Destroyed Deutsch connector on rear electrical box ('96 XP)

[dannyual767]

My XP was working great 2 days ago other than slow cranking with a good fully charged battery. I decided to replace some positive and negative cables just in case one was bad.

So today, I replace one and connect the DESS key and get nothing. No beeps and no lights. I check connections and all looks good. I open the rear electrical box and find one of the fuses is blown and one terminal is pretty much corroded off :facepalm:. I replace the fuse and I still get nothing. I open the front box and check the fuses. They're all good.

At this point I decide to check that small black ground wire that goes into the rear electrical box. I get no continuity from the battery to the big screw where all the grounds connect right below the coil. Next, I remove the rubber sealing boot from the top of the box and find that it's full of water. I disconnect the Deutsch connector and see this:





Of course that rubber sealing boot didn't do it's job of keeping water out. Looking at it closely makes me think that there is no way it can keep water out. Here is a pic of what I'm talking about:



Even pushing the rubber boot together with the rubber cylinder that my thumb is covering still won't keep water out. Water just runs down the wires and into the big rubber boot soaking the Deutsch connector and asking a lot of the connector's rubber seal.

Is there a secret to make this big rubber boot keep water out??

By the way, I do have a brand new Deutsch connector set to replace this trashed connector. I just need to find a way to keep the water out of the boot so that the connector doesn't stay wet.

 

[racerxxx]

Bummer, but at least you found the issue and have the replacement parts. As far as keeping the water out of the connector--find out why you're getting enough water in the bilge to get stuff that wet first. I hardly get any water in my bilge, only when jumping and it enters the air duct thru the seat, but still hardly any, and a quick spray with the hose shouldn't get that much water in there. A fix, perhaps just enough silicone to fill the voids around the wires and put cable ties around the top and the bottom like they should have, also looks like there is a tear in that boot. Also not sure if that is dielectric grease on there but you could probably lighten up on that a bit, really just put it on the female side of the connector so that when you plug that plug into the male pins (ebox side) the grease coats the pins, sometimes the grease can trap the moisture. So what is supposed to help you ends up hurting you. I also don't see the black ribbed seal around the gray plug, you can see the slight recess for it, pull your mag housing plug, there should be one there too.

 

[dannyual767]

racer, you're right! There's no ribbed seal on that connector! My new set has one, though.

The last time I looked at that connector was last summer (2012.) About the only water it gets on it is when I hose down the engine compartment to rid it of salt. Even then, I'm very careful not to get too much water around the electrical boxes. It just goes to show how the boot doesn't keep water from getting to the connector.

If you look closely at the last picture, you might be able to see some black silicone that I tried to use to seal the wires and the rubber cylinder under my thumb. I tried to get the silicone to seal around the wires and the inside diameter of that rubber cylinder as well as where it connects to the big bell shaped boot. This time I'll be a little more liberal with the black silicone.

And yes! I was way relieved to have found the problem. At first I thought that I was going to have to go through the nightmare of trying to find the break in the entire electrical system

 

[racerxxx]

Yeah, I always thought the boot was a joke, but something is better than nothing.

Great trouble shooting on your end! Sometimes you get luck and find the problem quickly, other times it makes you search high and low.