[TR] Electrical connection to coil

[Randall]

> For the second time in a couple of years, I have had the thin white
> wire
> from the fuse box that feeds the coil snap off at the crimp-on
> connector
> that affixes it to the coil.

My suggestion: Splice in some more wire, so there are several inches of
slack between the coil & the harness on the inner fender.  I'm guessing that
yours was pulled kind of tight, so it gets stressed when the engine rocks
over on its mounts (they do move more than you'd think).  For the splice,
get some white heat shrink tubing, and make a "Western Union" type joint,
then solder it and install the heat shrink over it.
http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14176/css/14176_46.htm

At the coil, cut the vinyl insulation off of the new crimp connector, and
slide some suitable heat shrink onto the wire before crimping the connector
on.  Then solder the tip of the wire to the connector, where it extends out
of the crimp; and put the heat shrink over the crimp so it extends about an
inch onto the wire.  This protects and insulates the connection, as well as
acting as a strain relief.

Since I've started doing connections this way (egad, has it really been 30
years?!) I've never had one fail.  At the time, I was working for a company
that installed computer systems on board seismic survey ships, that had to
connect to various ship's sensors.  To run a seismic survey, they set off
the equivalent of a keg of dynamite near the stern of the ship, every 5-8
seconds, literally for days on end (basically until something broke or it
was time for a crew change).

I really hated getting called back because a connection failed!

> If the latter, does one use regular (vinyl) electrical tape to re-wrap
> the loom?

Some do, but it makes an awful mess for later.  The adhesive will simply not
stand up to conditions under the hood for very long, and the tape gets hard
and stiff, so eventually you will wind up with a ball of partially unwrapped
tape around your harness.  I would avoid it if at all possible.

-- Randall