I was tinkering away in the garage sand blasting the torsion bar adjusters this morning and thought about bringing down the two wiring harnesses I have in the barn. I know the one that came with my parts car looks like crap and has been cut into many times over a few decades, but the 2nd one I bought looks much more intact, just filthy.

I'm wondering what I can use to clean the dirt/grime/grease/random organic matter off of the wiring harness without affecting the wiring itself.

I wont be putting power to the harness for a few months so there should be plenty of dry time if required.

Any suggestions ???

Thanks

I would use a rag with diesel fuel. Any water based product will cause corrosion. Diesel as a solvent will make the wiring very clean and soften, slightly the insulation by adding oils back into the rubber. It will not damage the wire or insulation.

This is what I did, for cleaning I used simple green

http://phoenixhobbies.com/html/electrical.html

Use dampened rags and wipe them down. Simple green will take most of it off, use paint thinner or acetone if necessary - in well ventilated space and gloves. Careful with the acetone, it will remove the color striping and wire numbers, but will not cause other damage.

The casing is plastic, not rubber.

Hmmm.. ok .. I dont have anything else that runs on diesel soo it might be silly to goto the gas station and get a little container full.. I'll try the simple green stuff and if all else fails.. maybe just some water with a little dish soap in it. Like I said, I have a while until I'll put power to it so there will be lots of time to evaporate.
Cheers !

What is "simple green"?

Denatured alcohol works good too, and won't take off the color coding.

All purpose cleaner .............
http://www.simplegreen.com/products_all_purpose_cleaner.php

I've used WD-40 in the past