I unscrewed the harness on my 2001 and besides the oxidation of the melted wire in the picture, everything including the resistor looked alright for its age. My dealer wants to charge me $75 for a resistor so I put it back together and everything worked for a little while again but it just stopped. Could it be the melted wire going to the harness that is causing a short? What would be involved to replace the harness and the bit of wire that has melted?
Mike

 

Go to a junk yard and get a new harness for a buck or two and solder the new harness back on. Hell, you can even get the resistor while your there!

 

yup i agree replace that harness, it is shot, you need a new harness, and more than likely a new resistor

 

After an unfortunate stroke of luck, the yards around me don't have a durango/dakota with the right resistor/harness. My resistor is quite melted to the harness so both will have to be replaced anyways. Is there a way to find them online so I could avoid my overpriced dealer?

 

the harness is the part you need, and try ebay, the resistor is $15 (US) at the stealership so just get it from them

 

Get the new pigtail from the dealership its updated from the older one with thicker guage wires and better connectors.my first time i lost only high and that was the problem, then i lost all low speeds and replaced my resestor with a factory one and have had not a problem since. first resestor was from carquest and more expensive than the dealer for once.

 

Got a new pigtail, higher gauge wire, and a new resistor from the stealership and installed it this evening. 90 degree week in Buffalo sounded too painful without A/C. Things seem to be happy with it again for the time being. Thanks for all the help!

 

np man, its part of what we do here

 

Do you think an amature enthusiast would be able to put together a wiring harness for a Heater resistor? If so, any advice on how to do it correctly?

 

Easiest way in my humble opinion is to remove and replaec the harness from a salvage yard donor. As long as you are not color blind you should be able to splice with fairly basic tools and supplies available at your local auto parts store. Here are a few key points to remember though.

1. Take a photo of the harness in your vehicle to bring to the salvage yard. Make sure the colors match for the wires. They should match but doesn't hurt to have modern technology at your disposal.

2. As long as the years are compatible a Dakota maybe acceptable substitute for donor harness..

3. On the donor vehicle once you have established the wire color coding.....cut the donor harness as close to the firewall as possible.

4. When you cut your bad harness cut as close to the resistor as possible.

The reason for number 3 and 4 is to leave as much wire as possible for splicing in case of a bad splice. There are only 5 wires but if you have someone good with splicing and electrical work especially in enclosed spaces you should be fine...

5. Just match the colors and ops check zip tie the left over wire.

6. Verify condition of donor harness and make sure it is in good shape.

7. Total cost should be under $50...not more than about $20 for the donor harness, and about $30 for connectors, crimping tool, electrical tape, etc...

8. If there is any power left in your current resistor...use that for troubleshooting and ops checking.... after wiring is spliced then install the dealer resistor.....No sense in ruining another brand new resistor if there is something in the wiring further down that is causing over voltage.


Good Luck!!!