Rats chewed through my IAT sensor cable. should I just solder it? Or replace the connector? My car is in a parking lot and I only have a wall plug soldering iron so I'll have to power it via an inverter connected to the car's 12v. It has a socket that will power 12v when the car is off, I assume this would be best. Think I can power a $11 wimpy soldering iron for 5 minutes without killing my battery?
Shouldn't it run without it plugged in anyway?
It does, gotta pass the state inspection soon
Why don’t you drive it home?
Then your other limitations are meaningless. Go to and get what you need for a proper fix. In my actual professional opinion (mechanic) o would get a new connector and use weather proof crimp connectors. It would balance hands on time and quality of repair as a new pigtail is probably like 10 bucks. Solder is generally the not as good solution in a car as well as those wires will move about and solder can cause metal fatigue shortening the lifespan of the repair. Professional racecar who rely on their connections for million dollar races rely on crimp connections, not solder. Solder is boomer shit in this world.
However, you can also technically disassemble the connector and repair the connections there. For 10 bucks, a new one makes this a joke. Get a new one, crimp connectors that you heat up to shrink tight out the weather, call it a day.
Professional racecar builders*
And do the fricking work in the comfort of your own shop or even parking lot at home if youre a filthy city dweller. You're imposing limitations that don't have to exist. Not that it's not fun to think about and do now and again, I got my truck home with a dead fuel pump using the washer fluid pumps once, but thats because I wasn't gonna replace the fuel pump in the bar parking lot. And if it was easy enough if have gotten the truck to work and replaced the pump on an actual lift. If it'd just run like your vehicle? It'd been at the shop
Everyone says this, but I personally have never seen a solder joint fail due to vibration/fatigue. And I've soldered a shit ton of connections on every kind of farm and heavy equipment imaginable. Double wall adhesive lined heat shrink over the repair area is my go-to.
One area in particular on one of my machines is prone to broken wires. It is a big square baler and this sensor rides on an arm that moves in a wide arc. The wires that connect it to the machine are run through a rubber hose that is clamped on either end, and every time it stuffs hay up into the bale chamber it flexes and comes back. Of course when I fix that one I run new wires through the entire hose area and re-solder my connections on either end, but it's always the wire itself that fatigues and breaks and not the solder connection.
I have. Usually break right at the end of the solder. A high quality butt connector (think 3M) crimped with the proper tool will outlast a solder connection in any vibration environment.
OPs repair look adequate to me and should last through inspection no problem.
>Professional racecar who rely on their connections for million dollar races rely on crimp connections
They also rebuild those cars entirely every race or two, so longevity isn't a concern for them, ease of assembly is.
Get a new pigtail connector and replace that.
A 100W iron would need maybe 150W from the battery if you include inverter losses. 150W/12V = 12.5A. Maybe a 35AH battery? (total guess)
5min = 5min*(1hr/60min) = 0.0833 hr
12.5A*0.0833 = 1.04 Ah
So if your battery is in tip top shape 5min would use 1/35 of its capacity and you would be fine.
Replacing the connector is probably what a real mechanic would do, if they could get the part.. Try a solder repair, if you like the quality call it done.
>100w iron
Thay’s a big iron. If OP is using a cheapo basic one, I think those are more like 30W. And it’s two damn wires, get the iron hot and do it fast.
Thanks for the math
I completed the repair, total solder time was maybe 3 minutes. I cleared the code and drove around a few miles, it didn't come back but I should drive for an hour or so before calling it fixed. Now on to diagnosing/fixing a p0218 code
At least put some electrical tape on that shit
that's marine heat shrink tubing up there
Oh ok didn’t see that!
U driving with an overheated transmission? Vnwm4
Nice job. Soldering to a little stub of wire, like that, isn't fun. Went through it when mice chewed the knock sensor off my camry (located between the block and the firewall, UNDERNEATH the intake, naturally).
>knock sensor off my camry (located between the block and the firewall, UNDERNEATH the intake, naturally
5sfe?
That is the worst solder job I've seen in my life.
I solder for a living building night vision on low voltage 28guage wire and we still require better jobs on stuff with 1/100th the voltage that thing requires.
Still yet. I appreciate that you DID IT YOURSELF.
that looks terrible
should have just popped the pins out of the connector, removed and trimming the wire and then recrimped it
>p0218
most likely thermostat hung open (or not installed).
if it was the coolant temperature sensor itself or it's wiring, it should throw an additional code.
The thermostat appears to be the main culprit for my car and was an $11 part, it's arriving tomorrow. Looks like a messy job, how bad is it to leak engine coolant onto an asphalt parking lot? I'll put an oil pan and cardboard underneath anyhow
If the coolant is super rusty it will leave a stain, but it won't attack the asphalt or concrete.
Most of those plug in pens aren't more than 40w. It should be just enough for soldering a sensor wire together, outside. Wind and low ambient temp make soldering trickier.
Invest in colored marine heat shrink. It's not PVC, and has a glue layer on the inside. Also, you can get it in 4:1, instead of 3:1. HeatShrinkBuddy on ebay sells convenient colors and sizes.
Wirefy is a good brand of good quality heat shrink crimps, but their heatshrink crimp tool is nearly $40. There's a chinese copy on Amazon for $16 which is just as good.
if you're going to re-sleeve the whole connector, make sure to put the 4:1 on before you do the smaller individual wires. You probably want to invest in at least 4' ea of red & black 1/2" 4:1.
Hazard Fright has a marine heat shrink kit for a reasonable price, for your individual wire interconnects (if you're not using Wirefy).
Get a 1300 ohm resistor and pout in in place of the sensor just wrap the wire around the legs.
Congrats it's 70 all year round it'll help with gas mileage too.