I have been doing a thorough inspection of my engine bay and have noticed that numerous harness extensions that connect plugs to various items have the covering or sheathing completely dried up and falling off. The individual wiring is exposed but doesn't look broken. I have no electrical issues at all. Do these coverings serve a purpose other than protecting the wires from the heat? Would it be necessary to retape all the exposed wires. If so, there are a number of them that are visible that need attention. If so is standard electrical tape acceptable? My 2001 has 103,000 miles. I assume any car of this age is going to have dried up sheathings. Should I be concerned or am I being way too ****? Thanks all.

 

I wonder if there's some shrink wrap type of electrical tape you could get rather than adhesive backed tape. That way you could clean it, wrap it, and shrink it - leaving it looking good.

And no, you're not being too **** - says the guy who interrupted work to go to his garage and check his wires under the hood (that are still taped OK). LOL

 

I'm glad I'm not the only nut job! lol Your car is 4 years newer than my old timer. Alot of drying up can occur in 4 years in Florida.

 

It's called "Heat shrink tubing" and can be purchased at Lowes.

 

High temperature wire loom corrugated tubing might be a better way to go. There is a slit to insert the wires and no heat gun needed as in the heat shrink tubing. I have this in my Infiniti for most of the engine wiring. It's also fairly cheap and very easy to install. Looks good as well.

 

+1 on the corrugated tubing. This is also VERY handy if you park your car outside and your location is prone to rats/mice looking for a warm place. Used the tubing to protect the wires from rodent chewing.

 

This is like the only thread on wire loom and corrugated tubing. What did you guys end up using?

-I like the corrugated tubing best but I feel I'd have to buy different diameters depending on the wires i'm covering ($$).
-The shrink method seems too much work.
-Heat-resistant wire loom tape is not the best looking but it appears easy, flexible, and cheap. And it's $5 for 25 meters on Amazon lol

I'm going with the last one.

 

My 06 LS430 wire wrap is still in good shape but the 04 SC430 wire wrap is falling apart. Being older by two years is a factor but also I think my SC430 may have spent more time covered but outdoors while my LS has always been garage indoors.
I don't think shrink wrap would work well as it would have to be large enough to fit over many of the connector plugs and not sure it would then shrink enough. Black electrician tape will not work because it will easily fail in heat and oily environment. High temp wrap created for auto environment is likely the way to go.
Something like this stuff -
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A1T9L47SOSLRWE

 

Yup, I'm going with that wrap. Gonna be doing a lot of work so i'll be re-wrapping wires/cables along the way.