As some folks witnessed at MMM8, the &**%^%$ dealer that sold me my car (no longer in business) installed my GMPP tune and made a butchered job of it. They managed to cut one wire too short (I assume) and crimped it TWICE, in two different places. Of course they covered-up the <excrement> work with tape, so I didn't find this until I went to solder the connections after I got a code one time. I was so stunned I just recrimped, which fixed the code, and went away to regroup.
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Then I investigated getting a replacement connector to solder with, but found they are over $70 each! For a %^%$ connector! The TMAP sensors themselves, are only a FIFTH of the price of the stupid connector!
SO, yesterday I decided to go ahead and cut off the connectors and see if I could swap the unused pin and pigtail wire with the hashed-up one, hopefully avoiding the need to solder that wire twice. After a lot of investigation using a Jewelers loupe and mini-maglight, I worked out how the pins were held into the connector shell. By way of background, most pins like this are held in with one, or sometimes two, spring-tabs that lock behind a ridge in the plastic shell. I found that THESE pins have FOUR spring tabs. (Ay caramba!)...
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If you should ever need to remove one (hopefully you won't) you'll need to insert a fine probe such as a sewing needle (note: dental probes are too big) into the holes shown by the arrows and bend the tabs down to free the pin...
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One more tip for those soldering their connectors... You can cut the crimps off on either side of the metal crimp-tube in the middle, leaving the ends of plastic outer shell still on the wires. Although these are glued on, you can then remove them using a mini-butane torch to soften the plastic and then slide off the wire with needle-nosed pliers. This will give you as much wire as possible on either side to solder with. Be careful not to melt the wire insulation though!
