As an emergency patch (I don't like the 'term' fix for this), you could try shoving the terminal back in with some cyano or epoxy glue. The terminal typically has a little raised metal spring tang which locks behind a little tab in the plastic shell when inserted into the shell. This prevents removal of the terminal without an extraction tool. If the terminal is coming out, the tang could be broken off or bent making he terminal junk. However, given that the center of your shell is broken, the terminal might be OK and it may be the retaining tab that is missing. Having both parts on hand for the repair is a good plan.
The best method to connect the terminal to the wire is with the correct crimping tool. I don’t know whether the terminal is open barrel or closed barrel. The tool has to match the crimp type and the crimp size.If you search cycleterminal.com or contact them they may be able to advise on the correct style of tool. Do not try to use a crimp tool meant for those common insulated terminals sold everywhere. If possible, I suggest buying some spare terminals and practise crimping the terminals on some spare wire before you re terminate the resistor connector. Doing a correct crimp involves stripping the wire to the correct length, positioning wire in the crimp tool correctly and positioning the terminal in the tool correctly. Depending on the tool and the crimp type the crimp may involve a two step process. Its a skill / practise thing. Getting everything positioned correctly and staying in position when doing the repair can be tricky. If you bolex the crimp on the car you will be saying f*** numerous times, particularly if you don’t have another terminal for the fix. I like the two step crimping tools better than the single step crimping tool just because it is easier to see the position of the wire in the crimp. Bit of a hassle to purchase the correct tool for just two terminals. You had access to some HP test equipment soperhaps there is a crimp tool laying around someplace?
Soldering is not a good option and a last resort. If you get the terminal hot enough to make a good solder joint the solder will migrate back up the wire strands with the result being the wire just outside of the shell will no longer be flexible and may be subject to fracture from long term vibration. The solder may also migrate to the retention tang eliminating flex and potentially making future removal impossible.
Kaz mentioned this. Look at the wires just at the back of the shell. If heat has caused the insulation to become inflexible, I would be inclined to try cutting back to good wire and do a complete re termination.
Strain relief – open barrel terminals have two parts to the crimp. The front section crimps the bare wire for the electrical connection and back section crimps around the insulation jacket to prevent the wire from being pulled out of the terminal.If you want to try to reduce the risk of strain pulling the terminals out the back of the shell you could try a short piece of double walled (i.e. glue lined) high ratio heat shrink overlapping the back of the shell and the wire where it enters the shell. Don’t make the heat shrink too long because it becomes inflexible when shrunk and just transfers the stress point to another location on the wire.The better way to avoid this strain is to insure there is enough slack in the wire so that when installed there is no pull on the wire where it enters the connector shell.This may be a challenge if you have to cut back the wire to re establish a good connection.
Your resistor looks very clean / very new for a car of its age so I expect that the resistor may have been replaced by a previous owner. The terminal damage / strain on the mating connector may have occurred when the connector was separated for replacement. After 20+ years of being together, those connectors can be very hard to get apart even if you have the locking tab completely depressed. Chances are the wire may have received some pulling in the effort to get the connector apart causing the damage.
Last edited:
