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Wiring design software

I thought this may be a wildcard longshot, but I'm planning on a full re-loom of my car and adding/removing etc a fair few parts. I just wondered if anyone knew of any software that would help me design my layout and requirements (and possibly wire colours!)?
 

davenn

Moderator
Hi Dan

there may well be, personally not aware of anything in the public sector, and would probably be propriety software held by the car manufacturers.

getting a service manual for your vehicle which would have wiring loom layouts would be a big help for you for a start :)

Dave
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
Moderator
My suggestion is "Use the same colours".

If you don't then anyone who has access to a manual when doing repairs in the future will get lost.

The alternative is to fully document your wiring, but you're still going to make it harder for the person who needs then to cross-reference both documents.
 
I seriously doubt you would be able to get anything - if you consider how even the same model of a car can change from year-year. Anyway, I suspect what the manufacturers use is little more than a generic CAD package.

If you posess a detailed anatomical knowledge of your car, I suppose you could build your own CAD model but thats quite an effort.

I would suggest using as much of the existing wiring as possible and not deviating from the current placements. Conceivably, It would be pretty easy to overlook something and run a wire past a hot part of the engine or exhaust, or even worse, have a fault in your wiring which generates a load of heat near fuel or hydraulic lines.

The best advice I would say is get a garage to do it for you or at least have your work checked by a mechanic.
 
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Actually that reminds me of a particular example involving a crazy unexpected fault in a car. I cant remember the make or model, but basically the middle brake light was connected via a metal conductor running around the back windscreen. This corroded over time increasing its resistance until one day the heat generated when pressing the brake pedal was enough to shatter the window almost instantly
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
Moderator
the heat generated when pressing the brake pedal was enough to shatter the window almost instantly

Look on the bright side.

It told you in a way you could not easily fail to notice that your brake light wiring was defective! :D

Edit: lucky they didn't wire the fuel tank that way. Instant notification AND punishment.
 
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