SIR Wire Repair

The Supplemental Inflatable Restraint (SIR) system requires special wiring repair procedures due to the sensitive nature of the circuitry. These specific procedures and instructions must be followed when working with SIR system wiring, and wiring components (such as connectors and terminals).

TOOL REQUIRED
J 38125-A Terminal Repair kit
If any wire except the pigtail is damaged, repair the wire by splicing in a new section of wire of the same gauge size (0.5, 0.8, 1.0, etc.). Use the sealed splices and splice crimping tool from Terminal Repair Kit J 38125-A for these repairs. Use the following wiring repair procedures to ensure the integrity of the sealed splice.
1. Open the harness by removing the tape.
^ To avoid wire insulation damage use a sewing "seam ripper" (available from sewing supply stores) to cut open the harness.
^ Use the crimp and sealed splice sleeves on all types of insulation except tefzel and coaxial.
^ Do not use the crimp and sealed splice sleeve to form a splice with more than two wires coming together.
2. Cut the wire.
^ Cut as little wire off the harness as possible. You may need the extra length of wire to change the location of a splice.
^ Adjust splice locations so that each splice is at least 40 mm (1.5 inch) away from other splices, harness branches, or connectors.

NOTICE: Follow these procedures in the order listed. If the wire strands are damaged, repeat the procedure until a clean strip with all wire strands intact is obtained.

3. Strip the insulation.
^ When adding a length of wire to the existing harness, be certain to use the same size wire as the original wire.
^ To find the correct wire size do one of the following:
^ Find the wire on the schematic and convert the metric size to the equivalent AWG size.
^ Use an AWG wire gage.
^ If you are unsure of the wire size, begin with the largest opening in the wire stripper and work down until achieving a clean strip of the insulation.
4. Strip approximately 7.5 mm (0.313 inches) of insulation from each wire to be spliced.
^ Be careful to avoid nicking or cutting any of the strands. Check the stripped wire for nicks or cut strands.
^ If the wire is damaged, repeat step four after removing the damaged section.
5. Select the splice sleeve.
^ Select the proper sealed splice sleeve according to wire size.
^ The splice sleeves and tool nests are color coded (see the following chart).