Seems our model 86 Saab 900T is notorious for having wiring harness issues (85-87), especially in the engine compartment. The isulation gets brittle and cracks/disintegrates leaving sections of harness with exposed conductors and many resulting shorts. I've discovered many such spots on the wife's car.

Replacement harnesses are not easy to come by and a lot of discussion I've seen centers around doing a DIY replacement/rewire of the damaged sections of harness.

Can anyone recommend a wire (insulation type, thickness, gauge) that would be suitable to use in our application and a wire supplier? I'm not concerned about correct color-coding. We just need the car to live a little while longer.

Thanks!

You can get teflon jacketed wire (it will usually be white in color, but just because it's white doesn't make it teflon) from most aircraft supply stores (and Jegs has it now I think). We used it in aircraft and it won't melt, doesn't crack and holds up really well. It might be worth the few extra bucks to give it a shot.

Looks like they used a common wire supplier that Fjoird used for the 84 Rustang SVO. That was a common issue with them.

Most modern automotive wiring should be compatible for what you are wanting to do. To get spools of the stuff, you may have to go to an electrical supply store. Most parts houses only carry little rolls of the stuff. It is expensive that way.

Painless swears by TXL for automotive applications (instead of GXL, which is used for most automotive wiring nowdays). If you can get ahold of any of that, I'm sure it would be a good choice. The Teflon stuff seems pretty good too, though. We do have a bunch of it in stock now (HERE).

The only difference between TXL and GXL is the insulation wall thickness. For a given gauge, it's exactly the same conductor inside. SXL indicates standard wall, GXL is thin wall, TXL is extra thin wall. All are rated to a max temp of 125°C. The thicker wall is more durable, while the thinner wall stuff makes for slightly smaller bundles and weighs a little less, although you'd have to use at least several hundred feet of wire to amount to even 1lb of weight difference. The cross-linked wire is the only stuff I'll use on my cars anymore. Your typical parts store wire is PVC insulated, and at best only suitable to 80°C or so.

I normally buy TXL, since most everything gets covered in loom anyway, but implying that there's a big difference between TXL and GXL is somewhat misleading IMHO. Also, if you need more than just a little bit, my advice is to buy it in bulk, rather than from Painless...it costs a LOT less that way.

Edit: I get mine from Waytek (www.waytekwire.com) but they don't sell anything smaller than a 250' spool. I've also used KayJayCo (www.kayjayco.com) in the past, when I only needed a small amount in a specific color or gauge. They're more expensive than Waytek, but have no minimum order length IIRC.

HTH,
Dave

14ga is the smallest in stock?

jb

I suspect that you can mostly thank Painless for that implication.

They have a habit of splashing stuff on their literature for their vendors to generate such information.

Sometimes I think they should change their name to Painful , given their pricing. (No fault of Jegs, but Painless has to be putting at least a 500% markup on their wire.)

Yeah, they're kind of "testing the waters" for now. I am pretty sure they could get other sizes from their supplier, but are trying this out to see if it generates enough interest to justify bringing in more.


Yes. They were here not long ago doing a technical presentation. They really didn't claim it was any better conductor, only that it is very pliable and easy to run due to the thin wall and that it has a good temp rating.

Thanks for all the responses. I knew I'd come to the right place....

Gene, it that why I don't see many SVO's on the road? I always liked that car for some reason...

Dave, great information, thanks.

Project J - I'll be ordering some soon. And yes, Kevin, I'll click on the sponsor link!

Thanks again.....

Just 94s and some 95s. NO, there are other reasons you don't see them on the road. Beside the entire production run of less then 10,000, they did some funky things like build the lower balljoint into the front LCA, as well as all the other little stupid things they did to Rustangs during that time. That, and the fact that parts are sometimes worth more than the whole car, you get a lot of canablizing.

Still, they are an absolute hoot to drive, especially after bringing the suspension up to date and adding some nice upgrades like decent intake and exhaust. We usually take ours to our Regional Solo runoffs, when we qualify for them. They are a GREAT G Stock car. :-)