pressure setting was 0.
The main crimp barrel was “pre-narrowed” and went to click #6 before releasing the ratchet. Reminder- a full crimp cycle is 7 clicks.
So, neither the strain relief or the main crimp barrel used a full crimp cycle. The crimp pressure was also at 0.
The measured thickness of the ground terminal tang was 0.025” and ~ 0.050” wide.

NOTE: on 20 gauge wire the smaller die cavity was used and I went 7 clicks full cycle on the strain relief crimp. Sometimes the main barrel needs to be put back in and go the whole 7 clicks.

NOTE: I did not trim the length of the strain relief section just to see if it would crimp properly either way. It will work either trimmed or not trimmed.

So, this is a good recipe to recycle old terminals to new wires. Just keep the “tang” as uniform as possible and trim the “pigtail” connectors as uniform in shape and size as possible.

These pigtail terminals are cheap. Easy to get and are not in short supply. So, if during modification/trimming of one you screw it up, just throw it in the recycle bin. Do not use one that is sub-optimum.


Sealing, heat shrink and strain relief:

There will be a whole section of heat shrink farther down the line but I wanted to include some specifics for these recycled terminals because I would like to finish up with them. I have all new terminals for the actual harness build.

Strain relief issues with ECU and female terminals:

The strain reliefs on these small fuel injection terminals are not the same as what you would find on larger scale female, open barrel crimp terminals. They do not work the same.

So, with larger scale connectors like we find in the fuse panel and on relays we see these nice looking, fat strain relief crimps like this:

This picture is from guitartech.de

This type of strain relief really ensures that the PVC/insulation is clamped hard and will not pull out.

However, the ECU and female terminals we are using rely more on the plug bodies (or heat shrink) to create REAL strain relief. All the small flaps on these tiny terminals really do is provide “kink” relief. They are more of an anti-kink guide.

Because they really do not bite deeply into the wire insulation, they are more like a semi-tight outer band clamp.

Just to point this out visually, here is that stock terminal again.
This is as tight as they get. The little points are not supposed to pierce the insulation.
Teflon sheathed wire has its own issues. If it gets too tight it can crush/split the Teflon so keep it loose. In fact, some of these I just finish the strain relief crimp with the “bald” pliers when I use Teflon sheathed wire.

This is sealing the terminal crimp with circuit board varnish before heat shrink. We will be doing all of the terminals this way including the female connectors.

Heat shrink. I use a short 0.5” to 0.625” piece first as the inner layer and then a longer outer length to help give the ability to curve. About 0.75” or slightly longer.

Some notes for the use of the crimper pliers and dies for ECU and female terminals:

These terminals have very small main crimp barrels. With 18 AWG wire you can crimp these tiny terminals on either the 2033 die set in the smallest cavity or the 2096 metric wire size die set in the smallest cavity.

The most “correct” die set is the 2097 “D-Sub” die.
As noted earlier, none of these die sets are actually made to exactly fit these terminals but if you know what the variations are you can crimp these terminals very well with these dies.

This is die # 2033. For either the female terminal or the ECU terminal we would use the smallest die cavity shown by the red arrow in the left picture below.

In the right picture above, here is where you need to place the terminal when using this die. Notice that the red arrow on the right picture points to a gap between the terminal and the side of the die.

The flaps on the crimp barrel are fully inside of the die area. The reason why we need the terminal to be placed slightly inward in the area between the red dotted line and the yellow line is so that the flaps for the strain relief are fully OUTSIDE of the smaller diameter barrel crimp area.

If the strain relief flaps get clamped in the main barrel crimp area it will wreck the terminal.

The die-set below is Paladin PA 2097 This is used for sub miniature open barrel crimps. We CAN use either cavity for these crimps. I ended up crimping most of them in the smaller cavity (arrow) AFTER I had done the initial crimping in the larger cavity. You will need to experiment to find out which cavity works without crushing the terminal in your pliers.

You can see the same important relationship in the 2097 die-set below.

Both male sider and the female side are almost exactly the correct size for the main crimp barrel flaps so you have to make sure that the terminal is not too far out or in. The strain relief flaps should be as far outside as possible when crimping the main barrel crimp which is what we are showing above.

In the picture above, we would have already crimped the wire tightly in the main barrel crimp and then note that we slide the terminal slightly to the left so that the strain relief crimp flaps are now fully inside of the die.

Yes, this will crimp part of the barrel crimp a second time but that should not be a problem unless the crimp depth is reset harder.

New ECU terminal crimp tests. 20-24 AWG terminal (Gold plated):

These are part # 5-583259-3. These are the ones that are in stock. They are a little small for stock wires but as I noted in the first part of the thread, you really do not require 18 AWG wires with good modern wire.

The benchmark factory terminal crimp pictures again:

Test #16

Comments: Way too much crimp pressure. The crimp barrel shows cracking on the edges of the backside.

Settings:

2097 die set/20-22 AWG die cavity/18 AWG Teflon wire /shortest stripper setting-trimmed brush by 1/16” /pre-set or pre bent the strain relief flaps / 3.5 depth wheel setting / 7-clicks full cycle of the crimper pliers

Test #17:

Comments: This one looked damn strange. Clean but screwed up. That when I realized I stuck it in the die backwards. Thought you should see it anyway.

Settings:

All the same settings as #16 except crimp depth set to 1.0 / I accidentally crimped this one backwards in the die. Damn.

Test #18:

Comments: The main barrel crimp looks good. The “brush” is too long because I forgot to trim it and this is a good example of why it needs to be trimmed.


NOTE: The length of stripped wire we need to have is 1/16” shorter than the lowest setting of my Knipex crimper so it cannot be produced by the stripper tool.
So I strip with the shortest setting and then snip it off an extra 1/16” cleanly with the Fiskars scissors.

Settings:
All the same settings as #16 except 5 clicks and release instead of full cycle/ crimp depth 1.0

Test#19:

Comments: This is still a little over crimped pressure/depth wise but is perfectly serviceable. The main barrel crimp is excellent. The strain relief needs slightly more closure. I just do this with the pliers rather than risking screwing a terminal up.

Settings:

All the same settings as #16 / the trim brush by 1/16”/ I pre-set both ferrules using 4 clicks out of the total of 7/ So far this is best using 18 AWG Teflon

Test #20:

Comments: This one was OUTSTANDING! I tightened the strain relief with the pliers after all was done.

Settings:
This one is using the 2097 die (the 20-22 AWG die cavity) and 20 AWG Teflon wire/ depth setting is 1/ I used 4 clicks out of 7 and released early / I trimmed the brush 1/16” so its flush with the edge of the terminal.

Wire stripper tool cut depth setting is 2nd notch from deepest + setting. I had to set the stripper for deeper depth as the 20 AWG Teflon has a smaller OD.

Test #21:

Comments: This one did just fine (functionality wise) but you can see that it has a slight twist to the barrel. This is why you hold the terminal with hemostats to make sure t stays square in the crimper tool.
I wanted to see if these terminals could be used to simply replace ECU terminals on an otherwise factory harness.

Settings:

This test was just for historical research. I use a piece of 18 AWG stock factory wire, crimped using the 22 gauge die cavity on die set #2033/ 3.0 crimp depth setting / I pre-narrow or pre-set both main and strain relief ferrules.

Final comments for these 22-24 AWG gold plated ECU terminals:

Crimp test record for 22-24awg gold plated Y forks:

• The 18 gauge Teflon is too big to use without cracking the insulation right at the strain relief. This does not mean that you cannot use it. Just be sure to seal and heat shrink it. In reality you do not have to use 18 AWG if you are using silver plated copper wire.

• The 18 AWG stock PVC coated copper is also technically too big for the strain relief but will work ok if you are careful.


• Test with 20awg stock copper shows that using the die #2033 smallest opening set to crimp depth #3 works well.

• With the dies we are using, the strain relief and the main crimp barrel MUST be pre-set or pre-narrowed with small pliers or hemostats to make sure the wire bundle is fully enclosed and held in the bottom of the crimp barrel.

If the wire core bundle is not held down in the valley between the flaps as far as possible, once the die starts bending and curving the flaps inward, it happens quickly and one or more strands can escape the crimp.

• One you have the strain relief and main crimp barrel “pre-set” and lightly attached to the wire, once you insert the terminal into the crimping tool, you need to lock the terminal into the crimper by advancing to the first (and sometimes 2nd) click.

Once the terminal is held securely in the crimping pliers with the wire in the correct place/depth, this allows you to check the depth of insertion of the terminal in the pliers and check that it is straight and parallel before you squeeze the pliers.

END OF PART 2- Next- New EV-1 female terminal crimping/heat shrink tubing/wire numbering/outer sheathing:

Ray

[JSMskater]

Ray - AMAZING post. I wanted to throw these links in as well, they cover my method for making the harness when you don't have any of the ECU connector pins, though your link to some is intriguing and I'm gonna try and order some if they have any left.


Link



Link


For the Large bulkhead connectors, there are two options that I have used that work well:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CX48JZD/?coliid=I1Z2E..._lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SWGHVRG/?coliid=I34H5..._lig_dp_it

I've been using some SXL or TXL wire and it works well, and is affordable.
https://www.wireandcableyourway.com/automotive-lead-wire
_________________
71 Squareback-FI -- 73 Bay (subaru powered)
TOOB Member #3
I make D-jet FI connectors

[daves1800]

Ray,

Absolutely most amazing work! Brad Cushman is a true DJet evangelist.
I utilized another tidbit of his work to publish an article in the Volvo publication "Rolling" along with a co-author. This article is linked in my ALL makes DJet messaging platform https://groups.io/g/djetdevelopment

But back to the subject of fabricating a DJet harness. Wouldn't it be a bit easier by starting with a kit from https://www.djetparts.com? A 914/VW kit is offered as well as a ECU connector, and harder to find are the ECU contacts :https://www.djetparts.com/product-page/fork-spade-connector-ecu-plug?lang=en quite expensive I know, but short of wire and sleeving, pretty much a one-stop shop.

The correct crimping tools definitely makes the harness.
_________________
Cheers,
Dave F. '73 Volvo 1800ES,'72 Volvo 142E

[JSMskater]

Dave,

the parts are readily available and much cheaper with Ray's sourcing. the kits from them are nice, but in no way competitive price wise

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/583259-4/294162

ECU connectors for 60-80 us cents. I just bought 250. There are 17 THOUSAND left, so this source is pretty good for a while.

boots
http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-Injector-Boot-K...06102.html

For those who want to splurge on new rather than re-used D-jet connectors I make these
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2650012


etc. its fantastic that the d-jet resource in the UK exists, more sources and vendors for parts the better, but for US - based DIY harnesses it's not easier or economical vs the US based sources IMO.
_________________
71 Squareback-FI -- 73 Bay (subaru powered)
TOOB Member #3
I make D-jet FI connectors

[raygreenwood]