Crimp tool index?

Hey everyone, I'm making this post to see if there is an index somewhere of crimping tools for certain styles of pins.

In my particular case I'm looking for the proper style of crimpers for a Kostal LKS 1.5 female pin. I want to make sure I get this 100% right as it is for an integral part (transmission connector) I have attached a picture below.

Hey Bryn,

The best place to find exact tooling recommendations is usually the manufacturer’s datasheets. Distributors like Mouser or Digi-Key will sometimes list compatible crimp tools as well. That said, a lot of OEM-specific tooling can be pretty expensive and not really practical if you're only doing a small number of connectors.

I had a quick look into the Kostal LKS 1.5 terminals, and there’s not a huge amount of publicly available tooling info. Based on the terminal design though, it’s a fairly typical open-barrel (F-crimp) style with separate tabs for the conductor and the seal.

A good general-purpose option would be something like the Sargent 1026-CT open barrel crimp tool:

https://sargenttoolsonline.com/products/sargent%C2%AE-open-barrel-terminal-crimp-tool-1026-ct

When crimping:

• Use a “B” (F-style) crimp on the conductor wings
• Use a more open “O” crimp on the seal/insulation wings

Definitely grab a few spare terminals and do some test crimps first. Give them a proper pull/strain test and inspect the crimp shape before committing to your final connector, especially since it’s going into something critical like a transmission connector.

Also worth checking out the forum tooling post for what’s used in the course material:

https://www.hpacademy.com/forum/efi-wiring-fundamentals/show/course-tools-and-materials/

Hope that helps 👍