The Fascinating Evolution of Automotive Wiring
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The fascinating evolution of automotive electrical systems traces back to the first mass-produced electrical system in the Ford Model T. Over its 19-year production, the Model T's electrical setup evolved from a simple magneto-powered ignition to incorporating elements found in modern vehicles. The narrative unfolds the transition from cloth-covered wires to advanced multipin and modular connectors, highlighting the technological leaps in automotive wiring.
In the early days, vehicles like the Ford Model T relied on cloth-covered, stranded copper wires, offering flexibility but limited durability. Early wiring faced challenges like moisture absorption and vulnerability to abrasion, leading to unreliable electrical systems. The introduction of rubber-covered wires presented a solution, albeit with its own set of drawbacks, such as brittleness over time.
The 1930s marked a significant shift with the introduction of bullet and spade terminals, eliminating the need for fasteners and allowing for more secure connections in tight spaces. This period also saw the advent of crimping, a method that enhanced connection reliability by avoiding soldering defects and improving resistance to vibration.
As vehicles became more complex, the need for efficient and reliable connectors grew. The aviation industry's adoption of circular connectors in the 1930s paved the way for similar advancements in automotive wiring. These connectors, characterized by their ruggedness and ease of use, set the stage for the standardization of components, ensuring reliability across various applications.
The introduction of synthetic polymers like PVC in the 1920s and 1930s revolutionized wire insulation, offering superior resistance to environmental factors. However, the evolving demands of automotive systems called for even more durable materials, leading to the adoption of advanced insulation materials in high-stress applications.
The 1950s saw vehicles integrating more amenities, necessitating the development of less costly, plastic-based multipin connectors. This period also marked the beginning of the transition towards electronic management systems in vehicles, significantly increasing wiring complexity.
By the 1980s, the need to transmit digital and analog signals efficiently led to the adoption of materials with low dielectric constants, minimizing signal loss. The era also welcomed the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus protocol, a robust communication system that allowed multiple electronic devices to communicate over a single channel.
The 1990s and beyond have seen vehicles adopting mixed network systems to cater to varied subsystem requirements, from critical controls to infotainment. The advent of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) have introduced new challenges and standards in automotive wiring, emphasizing safety and efficiency in high-voltage environments.
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That car actually did have a cylindrical plug :) 12:28
PLEASE make quantum computers part 2, you made part 1 ages ago and i've been waiting ever since
We don't like your color logo. Dislike ! Reported.
I'm an electronics design engineer and can say this was exceptional, drawings, graphics, animation, script, content, editing and audio. Including the spec numbers showed a complete understanding of the topic. Well done, thank you to everyone at New Mind.
Thanks you, there’s nothing more fulfilling than a stamp of approval from an industry insider.
I know nothing about electronics design and I enjoyed it too. :)
I am an automotive diagnostician and I specialize in wiring systems - OEM and custom with avionics experience. I enjoyed this video before I hit the play button. I am excited to see you leave something in the chat box. Thank you.
@@YTInnovativeSolutionback at you, thanks and glad you chimed in as well.
Mechanical engineer here. Tell me again why a failed tail light on new Ford pickup trucks cost $4,500 to repair. I don't care how great the drawings are, that is very poor design.
I was an engineering manager in wire harness manufacture for over 40 years, and have never seen such a complete and accurate presentation of electrical wiring in vehicles !
Hey Which software do you use for Designing and simulation of Wire Harness Design? And can you provide any resources for Learning as I am also An electrical Engineer with an interest in Automotive wiring. Thanks
I've been retired for a few years now, so am not right up to date. In my day, the customers designed the wire harnesses. Most of them used Pro-E (or whatever that is called today). Because they never took the time to enter the parameters of the components, their designs were full of errors. We developed in-house software to cross-reference all the items they specified (wire, terminals, seals, connectors), and sent them a list of errors, which they sometimes repaired on their drawings. Otherwise, we just made the corrections ourselves, frequently getting in trouble with their quality departments because our harnesses weren't (and couldn't be) "built to print". As I was exiting the field, more and more customers were putting pressure on the harness suppliers to design the harnesses for them. (Of course they didn't want to pay for that!)
Automotive wire harness engineer here: You NAILED it! Nice job!
Can you do the wires of an AE-86?
What kind of drugs do you need to do to be a harness engineer ?
@@user-me8uu5tx8dharness engineer here. I’ll take whatever you got to offer
I pulled the entire chassis harness out of a 2012 3 series a couple months ago. After I had it laid out on the shop floor, all I could think is: who the hell designs this and who the hell makes it? Imagining the multitude of design requirements that goes into making something like that and producing it accurately and repeatably is mind blowing.
I toured the Lockheed plant in Fort Worth, Texas (where they build F-35 jets, etc) They had huge tables set up with guides to run the wires on, some had to have been 30 feet long, hundreds of wires, ita how they laid out the wiring harnesses, was neat to see it like that.
I worked at car restorations with a friend as a hobby from 1982 to 2000. The first one I restored was a 1952 Chevy pickup. We didn’t have a wiring diagram, but the harness was so simple that we didn’t need one. The next one was a different story. It was a 1970 302 Boss. There was nothing wrong with it mechanically or bodywise. The insurance company totaled it because of faults in the wiring harness. I found out from an adjuster that insurance companies considered wiring harnesses to be unreparable after 5 years because the insulation gets brittle and cracks when disturbed. Fortunately, we had a source that could get us original wiring diagrams for almost anything. I designed a pegboard that allowed me to run all the wires before termination and looming based on a film I had seen on late night TV showing a wiring harness being built in the 60’s. The Boss was the first time I tried it, and it worked perfectly. The assessor never even noticed it wasn’t original. The only reason I stopped was because I only knew wiring and my friend died (he was 80). We preffered pre 1980 cars because after that there were so many different types of wire required that it was costing a fortune. We always tried to restore to factory original, with the exception of paint. We left that up to the buyers. I did it as a hobby, but it was a business for my friend. He actually believed Social Sucurity would be enough, so he needed the money. My favorite was a 72 Challenger, but the most impressive was a 73 Duster. That car was just a freak. Unfortunately, the buyer wrecked it a week after he bought it. We salvaged the drive train, and we were going to put it in a street rod, but we never finished it. We did about 6 cars a year, mostly muscle cars. I look at the wiring harnesses in today’s cars and I don’t have a clue.
You would probably enjoy wiring a modern race ECU from scratch, Im doing exactly that for my 89 MR2 SC and updating it with modern individual coils and wastegate control and sensors, its taught me quite a lot, especially since Im using the stock motor and stock chassis harness. Also as someone who also works on modern cars as a mechanic professionally, I can say its given me a lot better understanding of the core functions of a modern wiring harness, without all the VVT controls and useless sensors and bs. I fucked up the first attempt at the wiring harness and now I'm going back to use mil spec connectos and do concentric twisting, then cover it all in heatshrink rather than the vinyl mesh type I used before. Its been a hell of a learning process and the projected cost has tripled, but the final result is all going to be worth it I know.
@@kylesebring My brother in law did a street rod using split plastic corrugated tubing. At first he was angry because all he could get was red, not black. When he was done, it looked so good his customer decided to leave it open engine instead of hood and side panel style cowling. Really made it pop. Personally, the most confusing I ever did was a 1960 VW Bug. It took forever to wrap my head around how it worked. That was when I realized you have to understand it to build it properly. I was an instrument and controls tech for most of my career. My hobby contributed greatly to my successful career. Before I retired, I was getting calls from all over the western US to come and rebuild control systems from plant managers who had seen my work. The whole reason my work looked so good was from what I learned building wiring harnesses. I do wish auto manufacturers would learn a few things about PLCs though…
@@Simple_But_Expensivea child can figure out a 1960 vw beetle wiring harness. If that don’t make sense Sorry you weren’t meant for automotive wiring As the entire Harness fits on one page diagram. Literally it’s as complex as a 1930s car.
@@fastinradfordable Yes, I know, but for some reason it just didn’t make sense to me. It took literally days for me to wrap my head around it. The 52 Chevy was easy even without a wiring diagram. The muscle cars were easy, just tedious. On the VW, for some reason I just blanked. Can’t explain it, it just was. I have rewired about 7 Bugs (58-70) since with no problem, but that first just faceplanted me for about 3 days.
And for all that complexity, they totally forgot about fault-tolerance, robustness, repairability, and reliability. It's not just sticker-shock that makes people not want to buy new cars.
As a 20yr business owner building motorsport harnesses, this is a great video for anyone that doesnt understand automotive electrical
so they don't complain when they are charged for 20+ pin connector purchase or repair. agree.
@@VladGoro25 When I first started, I thought something was wrong that a 66 pin Autosport connector was $400 for the pair plus the cost of terminals. Now I know that its just part of the business and have no problem justifying 15-20k for a more exotic engine harness. The time to concentric twist everything, to shrink it, boot it plus connectors costs a lot of money, but the results are awesome.
Your ability to pronounce the modern day insulation materials without a stutter or any mishaps goes to show just how much effort and care goes into your content. Being a technician myself, I would have made the effort to pronounce those words correctly, but only once. I would focus on the acronyms and the various applications if it was my script. Great video. This is incredibly detailed and highly educational. I will probably view this one a few times this week.
Thanks for noticing.
@@NewMind Be honest... Some of those took a few takes to roll off the tongue! :P
I just assumed it was computer-generated speech. They sound very human these days.
@@Hakucho64 if we hear someone who can speak technical, legalese, medical and pharmaceutical without struggle or error, then we can safely assume AI.
They also mix up simple homonyms, I think you're right. Like "wear" at 1:15
You don't owe us the highest quality, and yet you keep raising the bar with each video. Thank you so much!
Working on modern day automotive electronics is the bane of my existence
Leave it to the pros
That's what the pros say themselves. Modern cars are overly complicated electronically and will break more often and be harder to fix because of numerous badly thought out interdependencies as well as blatant anti consumer (and anti non licensed mechanics) design and programming.
@@AJ-ln4smhe is the pro
@@AJ-ln4sm You don't sound like the kind of person who can help themselves or others. Me? I started doing my own appliance repair at 7, fixed a washing machine and it cost my mom only $15 for a new solenoid valve. Then I fixed the heating element in our dryer, I fixed several CRT TV's despite the "danger", I did my own complete brake job recently swapped out my stock brakes for some TSX brakes of the same year (I have a Honda) so it was a nice upgrade in stopping power without losing ABS, etc. I flushed the lines twice just to make sure it was all new brake fluid. I did my own research and learned which kind of thread locker you want to use, bought the manual and got the torque to spec. I've saved easily ten grand in my reasonably short life of 33 years. You sound like the sort who just pays someone else for everything you do and I have to say I don't respect those kinds of people. They're no help in an emergency.
@@AngryAmericanWizard if you were a good looking girl, I'd marry you lol. I'm an engineer and I like repairing everything by myself :)))
Outstanding video! I am a marine systems tech working on everything from basic DC to drive-by-wire control systems for Mercury, Volvo, and Yamaha. I will show this video to our service department!
Thank you for having such a wonderful channel - one that avoids clickbait, and which covers exactly what the video says it will. It is the most welcome breath of fresh air on KZhead, and it’s the reason I always watch your videos. And I’m sure it’s also the reason your channel will keep growing.
how it is always fascinating to see how much jem-packed your videos are love your work
My first car was a 50's British model. It's entire electrical system diagram fits on one page. The same diagram for my 2018 car requires hundreds of pages, not including the interior wiring contained in many modules and devices.
Same, my 1972 Spitfire had a 1 page wiring diagram with a mere 3 fuses - my 2002 Volvo had a page per sub system but was still fairly easy to decipher (no CAN) but my 2014 Volvo needs a laptop to talk to every single flipping module which randomly chuck meaningless errors and hundreds of pages of wiring, not to mention the bazillion different connectors - it’s almost like they don’t want you to be able to work out what’s wrong 😑
@@Umski That last sentence, you almost got it. But careful, these are oooh 'conspiracy theories'..
I wonder how long will your 2018 clunker last compared to the 50's one.
yes we all know
I first encountered cannon plugs in the Navy. I always thought they were called that because they resembled the end of a cannon. Thanks for the extra tidbit of information I wasn’t expecting!
I always thought they were made by the Japanese camera company, Canon.
@@slowerthansound not a bad theory either
I kind of wondered, but never gave it much thought as to why they had that name.
I think New Mind made a mistake here, Cannon Electric founder and inventor of the Cannon plug was James H. Cannon not Robert Cannon.
Cannon really changed the game for a lot of industries. I work in live entertainment and daily we use various forms of the XLR connector, which started out as the Cannon X series, then they added the latch feature, so it became the XL connector and then they added the rubber insulation between the pins on the female side, resulting in the final XLR connector that every sound and lighting tech uses daily. Though these days most XLR connectors are manufactured by Neutrik or Amphenol.
One of the biggest changes in the automotive wiring is 10Base-T1S standard. This is basically 10Mbps ethernet, but over a single pair (normal 10Base-T uses 2 pairs, and 1000Gbps uses 4 pairs). It is a high speed, muilti-drop and optionally collision-less standard, that is highly compatible with standard ethernet. There are also 100 and 1000 Mbps variants (more for cameras and lidar applications), as well a separate but similar standard called 10Base-T1L, with high range (it is not used in automotive, with primary applications being industrial and building automation). They can also provide power to low power devices without extra cabling. In cars, these standards will likely displace CAN, LIN, and other similar tech, either by native Ethernet / IP traffic, or tunneling CAN and LIN. The estimated benefits are reducing cost and weight of the wiring harness by half, while providing higher performance.
I am addicted to watching all of your automotive related videos, as of now I have watched this video 7 times and will probably continue to go back and watch others. As an automotive service technician I thank you for your high quality content and so many automotive videos. I recommend your channel to as many other technicians as I can
Great stuff. I’m hiring this guy to wire my house.
I like how you said house when the whole video was about automotive and aircraft wiring. Haha!
@@Hesthegreatest1 Thats because my cars don’t need rewiring, I don’t have aircraft, but I do have a house.
@@circusitch haha! I got you. Just making youtube banter.
I highly recommend a licensed electrician instead-most of them i know don't know jack about history but they'll do it faster than any historian i know
This video popped up on my feed, not expecting much I clicked on it. I found it very interesting and was blown away by the amount of information packed into it. What an awesome job, well done!
Would be cool to see a history/development of automotive frames/unibodies
Yes to this
Huibert Mees, the guy from the KZhead channel Suspensions Explained is planning to do a video on chassis stiffness in the future. But there are plenty other interesting suspension videos on his channel.
15:15 What all of these bad boys have in common is that they are pretty tough to seperate without breaking thier locking mechanisim. Especially when they are caked up with dirt. 21:25 This by the way works only semi well in practice. Since every manufacturer is allowed to be thier own special shade of wierd and only a few of the diagnostic codes are normed for emmisson related errors. Even expensive and fancy interfaces like Gutman or Autel Struggle to get anything out of lets say something goofy like an Iveco Daily. The bus systems in general are among the most bullet proof things on cars today. That is as long as a manufacturer doesnt suffer from the big dumb and decides to expose the wires to places where they can break from bending or scrape open from bottoming out. (Yea ive seen this before) 22:50 Biggest thing about HV vehcles is that instead of having the chassi as a ground it runs HV-ground back to the battery via a seperate wire. All HV wires are bright orange and are constantly being checked by a pilot line. Even if you really wanted to hurt your self with the HV system youd need to be very intentional and know what youre doing.
BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Land Rover have reported this video for hate speech.
An oddly relevant video for me as I am in the process of going through wiring from 3 different generations of vehicle to create a hybrid wiring harness allowing the transplant of a more modern fuel injected engine into an older car from 1987. Thank you for the historical perspective!
I fix new car wiring every day. My own vehicle has a mechanical diesel that doesn’t even need a battery That’s a true working man’s car. It don’t take a hundred engineers and specialty sourced materials for basic function😂
That was a brilliant video on basically the history and breakdown of any electrical control system. I have been working in the electrical system automated controls fields for over 25 yrs and currently support large number of engineers with no or little electrical knowledge in large projects with system controls as a vital component. The fact that it is about vehicles makes it easier to absorb from a non technical electrical mind since every human has a constant personal contact with a car. The principles, control systems, wiring, equipment protocols, developments and explanations allow the information you provide in this excellent visual format, to be taken into other electrical control fields as an exemplification. outstanding video and content that you have produced, the delivery of this in the various formats and visual techniques is brilliant work. Thank you.
Those high pin count circular connectors are so 😍🥰 Browsing through catalogs of 38999 style connectors one will find that the sheer number of options and resulting part numbers is absolutely bewildering 😊
We all just watched and enjoyed half an hour talks about electrical wire. Means this was extremely well made!
This video was stellar. The menagerie of connectors that hobby makers come across is daunting, so having accessible explanations like this is a great comfort. Thank you!
0:17 "Stop jumping up and down or I swear I'll pull this car over and kick you *both* out!"
😂
😂😹
Excellent documentary, as always. Thank you!
I don't do many comments but I just have to say this vidio is one of the best I have ever watched on so many levels. First class stuff.
You are underrated. The video might be hard to understand but it provides enough information for us normal folks to understand. I can see your passion, you had to study about many things just to make this video. Keep it up.
What a great video! This has been the absolute best explanation of not only modern day wiring harnesses, but the history of them all. As a car enthusiast and past automotive engineer/master craftsman, I feel this is a great video for anyone wanting, or needing to grasp automotive electronics. Great work!
Thanks for sharing this amazing video with us! 💚
This is highly educative video for free. I appreciate the huge effort you put into this material, it is fascinating! It helped me a lot as I am exploring automotive industry!
You just earned yourself a new subscriber. Brilliantly done video. I'm a car guy and I love cars. I also love learning about the evolution of cars and car components. And you've got it all. Great footage, very good animation, good script, great editing, going into details including specs and standards and a pleasant voice and no begging for subs and likes. Keep it up my man! You're awesome!
Understanding the history and the reasons why different technologies were developed is not only interesting, but a big help when putting projects together. Great video. THank you!
Love your content! I think a video about the history automotive lighting/signaling and the optics that make it work would be fascinating. It seems that many take that aspect of automotive design and engineering for granted.
Super thorough...RESPECT...👊
Exactly what a youtube video should be... perfect in every way
your videos cover such interesting topics and are so well researched. it doesn't seem right that you don't get millions of views per video
this is the most inforamtive harness documintaion video i've seen. thank you very much for your effort in everything. i enjoyed it a lot.
Bravo! The quality of this video is top notch. Thanks a lot!
Great video! Thank you New Mind ⭐✨
This was great. I did not know about balanced serial communication. Now I've got something new to consider when making my wiring harness for my stuff. Great video. 😎👍
New mind... you make vids on stuff that not many would wanna dare try to make as they take so much time and research than many other things such as how fuel injection got better or such. Thank you so much!
This was incredibly informative. Thank you!
Been WAITING WAITING on this one, thank you!!
Appreciate your efforts that you solely focused on wires and connectors in a huge detail. We would also love to see such a lovely detailed video on Wire Harnesses and various materials, methods and styles adapted in the automotive and Aerospace industry. Thank you.
Your work may have solved a communication issue I’ve battled with … nice job!
like a time line of my life as an automotive electrician.
Excellent. Learned something new/ re-learned what I had forgotten. Thanks.
Am an electrical automotive engineering student. I must say this is a complete, factural, easy to understand content about automotive wiring.
These videos are exceptionally well researched and put together.
This is so good. I like how it went to early aircraft electric connectors to car back again
This was a professional well-done video! The next video needs to be on the next chapter, which has just been written. The Cyber truck moved to a 48v system and an Ethernet loop, moving past the Boch CAN BUS system. Well done! Great history lesson.
Agree, I was hoping this video would talk about that in the end, but perhaps/hopefully in another video in the future.
A superb video, very clear and easily understandable explanation. Would also like to see a video of modern vehicle E/E architecture.
Very well done. You incorporated a lot of good pics and videos. Only missing one terminal connector, but well before your time. I had a 1908 installed elevator, that may have been the very first ring terminals. (Stakons) To make connections of up to #6 copper wire, they took a 1-1/4" length of 1/4" copper tubing, flatten one end and drill a hole in it. Then they soldered a wire on one end and could either put the flattened end on a terminal or bolt them back-to-back in a motor box. Brilliant for 125 years ago😁
Human ingenuity and determination have led to countless innovations across various fields. Your videos are very good as always, an old sub here.
Very very good production. Thorough and brought us right up to the 21st century. Impressive
The degree of research that would've went in these videos is mind boggling. Kudos to you.
This was great production. Thanks
This was outstanding! When I started as a Mechanic in the mid seventies wiring seemed complicated. When electronic ignition came out we thought, how will we ever diagnose this black box mystery!
10/10 great video as always
Great topic, great video. Well done.
amazing video as always
This topic made me realise that you can make a video about anything and everything and still be informative.
Awesome video mate, very well put together, I've been working on cars for 35 years.
Are you an electrical engineer? you have no idea how much i enjoyed it. TOP NOTCH... Subscribed!
KZhead time well spent. Please do a video on ABS and traction control.
That was an excellent video 👍 Thank you 👏
i've been waiting for this video my whole life
Well done and very informative
Meanwhile, my old Ram has a marine fuse block and a bunch of toggle switches running everything! If the harness looks like angel hair pasta, I won't touch it with a ten foot fiberglass pole. Long Live the Classics!! :3
Very informative video! You've earned another subscriber
The one of the best KZhead channel in the World 🌎 ❤️
Thanks for this professional video.
Terrific vídeo thank you so much to share so interesting and fullfill vídeo, as wiring harness engineer so thankfull such a complete content video
In the military we still commonly call the threaded ring circular connectors "Cannon plugs" regardless of who makes them.
You can always tell an aircraft mechanic because every connector is a (cannon plug). When I switched over to heavy equipment I got a lot of strange looks. Great video
As an automobile electrical harness engineer myself, working for customers like Piaggio, Aprilia and sometimes Isuzu, it takes so much effort & focus to accurately prepare a single harness & much more hassle for consistent mass production.
This is so well done 👍
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Cybertruck which not only made the switch to 48V but also uses ethernet and controllers in a token ring like setup.
probably because its a joke of a car not worth mentioning! evs catch fire too much, nobody wants them.even hertz usa is selling off their evs.
Love the channel!
Great video with lot's of useful information, thanks
Epic video❤ Make a similar one about optics or lasers
A very well done intro. Working with automotive and autosport/milspec wiring myself
Excellent! Thank you!!
Really good video on the evolution of car connectivity! When the first cars were manufactured many of them were battery powered by lead acid cells, would love to go back in time with any current EV of 2024 and show those pioneers how their early work contributed to the phenomenon that has transformed human personal transportation today.
As an Embedded electronics engineer, I can say, like many others here, that this video is just brilliant! I particularly loved the way you presented the humble beginnings of the automotive industry, comparison with aviation, advancements in chemical engineering, to the description of the communication protocols. In the beginning of the video, I was expecting CAN would get a brief mention, but you went way beyond it! I wish a content this good was available when I was a student 😊
Good and detailed work.
How do you do your research... Finding all the history is super interesting and helps explain the complexities of these simple products. Would be very interested in a similar video on Network and Computer cables.
So so interesting. Fantastic vid. Thanks
Thank you very much for this interesting lecture.
I'd love a video on the future of automotive wiring featuring 48 volt architecture like on the Cybertruck.
Great video! Thank you!
outstanding! loving this history.....tech progression
Working in aviation has brought me familiarity with canon style plugs and I’m also starting to learn more about digital communication systems. Wish I could like the video more than once!
I have a masters degree in embedded systems. And this video should be in curriculum. it is so well made. thank you for making it. I can understand the efforts that went in for this video. thank you so much!. Love form india.
I love working with older ring terminals and spade connectors, they're so DIY friendly. ATO fuses, bosch-style relays, and a few common switches and components all use the same size of spade connector. Making it easy for a home-gamer to customize or repair their own wiring. Newer connectors are a bit easier to (dis)connect and are waterproof, but there are so many different pin types and connector housings. It would have been nice if there was some more standardization. But car makers have demonstrated that they're more interested in obfuscating their components and making everything proprietary.
The video was very good. I only missed a little bit in the end Tesla's latest development of their patented modular wiring system to cut down on 90+% of wires
Wonderful presentation...
Fantastic video