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To you pros

xxiiiliv

Active Member (5.56mm)
A question. If you accidentally break the little latch on an electrical connector, is it common practice to use gasket maker or zip ties to keep it together instead of replacing the connector. I am saying at your normal 9-5 job.
 
To replace the connector would require the tool(s) to push the pins out, and then insert them into the new housing, and that's the only right way to do it.

Tools are cheap, available on Amazon, you just have to know the type of connector, Molex, Staubl, etc. and the pin (male side) diameter or the socket (female) diameter, the tools fold in the little tabs on the pins or sockets so that they can be pushed out of the plastic housing.

I have, in a pinch, off road, used small zip ties to hold a connector together after the vehicle's owner busted the half arrowhead retaining tabs off on both sides of it, it will work, but the best bet is a new plug.
 
NYECOGunsmith said:
To replace the connector would require the tool(s) to push the pins out, and then insert them into the new housing, and that's the only right way to do it.

Tools are cheap, available on Amazon, you just have to know the type of connector, Molex, Staubl, etc. and the pin (male side) diameter or the socket (female) diameter, the tools fold in the little tabs on the pins or sockets so that they can be pushed out of the plastic housing.

I have, in a pinch, off road, used small zip ties to hold a connector together after the vehicle's owner busted the half arrowhead retaining tabs off on both sides of it, it will work, but the best bet is a new plug.
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The little clip holding the connector got misplaced/broken, so, he gasket stuffed it together. I bought a new connector and replaced the old one. I was just curious if this was a common practice, as i think it is. If it is, i can kinda understand it from the standpoint of profit, but still…
 
Every time I work on something with those kinds of clips, it takes me a half-hour just to figure out HOW to open the connector because I don't want to break it. Can't believe they all have to be so different.
 
MAC702 said:
Every time I work on something with those kinds of clips, it takes me a half-hour just to figure out HOW to open the connector because I don't want to break it. Can't believe they all have to be so different.
Click to expand...
This one in particular came apart from the connector, so i can see the opportunity to lose it. Its replacement is integral to the connector
 
Molex is basically two styles of retainer.
On one, there are two little arms on one of the connectors and two usually square open bridges on the other side, the arms have half an arrow head on them, and go through the bridges to lock them together.
Squeeze the arrow heads towards one another and pull the connector apart.

On the other style, the half arrowhead arms go inside the other half of the connector and expand outward to grip.
Again, squeeze the arrowheads toward one another and pull apart the connector.

Now if you get to some of the European styles, those things are a real pain in the @$$. Some I have worked on require you to squeeze, while pushing down and turning, then continue to squeeze, and turn and pull apart.
Those are usually so far inside the machine you can't see them easily, nor can you get your hands in there to separate them.

The later style of Molex are the easiest, those have a pivot in the middle of the arrowhead arm, squeeze the outboard end of the arm and the half arrowhead that looks like the extractor on a .22, lifts out of it's notch and a tug and the connectors are apart.
Easy to get to, and you can both see and feel when the arrowhead is free, as the outboard end of the arm bottoms out against the connector shell. When that happens, you know the arrowhead is out of its notch.
 
NYECOGunsmith said:
Now if you get to some of the European styles, those things are a real pain in the @$$.
Click to expand...
Yeah. The worst was a late model Mercedes coupe, replacing an ignition module.
 
MAC702 said:
Every time I work on something with those kinds of clips, it takes me a half-hour just to figure out HOW to open the connector because I don't want to break it. Can't believe they all have to be so different.
Click to expand...
Three different connections…fuel, fuel return and electrical, the worst part of dropping a tank to replace a pump on a Nissan Titan. Each was like some kind of puzzle located in an almost inaccessible spot, cussing helped some.
 
NYECOGunsmith said:
To replace the connector would require the tool(s) to push the pins out, and then insert them into the new housing, and that's the only right way to do it.

Tools are cheap, available on Amazon, you just have to know the type of connector, Molex, Staubl, etc. and the pin (male side) diameter or the socket (female) diameter, the tools fold in the little tabs on the pins or sockets so that they can be pushed out of the plastic housing.
Click to expand...

this is just one batch. I have about 100 of em different sizes and types.
IMG_4470.jpeg
 
Gullwing said:
NO, first we make them replace x part on a hot engine. Once they have burned their hands and arms and had hot oil and crud fall on their face, then kill.
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You left out the steps to tear apart half the engine, removing the headlights and fuel tank to gain access to the final bolt for said x part.
 
And just now, I'm trying to fix a gas dryer, accessing the blower housing. There are 3 wire harness connectors for the dashboard I'm trying to get out of the way. They look like very basic ones with two simple levers to unlock it. BUT I CAN'T DO IT, even with pliers. The connector is too thick to allow the lever to squeeze. It took way too long to realize there is a perfectly matching nylon zip-tie around the connector to prevent you from squeezing the levers. They came open easily after cutting those off. And this was in a standing position, working at eye-level right in front of me. Geez.
 
I know how that goes, I've had those kind of issues with the dishwasher and working on my truck engine. I try to stay as close to spec as possible.
A couple of times I've been forced to improvise when replacing a section of wiring harness just isn't practical!
 
Sure, just keep your god damn hands off my leatherman!

You’re the reason I have trust issues!
 
You would be doing your customer a favor by carefully applying the appropriate zip tie rather than dicking around extracting pins and connectors and crimping them.
 
Maxx said:
You would be doing your customer a favor by carefully applying the appropriate zip tie rather than dicking around extracting pins and connectors and crimping them.
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So it seems then that telling your customer that you broke a part and there will be no charge to repair. Is this a thing of a bygone era?
 
xxiiiliv said:
So it seems then that telling your customer that you broke a part and there will be no charge to repair. Is this a thing of a bygone era?
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If you know what you are doing and things break in the course of service, those things weren’t serviceable.
Giving stuff and time away isn’t a good way to stay in business.
 
Push the pins out of the broken housing one at a time with the proper tool, push them into the new 39 cent housing with the proper tool, and in 3 minutes it's done right.
If someone broke something I took to them for a professional repair, and then they jury rigged it, instead of doing it right, they wouldn't get my business ever again, and I'd tell everyone why.
 
NYECOGunsmith said:
If someone broke something I took to them for a professional repair, and then they jury rigged it, instead of doing it right, they wouldn't get my business ever again, and I'd tell everyone why.
Click to expand...

Its crazy the number of times I’ve seen half-assed repairs. Sure some were done by Joe Blow Repairs & Fish N Chips but also have seen it come from ALL the big name places too.

Most people don’t even realize it happened til its too late.
 
Harley said:
Its crazy the number of times I’ve seen half-assed repairs. Sure some were done by Joe Blow Repairs & Fish N Chips but also have seen it come from ALL the big name places too.

Most people don’t even realize it happened til its too late.
Click to expand...
I agree on the “ too late” part. The work was done a year ago
 
Fogie said:
If you know what you are doing and things break in the course of service, those things weren’t serviceable.
Giving stuff and time away isn’t a good way to stay in business.
Click to expand...
I guess I’m of the “ I broke it, so I’ll fix it “ school of thought
 
A few of the mechanic guys I follow on YouTube seem to indicate that doing a quick fix is normal, so I guess my thinking is not up to date
 
xxiiiliv said:
I guess I’m of the “ I broke it, so I’ll fix it “ school of thought
Click to expand...
Sure, me too….but I have been doing what I do long enough to tell whether I broke something or if it was waiting to be touched and break. If it’s the former I run out to the truck cussing and get the piece gratis, if the latter it goes on the invoice and labor adjusted. Just about everything I tool on is sun baked plastic nowadays…
I agree that a mechanic who calls himself that should have done one or the other and fixed it properly.
 
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