dta loom building

[matthew172]

hi, im wanting to build my own loom to my requirements and im going to be using dta management

anyone made there own loom before and is it a straight forward job to do?

thanks matt

[mowgli]

its just a case of getting enough of the right size/right colour wires together & making a start really. you can re-use a lot of the original loom from the factory setup & maybe get a spare loom from a scrappy for extra wires of the same colour. it will also be useful for repairs/maintenance in the future, as you can keep to the gm colours for things,

always solder the joints & use heat shrink covers where you can & it will be reliable... spade terminals are not the best fitting. and a scotchlok will definitely get you a trip to the naughty step..

[phazer]

Don't solder if it can be avoided, use single pieces of wire and terminate correctly to the pins at either end using the correct pliers/press/crimps. Solder has no mechanical strength and can fracture in a vibration heavy environment. Last thing you want is an intermittent connection as it's a pain to track the fault.

There are a number of loom threads on the DTA forum once it's running again (offline today for some reason). http://dtaforum.psycode.com

[C612DNM]

As Phazer said - don't solder. All joints should be crimped where possible. Any soldered joints need to be supported with a suitable strain relieve to stop flexing.

The DTA loom is pretty simple to build. It's a while since I built the one for my GSi racer, though as I do this sort of stuff for a living, automotive wiring is a doddle.

I made up twisted pairs using an old fashioned hand-drill with wires clamped in the vice, rather than buy pukka twisted pair wiring (for my Lambda sensor, and crank sensor).

I used superseal waterproof connectors for any connections that happen under the bonnet. The last thing you want is water in your joints - things stop working.
I use this sort of stuff (get them from Vehicle Wiring Products, or Auto Electrical Supplies) : http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/42/category/7
You can also use sureseal which are also very good. There is a higher power rated version of the superseal connectors listed above, they have 2.8mm blades and can handle a lot more oomph!

[Stuart]

If you need to splice wires together I have used some MTA 9 way 'configurable' splice blocks for a recent harness at work. You can have it so the whole thing is one connection type, or 4+5 or 3+3+3 etc, might have some spares if you need (although you need an 070 crimp tool to do the job nicely)

polevolt and VWP are good place to get stuff too.

You can try the same colour trick for the harness if you feel brave, its pretty straight forward if you build it sensibly and saves a lot of faff with different wire colour orders.

[Dayle_]

Hardest part with the DTA wiring is crimping the ends in the ECU block connector. I know that DTA have a special tool for this which doesn't come cheap. I know you may want the challenge of doing it yourself but is it not worth letting a pro do it? I do have some contacts for this if required.

[Stuart]

I cant imagine DTA use a proprietary crimp/terminal in their connectors... So its going to be 040/070/similar.
Granted a crimp tool for those alone is £50+ but hey.

[Dayle_]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Dayle/195173_10150105339064862_580674861_6360106_7110652 _o.jpg



That's my loom that Tony at DTA made up for me, It was cheaper than messing around doing it my self. By the time I'd have bought the ECU Connector £40+ Vat, all the wiring (they use a really tiny light weight gauge wire on DTA looms) and the connectors it would have added up to around the amount In paid. Must say though i was chuffed with the quality and quite glad I had a professional one made up.

[C612DNM]

Tony's work is good. The lightweight wire is mil-spec stuff, it's good - but is weaker than normal automotive grade wire (which is much thicker), but in motorsport looms, you always choose weight over longevity. If it lasts one event, it's done it's job. That's how we used to do F1 stuff - looms were often chucked after one meeting/test. Though the improvements in reliability have been through development.

It appears that VWP's website is down. I haven't been able to connect to it for a while - anyone able to get it?

[MARTIN KELSON]

What about these people Matt

http://harnessing-solutions.co.uk/index.html

Came accross there site few weeks back, dont know if anybody has any info on them, if there anygood or not.

[Stuart]

I know motorsport wiring are pretty good aslong as you get Dave to do the work, but I cant imagine hes cheap....