Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

asdasc

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
680
Hi all, I have seen a couple posts in here about folks that have rebuilt the Engine Wire Harness, but no details. My boat and motor are not kept at the house, so I can't go out and look at things, but I would really like to do this as a project, as my wire harness is falling apart and a short circuit waiting to happen. I found this picture of one on the nyquest website, but new ones are VERY expensive.

The question is, how hard is it to rebuild this cable? Is the connector itself serviceable? Can you take it apart and install new wires into it? Are there special crimp connectors inside that I need to buy? I want to get all the 'stuff' I need prior to driving out to where the boat is stored, so that I can do it all in a day if possible. The ends away from the motor are easy and I can get all that without a problem. My lack of information is on the engine plug side.

If anyone has any experience or pictures of it taken apart, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your experience and knowledge with me.

This is for a 1959 Johnson 18HP.

Thanks!
 

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gjonz

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
76
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

I spent the 135 bucks for a harness for my Seahorse 18. Well worth the money. Very well built and the guy probably has 60 bucks in copper alone. He makes the MOLDED ON plugs himself by making molds from an original. A lot of time on his end. I love mine, and am glad to pay for it in hindsight.

I know its a big chunk-o-change, but I'll do it again.

Good luck!

Greg
 

asdasc

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
680
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

Thanks for the feedback. They are expensive, and I have tape wrapped the existing bare wires and it works ok for now. I will eventually have to get one, I am sure. I had seen a post from Tashadaddy a while back where he spoke of rebuilding one, and I thought they could somehow be taken apart and rebuilt.

Thanks again.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

i did not rebuild one, i wire mine from scratch, direct. you really need a manual.
 

55'Fleetwin7.5

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
241
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

Hey Gjonz...where did you get it? I might need one for my 57' 35hp... Could you give me an email or phone number for this guy?
 

gjonz

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
76
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

Check the following website:

http://www.nymarine.ca/

The guy is in Canada and does swell work, but shipping takes a week or two.

Good Luck!

Greg
 

asdasc

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
680
Re: Early Johnson Wire Harness Rebuild

i did not rebuild one, i wire mine from scratch, direct. you really need a manual.


Oh, I understand, you just wire directly to everything and bypass the connector all together. That is a simple solution, thanks.

Regarding the manual, you are right. I am about to breakdown and buy one. I keep looking on eBay to get a cheap one, but they are hard to find. I was thinking about the DVD/CDROM versions they sell on there, but am very concerned about the quality of them.

The good news is that I got it running pretty well now and am just working on the little things.
Thanks again!
 
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