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I ordered a new starter for a 2002 dodge caravan. The picture showed a wiring harness. I pulled the old starter out today and of course it has a harness. The new one only has a screw like a normal starter. My question is can I cut the harbess and splice a connection onto the wire to use with the new one.
I ordered the correct one. And everything matches up perfectly except for the harness. The old one has one screw and the harness. The new one showed the same thing when i ordered it. When i went to install it it has 2 screws. And being the weekend the van is stuck on ramps and i was hoping to avoid having to send it back and wait for a replacement.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Most auto parts places will not do a return on any electrical items. Is there a cover that you can remove to access the screws that the harness is connected to? Play with the old one to see, and if so, do that, and if possible, transfer the harness to the new one. Splicing can be problematic on a starter, which needs the full 100% of power from the battery.
If you do a very good job of splicing and get the wiring 100% correct, it should be fine. I have removed broken electrical-connectors on all sorts of stuff, never had a problem.
Is splicing-in a connection the optimal solution, no, it is better to have the proper connector installed.
Excessive power-drops in the starting-circuit and quite common, don't add a problem with your
splice-job.
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