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I can understand your concern, of all the harnesses the most costly is the under dash. One thing that can make a difference in whether to replace is where the car came from a shore are,ie NJ, and/or if it was previously melted or modified. Even if not we have worked on cars (our own at times and for customers too) and they had hard start problems, burned up turn signal switches, etc.
Turned out the main harness had resistance and corrosion in the wires. Even if you clean the terminals there can be oxidation in the wires that creates resistance and causes heat, burned fuses, and melted wires. For the $500-$600 cost of the main harness it is not worth losing your car to fire. Or, having the car die on a trip due to an old harness.
Just for fun you can strip back one of the wires and see if it is green, if it is chances are the whole harness is a disaster waiting to happen.




Yep!

To add to that the ammeter wires and bulkhead connectors tend to be the biggest problem areas. As far as corrosion, I agree, upon a quick inspection peeling wire covers back at the ends of a harnesses, condition can be spot checked for corrosion, usually turning dark or green as opposed to a nice bright & healthy copper color. But don't stop there, corrosion often starts further up the wire from the ends and remain hidden until it gets hot from resistance and self destructs.