Wiring Trouble??

[cyronman]

So, while I was ripping out the Wolo horns today that the previous owner had installed, I gave the engine bay a lookover.
To my horror I discovered that I had somehow left a work glove under the hood up in the back-passenger side corner (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/10040/ppuser/2573).
Looking down behind it (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/10042/ppuser/2573), I saw that the glove had fried a bit and crumbled into
some small, flaky pieces. The real harm though was to what looks like the major electrical artery from the fuse box under the hood to inside the vehicle.
THIS (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/10043/ppuser/2573)is what my camera saw at full zoom.

Am I overreacting, does this just call for a tape job?
Or does this look like a potential mess?

[johnnyapollo]

Looks like you got a bite of the engine harness but it doesn't look like you've broken any of the wires. I would worry mostly about that one exposed copper wire - that should be sealed up - you might try a dab of silicone. Before you worry too much, put an amp/ohm meter on the exposed wire to see if any current is flowing through it. Many of the wires in the harness aren't actually used and this could be one of them - you could also check the schematic in the online manual to see if that color wire is listed (it'll take some investigative work but may be worth it for piece of mind). If you do use a dab of silicone - after it dries wrap the whole intrusion up well with tape. What you're trying to do is keep water out of there, so you can get extreme (there are a few different ways you can seal it up).

Since you aren't seeing any type of electrical failure you're probably fine. This is one of those things where you can just tape it and hope for the best, or spend a lot of time working through to fix the issue (but it may not be worth it if the wire isn't even used) so take your pick. I generally try to do the simplest things first and escalate further if needed.

-- John

[tom4bren]

I agree with Johnny. It looks like the integrity of the wires is OK. Apply RTV liberally then tape it up to look all purdy. The RTV will provide the weather proofing and the tape will just be for abrasion and/or asthetics.

[etlsport]

any idea what caused that? i wouldnt think a work glove would do that..

[cyronman]

any idea what caused that? i wouldnt think a work glove would do that..

That's all I could think of.
It was right on top of/stuck to the cable.
If that cable gets warm during operation, then it must have melted the glove to it, which then frayed the cable.
But shouldn't that be heat-resistant? Or is that what you're saying?

[tom4bren]

I was kind of guessing that it was a chemical reaction between the glove and the harness. Any heat source would have degraded the insulation on the wires & it looked in the picture like only the harness cover was effected.

[cyronman]

I globbed on some silicon last night and it looked pretty good this morning.
The hard part will be taping it up. I can only fit my hand in there in one position at a time.

Thanks for the help on this, guys.

[tom4bren]

You could forgo the tape. It's just a second line of defense against further damage & that area is pretty well protected.