Challenger Dash Wiring Harness

[Robert Nauer]

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Pic of my melted wiring harness; finally identified the cause of why my dash lights were always on forcing me to disconnect the battery when not in use. Just ordered reproduction harness from YearOne. Appreciate any inputs on best way to replace the harness; I'm assuming that it's probably best to remove the dash?

[MrNorm]

Yes, definitely best to remove the dash, it's pretty easy on a Challenger. You have to remove the (four IIRC) screws that secure the dash frame at the base of the windscreen, and then loosen the two bolts on the side of the dash frame that secure it at the drivers and passenger side. You can then actually pivot the whole dash forwards and may not even to remove it completely...but it's not that much extra effort if you do need to

[Robert Nauer]

Excellent, appreciate the advice! I'll let you know how I get on once I receive the new harness.

[MattH]

Is that the ammeter wire that has melted through?
That is the normal culprit and worth bypassing it when you re-install.
Steve did a great how to article on here. I know your car is very original, but the whole ammeter wire thing is a big problem on our cars.

[Robert Nauer]

Yes I did read Steve's very informative article and I do plan on bypassing the ammeter when installing the new harness as I do believe the ammeter may have been the cause of my melted harness. I'm also running the heavy gauge wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid to take some of the amperage load off the wires running thru the bulkhead connector.

[MattH]

Definitely worth doing whilst your at it.

[Robert Nauer]

Pic of the junction box showing the typical burned connectors for the two main power circuits.

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[ScottyDave]

Mine only had the two "4 block" connectors left, the rest was a hacked rewire the obvious result of a harness fire.

[Robert Nauer]

Got the dash out today, found another melted portion of the wiring harness. Now just waiting for the new harness to arrive from YearOne,

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[MattH]

Good work there, take lots of pictures so it all goes back!

[Pete]

I had the same thing on my 440 R/T Challenger and I nearly lost the car.....

I did exactly the same as you, only I made the Loom from scratch.

Good luck with the resto.

[Robert Nauer]

Appreciate all of your support--I keep you all apprised of my progress