Automotive wiring harness

Grab a handful and squeeze. If you're mostly feeling plastic connector shells and relay boxes, you're being paid for garbage — cut them off and the same pile jumps a full grade.

Cu 48–52% recovery stripped; ~35% as-pulledAu under 0.1 g per whole vehicle

eBay typical$1.5–3per lb

Refiner pays$1.75per lb

Metal in it$2.43per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencehighof the yield figures

How to spot it

Loom bundles in cloth tape, corrugated conduit or braid, running the length of the vehicle. The heavy sections are the battery and starter cables, the main dash harness, and the door harnesses.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Copper	48–52% recovery stripped; ~35% as-pulled	a 50 lb harness holds ~25 lb of copper
Gold	under 0.1 g per whole vehicle	automotive terminals are over 95% tin-plated

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $2.43 per pound of contained metal — Copper 227 g = $2.43. A refiner paying $1.75 returns about 72% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Cold

Battery negative off first. Bolt cutters, heavy side cutters, a cordless recip saw for firewall pass-throughs. Pull the dash harness in one piece through the grommet where you can. Separate battery, alternator and starter cable into their own pile — near-bare heavy gauge grades 2–3× the harness rate.

Hazards

💨 Fumes, ventilation and open flame

NEVER burn boards, wire insulation or plastic. Ever.

⚡ Stored high voltage

NEVER short a large capacitor with a screwdriver. It welds the tip, blasts molten metal at your face, and can rupture the can.

🧱 Asbestos

NEVER cut, drill, sand, tear or blow out suspect material with compressed air.

Before you scrap it

Model-specific complete harnesses for engine swaps and restorations fetch $150–1,200 against about $85 as scrap — but only if you pull it undamaged, with all connectors, labelled and photographed. Bolt-cutter it and it's $85 forever.

The common trap

Two of them. Never burn the loom — burnt wire is bought at a heavy discount, engine-bay runs use PTFE and cross-linked polyolefin that release hydrogen fluoride and dioxins, and it's an offence essentially everywhere. Second: chasing "gold connectors" in a car harness. It's tin. All of it.

Questions

How much gold is in automotive wiring harness?

Copper: 48–52% recovery stripped; ~35% as-pulled. Gold: under 0.1 g per whole vehicle. At current spot that is about $2.43 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify automotive wiring harness?

Grab a handful and squeeze. If you're mostly feeling plastic connector shells and relay boxes, you're being paid for garbage — cut them off and the same pile jumps a full grade.

How do you remove automotive wiring harness safely?

Battery negative off first. Bolt cutters, heavy side cutters, a cordless recip saw for firewall pass-throughs. Pull the dash harness in one piece through the grommet where you can. Separate battery, alternator and starter cable into their own pile — near-bare heavy gauge grades 2–3× the harness rate.

Is automotive wiring harness worth more working than as scrap?

Related in Automotive

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