Replacement 9 pin connector

[TC10284 111]

What do you guys use to replace the main 9 pin connector on 400/500 series with Onans? 

[ebinmaine 70,704]

 

Contact this ebay seller. They have new ones.  

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/usr/classickitchensandmoreyork

[953 nut 57,871]

In my opinion you are better off removing the wires from the Nine Pin Connector and splicing the pairs with a good soldered connection. The nine pin was just what Onan already had on the engines and made the job easier on the assembly line. They are not a great connector and offer no advantage at all.  

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Lowell has one too:
https://wheelhorsepartsandmore.com/product/9-pin-connector/

[WHX?? 50,702]

I think @rmaynard used to have some. 

 

I'm with Richard tho I have had too many go bad. Western Union splice and solder/shrink wrap. The motor has to come out yer gonna have more problems than a connector or cutting wires. 

[rmaynard 15,913]

5 hours ago, WHX?? said:

I think @rmaynard used to have some. 

Yes, I did. Problem is that I bought all that the distributor had. Now I can't get them any longer. That's been over 2 years ago. I'll try to get some more if I can find any.

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

I think I found the proper replacement, arrived too late for me to do anything with it tonight, but tomorrow will test it out.  Hopefully I can just replace the pins which are damaged and reuse the ones which are good. 

[rmaynard 15,913]

I found a source I think...

I have ordered 50 of them sight unseen. Hopefully they are correct. Apparently these are the last of them.

[WHX?? 50,702]

Another thing I have done before I knew any better is just cut out the wire that causes the

damage and use bullet connectors. I think it is the charge wire? CRS. 

3 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

Apparently these are the last of them.

I don't think so Bob they were a common connector in the HVAC biz and orderable through parts vendors. 

[rmaynard 15,913]

6 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

I don't think so Bob they were a common connector in the HVAC biz and orderable through parts vendors. 

 

Not saying you are wrong, but when Eldon used to sell them, he had a 9-pin connector that was widely available from many sources. However, the one that I sold was the only one that was directly compatible with the existing connector on Wheel Horse. That way, if only one side was bad, you didn't have to replace both sides. 

 

Check the ones that you have in the HVAC business and see if they are interchangeable with Wheel Horse. If they are, I will be surprised.

[TC10284 111]

These may not be the exact shape on the individual plastic part covering the pins, but these are about as close as you can get aside from ordering from the guys above.
 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B6FF8CW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Or:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303272562834?_skw=molex+9+pin+connector&itmmeta=01JSC9AX5R32KTTZ0414A2GCBW&hash=item469c741092:g:FSYAAOSwRqxdzU3f&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eqKBwNfk99i81DvshzKY0M%2FcaWhUABAbVaT6dI82D8BQqvk%2Fy%2Fo9xGXcp8657HnHTUixCW6CIc%2BcW5GNiCQn0M8o3UI%2BMXFllK3j09advMk7ldnTdVkeCqo%2Fg%2By67ZqmphfB0vvlhsgoRKMKdBalZrd4Y2VHN0Sx2Vqq5XOO421QD30pY%2BceQ8pZgY%2BlnUJsZfOpwfRNhn6d0lUmJvx7o7NPS0%2BqXf9ochwAV2kZQr%2Fq6cAEzlFj6C9luHY1Ckvrej9s6qLwHT3xDC0%2FB6bfIwxm5xjxzD8MHSKAKrMH6A7g%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4rTq4nLZQ

I am going to try this pigtail first and see how that goes. If nothing else, go back to original, or just use the heat shrink/solder type of connections, or I could use the individual quick connect/disconnect "bullet" style ones. 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DS22YP5Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 

Edited Monday at 01:47 PM by TC10284

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Testing both ends before depinning, perfect fit and look identical.

 

next to be certain that the pins are identical, and they are. 

 

I depinned the pins on the engine side and replaced them is they came out bad or were burnt. If the pins were good, they got reused.

 

 

old and new

 

one side done. The tractor side has less room, so taking a break for a moment.

 

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

@TC10284 the Amazon link is what I bought.  It is exactly identical, at least for my 1995 416-8.

[WHX?? 50,702]

4 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

Check the ones that you have in the HVAC business and see if they are interchangeable with Wheel Horse.

They were Bob ... Dan and I did a motor swap on these two girls and only replaced one side. My company even sprung for the terminal crimper. Looks like Coach has the crimper too! 

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Less room on the tractor side so I decided to take some time to make the wiring easier.

 

again, this is an exact match

 

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Now to reassemble the tractor!

 

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Amazon Molex 9-pin is the exact same plug and connectors, and best of all at the time of this post April 21, 2025 it is only $4.84 USD which includes Prime shipping. For those interested, these are the tools I had to do this (or at least similar to these)
Pin extractor

Crimping tool

 

For me I was getting intermittent power loss, but jiggling that harness I could get it going again. I took a shot on Amazon for a connector that looked the same and bought it with the pins.  It was a perfect match, absolutely identical in every way.  I decided to replace only the pins which were bad with the red “hot” wire being the worst.

The engine side of the harness is pretty easy to do since you can get to the wiring easily.  I found that some of the factory crimps weren’t as solid as they should have been, those terminals were replaced.  The tractor side was more challenging since there is far less working room to get the crimper tool in there, for me it was easier to disassemble that area and move the harness out the dash panel where it was way easier to reach.

It’s all back together now, hope it lasts another 30 years!

 

 

[rick 245]

As a long time police equipment installer, I love to see the proper tools used!

[TC10284 111]

29 minutes ago, nylyon said:

Amazon Molex 9-pin is the exact same plug and connectors, and best of all at the time of this post April 21, 2025 it is only $4.84 USD which includes Prime shipping. For those interested, these are the tools I had to do this (or at least similar to these)
Pin extractor

Crimping tool

 

For me I was getting intermittent power loss, but jiggling that harness I could get it going again. I took a shot on Amazon for a connector that looked the same and bought it with the pins.  It was a perfect match, absolutely identical in every way.  I decided to replace only the pins which were bad with the red “hot” wire being the worst.

The engine side of the harness is pretty easy to do since you can get to the wiring easily.  I found that some of the factory crimps weren’t as solid as they should have been, those terminals were replaced.  The tractor side was more challenging since there is far less working room to get the crimper tool in there, for me it was easier to disassemble that area and move the harness out the dash panel where it was way easier to reach.

 

It’s all back together now, hope it lasts another 30 years!

 

This is exactly my problem (losing power and jiggling the main connector to get it going again). I was going to ask about the tools you used so thanks for posting that!

Edited Monday at 04:59 PM by TC10284

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,479]

Just mowed the lawn, zero issues definitely fixed my problem.  There is another 9-pin connector, which I believe is the same part, which is used to connect the indicator lights to the tractor harness.  While my indicator lights are working, that connector has seen better days so I just ordered 3 more from Amazon, one for the indicator lights on this machine, and 2 more for my 416-H just in case.

The other options above will probably work just as well (maybe better) but my OCD won’t allow me to do those, so I opted for the replacement part.

[Bill D 2,088]

I have a couple suggestions to prevent failure of your new 9 pin.  First, coat all the terminals with Noalox. This will prevent corrosion and help prevent a high resistance connection.  Second, change all your lights to LED bulbs to lower current draw.  Last and most important,  since only 7 of the 9 pins are used on the 416-8/H tractors, remove the unused wire for the engine temp sensor (should be the white wire) from the 9 pin connector.   Pull it out of the harness between the 9 pin connector and the voltage regulator.   Pull some slack back towards the starter.  This wire will be connected to the battery positive terminal on the starter and the battery positive on the voltage regulator.  Use a fuse holder at the starter for safety.  This will bypass the 9 pin and allow the charging current from the voltage regulator to go directly to the battery.  I connect both the existing wire and the bypass wire together at the voltage regulator.  The pin for the charging circuit is always the first to burn up.  Hope this helps someone.

Edited Tuesday at 03:18 AM by Bill D