Hilton

Don't they only have 8 seats?

worf928

My nine point twenty-eight cents of advice:

If new LH harnesses are only $900, and if I needed any, I'd buy new. But I consider all of my scarce free-time to be very valuable. Last time I checked they were $1100 and that was 10 years ago. You might want to get a current quote if your figure comes from a web site.

I have "remade" a front main engine (FME) harness once and it took 6 hours start to finish to get it perfect. The LH harness is about five times as complex as the FME. It takes about two hours just to thoroughly test continuity on the LH harness. So, what's the over-under on many hours of your time versus the cost of a new harness?

Without some sort of jig to get all the wire lengths right, and to enable efficient methodical testing it's a multi-day project to build one if you have all the right bits. A number of the harness branches are shielded and that stuff can be tricky to get right. And if the shielding isn't done correctly EMI will play havoc on the signals.

On the other hand the 2-pin connectors are usually the trouble spots. And the MAF connector. Replacing those can get rid of a lot of potential problems. The 3-pin connectors are usually in good shape. They all have one pin that's crimped to delicate braided shield under the covering. You'd need to be careful to not screw up the shielding if you replace them.

928 at last

On the assumption that Colin is waiting in one of them, that makes seven left......

928 at last

Unless our friend is into Skiing or Boarding, it's a long bitter winter in Collingwood.....that wind off the bay is evil in January/February.....

danglerb

I really want new high temperature wire for everything under the hood, but tend to agree with careful splices putting in all new connectors and boots might be sufficient for a number of years.

That said, I really want new high temperature wires for everything under the hood.

dr bob

Agree completely.

When Rob and I did my intake a couple years ago now, the wiring harnesses were amazingly flexible and new. I'm hoping that tradition continues for a while under the hood. I've seen lower-miles cars with rust, dirt, and crispy wiring bundles that amaze me, especially when the car actually runs OK.

There's a company in Paramount, Cali (kinda local) that makes repro harnesses for murriken cars. The sell the various wire colors cut or bulk for not outrageous prices. But as Dave C points out, it's still a LOT of time and effort needed to make a new one no matter what. I guess if I could do one or two in Kynar with Firesleeve, it might last a while. Still, it seems like there are crispy connectors in a lot of cars. So even with all the right conductors and protection, connectors will still be the weakest link.

17prospective buyer

Dave (worf928); 928 Specialists apparently have it for "Our Price: $932.78". However you are right in a sense because every other LH-Jet harness is about $1200. Why would the 87-88 be $932?

https://www.928gt.com/s-246-harnesses.aspx


So you guys think i should replace the common connectors and be done with it?

jcorenman

You're just lucky.

Yes. Seriously, unless there was a fire then most of the harness is going to be OK, with some toasted connectors (and maybe crispy sleeving and wire-insulation near the toasted connectors). Get it out, lay it out on a bench, go over it carefully, and replace what needs replacing.

Jim Devine

Anyone have a junk harness they could send to this company to get a quote? No idea as to their minimums or anything like that, but can't hurt to try.

http://www.tscmfg.com/

Lizard928

I'm not in the bus, so that's 8 seats, and I'm not greedy, 8 is enough for any man!

Personally I would peel back the boots on the connectors and inspect the wires and fix what is needed.

Koenig928

I think the reason the later LH harnesses (89-90) are more is because they have the exhaust temp monitoring circut integrated in it.

worf928

Hmmm... could be. But, Porsche prices change with wind direction. Call them and get a current price.

I gave up trying to make sense of Porsche's parts pricing years ago.

hunterworkz

[QUOTE=dr bob;9925870]I'm not sure they were 'turnip farmers', but I think we can safely say that build consistency was not a priority in those early years. The 'good news' is that the cars were incredibly simple, electrically, compared with today's offerings. So even if all the wiring had been the same color, it wouldn't take forever to find where something was missing. My first Europa (a homologation car) was so simple that I was able to draw the schematics on butcher paper from scratch (no documentation available), and hit better than 80% of the actual wiring details. No chance of doing that with a 928.

As far as "lucky I don't have an old roadster eh?": Eh, no, you are not as lucky

The Dr. knows the prince of darkness. You aint seen nothing until you've been in a old Aston Martin Lagonda, the 1980's vintage. You don't fix things, you reverse engineer and replace. I love the mid 80's XJ6. Replace the engine with a Chevrolet 350, 350 hydromatic and its a fantasic blend of speed, comfortable ride and handling.

dr bob

Truth be told, most period non-American cars are like that. It wasn't until at least the 1980's that Japanese cars started down the path of truth and light. English, French and Italian cars shared the various problems that were cured with better design/materials/QC somewhat earlier in the US. Production volumes helped, warranty issues sealed the deal for the Big 4 manufacturers here. Even then, there were still some challenges.

On the engine change, the real problems were solved only when new wiring was plugged in with the new engine. The basic 6- and even 12-cylinder Jag engines are pretty stout. It was all the stuff hanging on them that caused problems. Lots of Bosch and Marelli stuff was rebadged as Lucas for FI, for instance. Just having a Lucas label installed was reason enough for sensors/switches/etc to fail unexpectedly. Good times!