Adding a Wire to the Bullhead Connector

[pjmoreland]

I am working on installing a '91 tach cluster in my '89 K1500, so I needed to run a wire from the coil to the dash for the tach signal. The '91 truck I got the tach cluster from had the tach signal wire routed through the firewall over on the passenger side of the truck via a non-connectorized mass-pass-through that is all sealed up with adhesive. This didn't seem like a convenient way for me to go, so I opted for adding a wire to the bulkhead connector on the driver side, which had several vacant terminal slots in it.

It was somewhat challenging to figure out how to get terminals out of and into the bulkhead connector, so I'm posting some photos which hopefully will save other people from the headache I went through to get it to work.

I believe the terminals are Metri-Pak 480 although I harvested mine from a '90 truck at the wrecking yard. This allowed me to figure things out before working on my truck.

Removing the terminals is a two-step process. First you have to pry out the white plastic comb shaped retainer from the side of the connector housing. Then you have to insert a skinny screwdriver to release the locking tab on the terminal.

The empty terminal slots are full of tar, so you've got to pick the tar out before inserting a new terminal. I saved some of the tar and packed it back in on top of the new terminal to reseal it.

The inner half of the bulkhead connector was held in place in the firewall with two little metal tabs. It took some firm shoving with a large screwdriver to get them to pop into hole in the firewall.

Here are a bunch of photos.

[pjmoreland]

More photos

[pjmoreland]

Inside the cab

[pjmoreland]

More

[pjmoreland]

Some more

[pjmoreland]

Done

[Just call me Sean]

I use a small straightened out paperclip to release terminals, but I've worked on some small ones. You just need to figure out which side the tab is on. I had to add a wire and change the computer to make a 95 transmission work in my 93.

[pjmoreland]

Good call on the paper clip. There were two things that tripped me up on getting the terminals out:

1) I didn't notice the white plastic comb terminal retainers at first because they were covered in tar. Believe me when I say the terminals will not come out if the retainer is still installed!

2) The locking tab on the blade terminal is bent inward. Most tabs I've encountered bend outward, so it took me a while to figure this out. You can't see what's going on with all the tar everywhere.