Double-ended insertion and removal tools consolidate contact management into a single, color-coded instrument. Deployed extensively across rear-release connector families, these tools feature a colored end for contact installation and a stark white end for terminal extraction.

Standard Operating Procedure for Double-Ended Tooling Configurations

1. Contact Insertion Procedure

1. Tool Selection: Select the correct double-ended tool part number (IRT-XX) as dictated by the Tool Selection Data section of this manual to verify precise gauge matching.
2. Bundle Preparation: Slide any protective cable accessories attached to the rear of the connector—such as backshell adapters, strain reliefs, or shielding boots—well back onto the wire harness trunk.
3. Loading the Conductor: Working at the wire bundle side, place the wire into the colored end of the tool, allowing the conductor insulation jacket to completely “fill in” the interior tip cavity slot.
4. Seating the Tool Jaws: Carefully slide the tool forward down the length of the wire until the forward face of the tool tip butts squarely against the rear retention shoulder of the contact barrel.
5. Grip Anchoring: Securely clamp the wire jacket tightly against the serrated gripping shoulder located at the exact center of the plastic tool body frame.
6. Axial Path Insertion: Carefully align the tool body, the contact, and the wire bundle axially (in a perfectly straight, concentric line) with the target environmental grommet cavity. Carefully glide the insertion tool tip, contact, and wire forward through the grommet until the contact shoulder clicks permanently into its internal locking clip.
7. Withdrawal: Gently withdraw the tool tip straight backward out of the cavity, sliding smoothly along the wire insulation. Remove the tool tip slot from the wire and visually inspect the tool for any structural tip flaring before storage.

2. Contact Removal Procedure

1. Stage the Extraction: Slide all backshell hardware adapters back away from the rear grommet face to clear your physical workspace envelope.
2. Capture the Wire: Working from the rear face of the connector housing, position the target conductor into the white end of the tool, allowing the insulation jacket to sit cleanly inside the tip’s interior slot channel.
3. Axial Alignment and Entry: Slide the tool smoothly forward down the length of the wire insulation. Align the tool tip perfectly axially (in a straight line) with the environmental grommet cavity hole, and carefully glide the white tool tip into the rubber grommet channel.
4. Expanding the Internal Spring Clip: Carefully advance the white tip straight into the connector cavity until the tool tip “bottoms out.” Field Note: Technicians will feel a noticeable increase in mechanical resistance right before the tips bottom out. This indicates the thin-walled cylindrical tip is passing inside to expand the internal retention spring clip fingers clear of the contact shoulder.
5. Simultaneous Extraction Stroke: Maintain steady forward pressure on the tool body to keep the clip expanded. Pull gently on the wire from the rear side of the connector while smoothly withdrawing both the tool, contact, and wire completely clear of the grommet matrix. Keep the tool frame completely perpendicular to the grommet face during withdrawal.