Old OEM Kubota Front Halogen Work Lights

[aczlan]

Looks almost like a 2.8MM flat spade connector to me.

Aaron Z

 

[TimP]

Looks almost like a 2.8MM flat spade connector to me.

Aaron Z

Agreed.... the problem is finding that "D" shaped connector thingy......

 

[George the Beagle]

Whew! I'll respectfully submit that you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Just cut off the connectors and hard wire the things. You'll be done by this afternoon.

 

[s219]

Whew! I'll respectfully submit that you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Just cut off the connectors and hard wire the things. You'll be done by this afternoon.

I tend to agree. But if modularity is desired, another option is to slide the pins out of the connector body and just connect the pins then use tubing/tape to hide the whole thing. Most of these connectors, even when the body is custom or specific, use standard flat blade pins or round pins.

I know that when I wired up rear work lights on two Kubotas, I slid the pins out of the factory connecter in the left fender and then connected to those with standard 1/4" blade connectors. Easy peasy.

 

[TimP]

That's a good idea.

How do you get the pins out? Can I just grab them with needle nose pliers and pull?

There is hardly any slack on the front wires and adds to my hesitation to cut any of it off.

I tend to agree. But if modularity is desired, another option is to slide the pins out of the connector body and just connect the pins then use tubing/tape to hide the whole thing. Most of these connectors, even when the body is custom or specific, use standard flat blade pins or round pins.

I know that when I wired up rear work lights on two Kubotas, I slid the pins out of the factory connecter in the left fender and then connected to those with standard 1/4" blade connectors. Easy peasy.

 

[s219]

That's a good idea.

How do you get the pins out? Can I just grab them with needle nose pliers and pull?

There is hardly any slack on the front wires and adds to my hesitation to cut any of it off.

Study the connector body and look for plastic tabs that you can release with a small tool (jeweler's screwdriver, dental pick, pin, etc). If you can identify how the pins are held in and then release the tabs with the tool, the pins will slide right out.

Sometimes the tabs are part of the metal pin and will "spring" into place when the pin gets installed into the plastic body. Again, study the connector and identify how to release the pins. It's always simple and you'll feel like you solved a puzzle.

More advanced Deutsche watertight connectors will have a plastic "wedge" that gets pressed into the front (business end) of the connector to hold everything in place. On those, you just pry out the wedge and the pins slide right out.

I recently put some LED fog lights on my GMC truck and used an adapter harness to go from the factory connector to the fog light connector (both were watertight plugs). Well the lights didn't power up so I read the fine print for the adapter and it says the pin positions are a best guess and the installer might need to reverse the pins when using LED lights, which are polarity-dependent. OK, not sure if I see the benefit of that adapter harness anymore, but I slid the pins out and installed back in reverse, and it indeed solved the problem.

 

[TimP]

s219,

Thanks for the tips !

 

[s219]

Please let us know if it works, you get a prize for figuring out the puzzle.

 

[s219]

BTW, I went back and looked at some of the pictures again and I'd bet the pins are held in to the connector body by metal spring tabs built into the pins themselves, which probably snap and lock into place in the connector body. You should be able to look in the front business end of the connector and maybe see those metal tabs on the pins, and hopefully release them with a needle or pick tool. Keep steady but gentle pull pressure on the wire at the back of the connector and when you do release the pin tabs you'll know it right away and can slide the pin back out. I normally pull each pin out just a little, to get past the snap lock, and when they are all released slide them all out of the connector together. That will minimize any strain on the wiring or pins.

Also, take pictures before hand so you can identify where the pins went based on wire color and connector oreintation. Once they are out they look the same and you'll be clueless.