Topic: Wiring harness - do most newer cars have this as a weakness?

[superbaldguy]

The horn on my 2001 Sentra GXE died on me, twice, wtihin the last year. The first time, I went to the dealership and they got it fixed with some wiring fix in the harness.

It quit on me about a week ago, and, this time, I went to a generic garage (there are a few left in Nova Scotia!) and the clever mechanic showed me how fragile the wiring harness is - he had to repair the broken horn wire in three places, then (luckily), he found he had shorted out a fuse. It took about 90 minutes to get the blasted thing (pun intended) to work. In fact, the wire had been damaged in the same place as it was the first time - not a permanent fix, I guess.

I could clearly see how the harness is a conduit for most of the major wiring in the car, and that Mexican-made vehicles have somewhat poor designs for this, not really designed for the ravages of a Canadian climate. Makes sense. It makes me wonder how long it will be before more wires break and these may NOT be for the horn.

Are cars that are made in Canada and the U.S. (like all the Accords and Civics) plagued with poor-quality wiring? The mechanic said many new vehicles have this Achille's Heel.

Discuss.

[yugrus]

Sentras are made in the US of A if I'm not mistaken.

[onearmed]

Sentras are made in the US of A if I'm not mistaken.

Nope, Good old Mexico !

[yugrus]

Yeah, my bad... Where did I get that idea?..

[tenpenny]

But the wiring harnesses would be made by some supplier somewhere to some spec....and would have nothing to do with where the car is assembled.

I don't know who makes most of the wiring harnesses theses days.

[articsteve]

Nissans don't have the component standards like Toyota and Honda, Toyota and Lexus being the best.

[superbaldguy]

The electronics on my car seem to be the sore point. I had to replace a couple O2 sensors and the CC, last year, and I am concerned what could be next. I suppose cheap electrical components are a way for car makers to remain competitive as it's assumed that most people lease, and don't keep their vehicles over 4 years/100,000 kms.

I would assume the Hondas and Toyotas are actually designed for driving in the Canadian winter, not some track in California where Nissan probably test their cars.

[maritime_storm]

I think most manufacturers have improved the quality of their wiring harnesses in the past 15 years or so. Their by no means as heavy a guage wiring, but for the most part we're not seeing as much corrosion issues as one did 10 years ago, especially amongst the domestics. They can afford cheap wiring the amount of sensitive electronics on modern cars, where 0.1 V can make a real difference in driveability.

[tpl]

yes, and those unsung heroes, the materials scientists and engineers have been making their incremental improvements to wire, insulation, connectors, the tools that install the connectors and so on and on....

defending us against  the work of those who want to make everything cheaper and reduce its lifetime to one day after the last payment... and the last set of people who install in such a way that a regular human cant find it, reach it or repair it.

[articsteve]

 the last set of people who install in such a way that a regular human cant find it, reach it or repair it.

    

[superbaldguy]

The harness in the Sentra is at the bottom section of the radiator, easily prone to water/salt damage. It is protected by a plastic insulator, that's it. So far, it's just the horn wiring that has been affected; hopefully, I'll never have to wonder about the other wiring.

[ktm525]

Nissan is like the Japanese version of Dodge.

[articsteve]

 

[superbaldguy]

I wonder if the American-made Altimas and Maximas have the same problems.

[articsteve]

I wonder if the American-made Altimas and Maximas have the same problems.

Yes

[dr_spock]

It is all about engineering, design and material selection.  At least Nissan stopped placing the Sentra's ECU on the floor below the front passenger seat.  When road salted water got into the passenger compartment of my 1988 Sentra.  It corroded the chips right off the ECU circuit board.   Good thing Nissan had a good warranty.   My 88 Sentra was made in Japan before they moved production to the States.

[superbaldguy]

I suppose there are limited places to house finnicky electronic components. The firewall location for the harness is a common one for many cars. What annoys me is that Nissan didn't foresee the fact that many of its cars would be driven in a Canadian environment, salted highways, cold weather, pothole-filled bumpy roads, etc. You'd think a car maker would take such things into consideration.

Anyway, the car runs very smoothly and works as good as the day I bought it. I am still on the original exhaust and CV boots. Tires wear exceptionally well due to the suspension. My older Civics had their boots crack quite early in their driving lives, tires wore poorly, and needed the timing belt changed every 100,000 kms.

All cars have their long-term issues if you keep them long enough.

[skypoint]

My Belgian made Volvo S60 had one of the taillight clusters die at almost 4 years old. The problem turned out to be that a plug came loose in the appropriate wiring harness.

The Volvo dealer fixed it for free. It cost me 2 hours of my time in getting to and from the dealership by waiting for its courtesy shuttle.