Hello,

I really need a few questions answered and I'm hoping some here can help.
My mother was driving our 2005 chevy cobalt and she says that she turned on the a/c **** or maybe pushed it a little hard but she smelled burning.

I disassembled a bit of the dash and removed the climate controls and found that the middle plug was a bit burnt and the dark green wire on the same harness was a little chared colored.
Before I removed from the car I figured I could just replace the whole unit with a used 1 from eBay for around $35 but upon closer inspection I realized that the connection/plug from the harness end was melted and so was the female end on the climate control.

So either way I went ahead and ordered the climate control unit but I'm left wondering whether I can replace the wiring harness myself since the male connection piece is melted and the dark green wire it discolored.

My questions are wer can I purchase a new harness?
Also what is it called exactly?
And wether it would be relatively easy like plug and play like the rest of the setup?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

Try a junk yard in your area. That would be cheaper than buying a harness. They can give you the plug with the wires already attached. You can then cut your plug off and splice the wires color for color. The best way to do this is to solder the wires and use heat shrink tubing to insulate them. This makes a better connection which is moisture resistant.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.
I thought about that but I had second thoughts because it seemed like the wire was affected. I don't know much about electrical work but the wire looked burnt near the plug along with the burnt plug and if it was a short or something would that travel all the way to the opposite side of the harness and affect whatever it's connected to deeper in the dash?


What is the harness called specifically? How much do you think it would run me? On the opposite end of the plug the side that's deeper in the car wer I can't see is it soldered to something or is it a similar plug that I would simply be able to swap out?


I don't have much experiance soldering but I will do that over paying a dealer.


Again any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

 

If the wire was also heated you could tell by the discoloration of the insulator. You would just need to go back to good wire and cut it there. You don't need to replace all of the wire if it has not been heated. You can tell if it is discolored. The other end should be good if the discoloration doesn't go back to it. It probably would have blown a fuse or a fusible link before damaging anything.

 

Would you happen to know if I can use any device to be certain like a volt meter or something?

Also would you happen to know where the other end is located? Would I have to remove the whole dash?

 

I took another look and the light blue wire is discolored all the way to the blower motor resistor which is also seems damaged as 2 of the 4 teeth on the plate are burnt.

Any ideas I still haven't checked the fuse but what do you think my options are?

 

Replace the light blue wire and the resister. Follow the other wires back as far as you can and look for discoloration.

 

Where can I find replacements for the wires?

 

You can use any wire of the same size. Most auto parts stores and hardware stores have them.