Replacing harness pins

JHZR2

Staff member
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
52,633
Location
New Jersey
For some reason, Mercedes amplifiers tend to collect moisture in their harness connection. I’ve seen this on different classes with different amps.

I’m going to try to fully revive my OE system, but the one side amp was so bad the power pin had completely corroded away, both the anp and harness side.

FFCB853C-8364-4FD1-9CD7-471E401DCFC6.jpeg
AFFE10F5-F035-4737-A7F5-89F5756B68EF.jpeg


I need to replace the female end of the red wire in the second picture. I’ve never had much success with this kind of stuff. Nothing ever wants to come apart or work easily.

So I’m hoping for some guidance. How do I determine what size female end that I need? Where is the best place to get a few for a reasonable price? I assume it’s as simple as crimp on and slide in?

I’m not sure I can get the whole black end apart to look at others without damaging it. I could barely get it out of the amp on either side, and using a tool showed me how fragile they are and prone to cracking.

Thanks!
 
The OEM parts catalog for my BMW listed all the pins and sockets as well as an appropriate tool to remove them from the plug. I ordered them over the years from an online BMW dealer, does Mercedes-Benz also list the components in their catalog?

This is one page from the BMW catalog but there were more, some of the pins came with a pre-attached pigtail.

 
The OEM parts catalog for my BMW listed all the pins and sockets as well as an appropriate tool to remove them from the plug. I ordered them over the years from an online BMW dealer, does Mercedes-Benz also list the components in their catalog?

This is one page from the BMW catalog but there were more, some of the pins came with a pre-attached pigtail.

MB has very rigorous paper and digital parts catalogs. One even came with at least one of my cars.

Thing is, I don’t know how to size these. Unless the catalogs have very specific pointers to the specific part, I still need to understand how to size it. I’d assume the female end should be a bit smaller than the male pin so there is good contact and friction.
 
Well, it’s been a while but I think what I did was a “buy a few of each” approach. They weren’t that expensive and I probably didn’t buy all of them, just the round ones for example. I think most of the round ones on the car were of only two diameters.

I tried going to a place like Mouser or Digi-Key but holy cow I had no idea what I was doing there. Talk about a bewildering array of available terminals.
 
Well, it’s been a while but I think what I did was a “buy a few of each” approach. They weren’t that expensive and I probably didn’t buy all of them, just the round ones for example. I think most of the round ones on the car were of only two diameters.

I tried going to a place like Mouser or Digi-Key but holy cow I had no idea what I was doing there. Talk about a bewildering array of available terminals.
No dice in the EPC.

The connector is by #221, no pins noted.

3C3CB947-E73C-4400-9FD6-A99B9465C2CD.jpg


So it’s back to the drawing board. How to size it properly. I’d suspect that I could get the dimensions of a pin. Even if I broke or snipped one off of the corroded/failed amp.

I wonder if I’m better off just using the head unit as a power source and putting in a Kenwood Bluetooth amp…
 
Check the catalog for a dedicated pin diagram? That’s how it is for BMW.
It’s not helpful if I don’t know dimensions. I think I need to get the pin cross sectional area and shape, and I assume the female end is the same size or slightly smaller to have an interference fit?
 
It’s not helpful if I don’t know dimensions. I think I need to get the pin cross sectional area and shape, and I assume the female end is the same size or slightly smaller to have an interference fit?
Yeah I think it’s by pin size. But there aren’t an unlimited number of sizes so once you get a general idea you can tell which one it is by sight.
 
Back
Top