kelanel

Bob, the burnout occured on 31 (right side looking from the bottom, center pin) of the headlight relay if that helps. The headlight fuse did break as well.

I was planning to make the fuse easily reachable from it installed on the car (similar to the inline fuse normally for the door lock motors, i could tuck it in that clip on the panel since i only seem to have one on the passenger side). would it be advisable to put a fuse on each side of the damage to further trace the root cause or would replacing the FI/Headlight relays rule out majority causes?

Thanks again,
Jonathan.

dr bob

One fuse should be enough, and if you use the ohm meter before the panel is installed, probably more than enough. Just fuse between the 31 terminal and the chassis, holder where you can access it if it does pop.



To your PM question-- Looked but could not find the crimper. I have a hand one but not small enough for those small terminals.

For those playing along at home, the factory terminals arrive as an open U shape, big and smaller as you go to the connector end. The copper wire goes in the smaller U, insulation just into the larger U. The correct crimper folds the tops of the U towards the middle as it supports the bottom of the U, so the tops roll in towards center then fold straight down so the ends of the U are now outsides-together and edge into the insulation. The smaller section gets the same treatment, splitting and squeezing the copper strands as the legs are folded. Most folks "cheat" and just roll the legs of the U around the insulation and the conductor. Not as much contact area as the intended method, and certainly not as much pressure. An acceptable workaround is a little solder at the conductor only, and really just a tiny bit. Just enough to make the electrical connection, not so much that it wicks up inside the insulation.

kelanel

No worries bob, figure i can get it and put it aside for anyone from OC that isnt willing to pay 55 + shipping from canada along with spare terminals. Its bound to come in handy to someone once im done with them. I just hope the 2 day air mail means itll get here that fast when i order it tomorrow .

dr bob

Jonathan--

I saw that tool you linked to with the terminals. Pretty sure I paid a lot less than that for mine, but now I've got to figure out who it was loaned to since it's "worth" so much. Got it from ITT/Cannon way back when. Reality is that I probably haven't seen mine in a dozen years so it could be with anyone. Better news is that I haven't needed it for at least that long. Not sure you'll need a ratcheting crimper for the baby terminals but it can't hurt.

kelanel

Santa finally had time to come down from canada deliver me the parts I needed to repair the damage. Spent the last hour or so doing just that.

I have to say that the racheting crimper makes things so easy, once the connector was seat in it, just slipped the wires and tada! Makes loading RJ-45 connectors seem like brain surgery! One of my favorite tools sofar! I have plenty of spare connectors, so if anybody needs some or to borrow the crimper for ce panel damage, please let me know.

I found plenty of gunked up remains from the damage to pull out still that I missed last time as I finally pulled out the old connectors. Added an inline fuse starting from the headlight relay point (where the damage starts) with a 12 amp fuse (too much or little?).

In she goes tomorrow with new headlight FI and FP relays after I get home from work. Hopefully shell purr once again!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your help in my time of need.

Jonathan.

WallyP

The rear crimps are intended to go over the insulation to prevent wire breakage...

kelanel

Good call wally. I knew I forgot something! Ill double-check which ones I botched (I dont think all of them) and redo those.

dr bob

Make sure you carefully document that fuse, copy stuffed into the relay chart pocket. If I saw that fuse there with red wiring like that, first thing I'd do is try to power an alarm or a subwoofer amp from it. :O

kelanel

Good call bob! I left plenty of slack to put the wire infront and will mark it accordingly (or perhaps remove it at some point). Redid the connectors properly (thanks wally). just got back from putting it back in place and put my refinnished steering wheel back in as well and after a couple of turns... Its alive!

Took it around cruising on the freeway for 15 mins and brought it back as its a little low on oil. I did notice a small puddle of tranny fluid coming from the side of the tranny gasket. i remember this happening before when my fuel pump died and it was sitting for more than 4 days. is that common? the tranny was serviced last october with a kit from 928intl.

Thanks,
Jonathan.

dr bob

Looking good!

Tranny leaks like that from the gasket are not "common" but they do happen. Most popular cause is uneven/too much torque on the sump bolts. Consider that it leaks the same whether it sits for a while or not. When it's sitting and the airflow under the car isn't spreading the fluid around behind you, it will gather enough to drip on the garage floor. So keep a sharp eye on trans fluid levels until you solve the leak.

If it's a mild case of over- or uneven wrenching, the rubber seal "blooms" a bit and there's some seepage. More serious effort with a wrench on those bolts risks warping the sump, and that's a bit harder to recover from. Sometimes the sump can be straightened, but the Sure Cure is a new replacement with a new seal. The sump itself is common to many MB models so it is not a high-priced 928-only piece. Torque spec on those bolts is very low, and they also demand that they are tightened evenly as you bring the seal into contact with the cast trans body. I use the mini inch-pound torque wrench on these. Interesting fact: Torque spec on those two drain bolts is higher than the torque used on the six sump bolts.