I'm putting the engine back together and noticed one of the wires coming off the harness was pinched with exposed broken wires. The wire feeds behind the ac compressor bracket. I cut off the damaged portion and spliced in a 14 gauge black wire and made sure to give extra slack. However I'm concerned because when I stripped off the rubber insulation I noticed a few layers. One layer is a braided wire, followed by another insulation layer followed then by a really small wire probably a 14 gauge. I stripped back all the layers right down to the central 14 gauge wire then spliced it to some aftermarket 14 gauge wire. Soldered then heat shrink tubing. Is this a safe fix or is the outer braided wire layer a ground?

 

The braided outer layer is a gound/shield. It won't work. You will have to find the same wire off a good harness and patch it into the harness where the coax ends upstream. Probably a knock sensor cable.

 

What he said. ^
That is your wiring for the left side knock sensor.

 

Yep knock sensor wiring. You will need to get one off of a donor vehicle, cut the harness back to where it mates with the actual wiring and then splice it into place. It's the same way with the CPS wiring as well.

 

Where does the wire connect on the top end? I'm well aware that it is wrapped up with the wiring harness on the top end that ties in with fuel injectors, coolant temp sensor etc but like where does it end? I will try to source a used cable and splice it in but need to know where to look for the ends.

Also if anyone here has a spare wire from the harness I'll buy it from you. My truck is out of commission until I resolve this issue.

 

So after consulting with a mechanic friend of mine i cut off my last attempt and went ahead with the repair to this wire. I cut off the pinched section of wire the stripped off both the outer and inner insulation layers until i was left with the innermost wire. I spliced in a 14 gauge wire, soldered, heat shrink then electrical tape. Next I spliced in a smaller gauge wire for the braided ground wire, connecting both ends. My mechanic friend suggested gently peeling back the braided wire to free it so to twist it up into a more solid wire then splice that to a new wire and connect both ends. However I found this to be impossible due in part to how old and brittle the braided wire became as I tried to peel it back. So I decided to try wrapping a wire around the braided wire, then solder. Unfortunately the solder material does not absorb into the braided wire but I was able to at least get the new wire connected to the braided wire. Then as before I used heat shrink then electrical tape. With both wires spliced I taped them together with more electrical tape then for added measure I added some plastic conduit. Results are pending.

 

Looks clean. Good job!

 

I still doubt that that is a proper shield. Good luck!

 

What symptoms would that cause?

 

The signal from the knock sensor to the ECU will be erratic because of the electrical interference induced into the conductor through the non intact shield, this will cause the ECU to think it is knocking when it isn't and thus could retard your timing, or the opposite... And then when it compensates things will not settle in so it will continue to try adjusting endlessly. It will not run well.

The only way to fix that (other than getting a new cable) would be find a new braid from another wire and lay it over the soldered center wire area, then solder the new braid to the old braid a few inches away on both sides of the center conductor fix. Your solder isn't flowing into the braid because it is probably coated or it's just crap tin. You'd have to use flux or heat the braid until the coating melts. Merely running a wire between both ends of your damaged shield/braid will still let electrical interference through. You have to patch the whole thing with new braid and don't let the braid touch the center wire or you short the whole thing out.

Keep in mind electrical tape and heat shrink tube are not electrical shields.