underdog928

In the middle of doing a complete Intake Refresh/TP/WP project(s) in prep for SITM and found this last night:



This is the wiring harness that crosses on top of the water pump in front of the coolant crossover. I knew the outer jacket was separated, saw that when I replaced the water pump, but after I pulled the crossover last night, I found that the green ground wire was bare and missing about 1 inch of insulation. Good thing it's the ground wire, but obviously this needs to be fixed.

I'm thinking to use some kind of high temperature electrical tape to tape up the ground wire and then wrap the entire cable.

Any ideas where to get something like that or does anyone else have a better idea, short of replacing the entire wiring harness.

Thanks in advance.

hacker-pschorr

I'm in the middle of some intake work on my car, I discovered the wire in that harness that activates the starter was badly frayed. To the extent that I have no idea how the car ever started. All of the other wires were fine.

I pulled the harness, cut off all the sleeveing, added a new wire. If it's frayed there it might also be in bad shape further down the line. Just a question of how much work you want to do.
Pulling the harness wasn't that big of a deal, just connects to the starter, alternator, oil pressure and level sender.

What color is the frayed wire? Cannot tell from the pics.

auzivision

I'd recomend this stuff:

https://rennlist.com/forums/7572713-post25.html

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...ed=0CCkQrQQwAg

I picked up a couple rolls at Harbor Freight

911tracker85

excellent. I am finishing my intake refresh and see some of those same wires with cracked insulation. was thinking about what to use to repair.

off to Habor Frieght....

underdog928

Hacker, it's the green ground wire that is frayed. All the other ones look ok. Actually the wire itself isn't too bad, only one or two strands are broken. I would probably run some solder on the open strands just to give them some added strength before closing it up.

Kurt: The self-fusing silicone tape .... BRILLIANT!

Thanks guys, that should do it.

auzivision

Must be a common failure; I have a spit in the exact same spot.

Blue tape on photo is to remind me to repair (plus a couple others):

hacker-pschorr

Hmm, I thought the green wire in that harness from the multi-pin connector was the starter activation cable (not the main power lead, just the one that activates the solinoid). My memory is fuzzy, that fix was a few weeks ago

If we are talking about the same wire, I found a small frayed portion too. Not until I started to pull off the entire sleeve did I realize the extend of the damage.

The self-vulcanizing tape is a must have in the tool box.
I used a combination of nylon sleeve, double wall self sealing heat shrink, and DEI heat sleeve to re-build this harness.

StratfordShark

I picked up a reel of this self-fusing tape (I think it was called self-amalgamating tape) and didn't get on with it. I was applying it by stretching the tape as I wound it on. Experimenting with it I found it was OK on regular cylindrical shapes (eg wrapping round a pencil) but I couldn't make a good wrap on irregular stuff like split insulation on cables.

Any tips for using it correctly please?

911tracker85

color is why I hate trying to work elec issues. I am red/green color blind. when I get in a jam on elec issues, I have my wife tell me which is which.

I just replaced the 'green wire' from the distributor to the connector near the battery jump post. I told Roger when I got it that to me it looks orange.

on my '84 the 'green wire' was not part of this bundled group of wires. but I have no doubt there could be a green wire inside that bundle.

underdog928

Kurt, the harness I'm talking about is the one that runs from the Alternator/Starter area to the 14-pin connector. On the 85 it's run behind the cam gear plates on top of the engine between the water crossover and the water pump and up over the passenger side cam cover. On the S4's, as shown in your picture, it's run in front of the timing belt covers. This is maybe a fix for the problem of stretching that harness as the engine expands when it heats up, resulting in cracking that outer harness cover.

Maybe when, and if, I install electric fans, I'll be able to re-route that harness in front of the timing belt covers and eliminate the stress on it. Right now, however, it's got to go back from whence it came.

Landseer

That area of the harness gets a lot of stress potentially. The wires slitting off vertically are to Temp2 and the temp sensor for the gauge. Plug wires from 7&8 are layered with the this harness under the thermostat cover, plus the harness is in the way of the lower bolt. The harness splits right there. Mine ran markedly better after tugging on the wire last week in frustration trying to get the thermostat cover off. I bet I have a break inside the insulation at the same place you show!

S4ordie

Interesting choice for the spider......

A little color blindness humor..... The winning Mega Millions lottery numbers are: 02 13 27 31 39, I know you will spend the money wisely

911tracker85

it IS red ... isn't it?

$#!+, I only bought a powerball this week......

the flyin' scotsman

BROWN is the typical ground wire colour used in the 928s.

As far as effecting a good repair you need to cut out all the bad and replace..............strip the jacket back do a good inspection before and after the break you can see, replace the wire with similar colour with a good solder joint then shrink wrap and cover with electrical tape.

hacker-pschorr

Unless it's a last resort I will never use electrical tape anywhere on my car. Between the self vulcanizing 3M tape and heat shrink, there is no good reason to use electrical tape. It only melts and makes a mess after a while.

A good wire loom sleeve is cheap and readily available from McMaster Carr.