safulop

OK folks, please feast your eyes on the domain of my 14-pin connector. My cover went bye-bye and I am wondering what I am looking at here. Has there been some unfortunate electrical mods in the area? That's maybe why the cover wouldn't stay put?

ammonman

Looks like the retaining cap that screws on to the threaded portion of the jump start post to keep the cover in place has gone missing. The cap has it's own retaining strap. You have to unscrew the jump post and move the main power wires so you can slip the looped end of the cap restraining strap over the jump post terminal housing. As far as the wiring that appears to be factory. However, on mine the engine harness side of 14 Pin connector is on top with the body side of the junction latched in to the bracket on the body.

Mike

heliflyer

What ammonman said.
Here is a photo of mine taken from straight on top:

Leon Speed

The bracket looks a little bent. Staighten it and the cover will fit fine. OCD: the positive cable (the large brown one) should be routed behind and under the harness.

Randy V

Man, that engine looks filthy.

Do you live in the Sahara?

dr bob

He lives in sub-Saharan Fresno, where dust and other airborn particle pollution is incredible. You'll be OK so long as you don't inhale, Mr. President! Good news is that "it's just dirt." No massive fluid stains. Air cleaner element is on a twice-a-year replacement schedule, right?

Nice to see that the piece of electrical tape I put on there 10+ years ago is still protecting the edge of the fender too. The bracket is indeed bent down, perhaps by someone trying to connect big booster cables to the jump post without shorting to the body? Carefully restore the hose and wire routing. Unscrew the jump post terminal and the 14-pin connector bases from the bracket, and restore it to its original position. Then the cover and cap go back on.


Grab a few old pairs of medium-duty nitrile work gloves, and cut the fingers off to use as condoms over the obvious electrical connections on the engine. Those would include the fan switch on the intake, and the temp senders on the water bridge. Use the same soap/detergent that you use on the oustide of the car, and give the engine bay a gentle wash and rinse. No direct hose spray on electrical bits, no need to save the world or risk a flood, just a gentle spray rinse to get the dirt and any soap residue off. Wipe or blos off off (think 'shop vac' discharge...) as much standing water as you can reach conveniently. Remove the glove fingers, and start the car up to build some heat and clear any remaining water. Make sure it's running on all eight cylinders before you take it for a drive.

Bilal928S4

OR just take it over to Rob Edwards. He will make it shine like new.

safulop

Oy you guys are fussy about my dirty engine, this is a daily driver y'know!

A while back my cover came off but was stuck between the air box and hood; I had my shop reinstall it when they had it for other work, it used to be on there where it's supposed to be with the little blue cap and all. For some reason the whole business blew off last month! I have no idea why, I didn't even crack 120

Now I have to somehow obtain a new cover and little blue cap thingy. Roger??

I've been replacing air filter once per year, it has seemed like enough. Meaning, the old one doesn't seem super filthy or clogged, I don't literally drive down dirt roads. But yeah, breathing Fresno air is sort of like Shanghai smog. I am currently trying to move out of this area, partly for that reason.

-Sean

dr bob

China metro smog adds significant CO and ozone (why can't they fix themselves??...) on top of the incredible particulates. Theirs are mostly carbon ash from unrestricted coal and diesel combustion. Fresno enjoys a lot of plain old windborn dust, plus the results of a lot of unregulated diesel ag equipment operation. The drought has made the dust situation even worse.

Conditions are the worst further south at the end of the valley where it clogs against the mountains. I spent some time tuning some gas turbines there in a power plant, and couldn't get stack emissions even close to within CO compliance with no combustion at all. With the engines fired, the CO catalysts got hot enough to work, easily making exhaust stack CO numbers lower/cleaner than intake CO numbers. Had to get some clarification for the air permit for when/how measurements are recorded.

----

The retainer for the cap should have kept everything in place. Sometimes the shield gets removed for service and forgotten as the hood is closed. Perhaps is was placed at the air cleaner during service? Good News is that the pieces are available and not expensive.

Wisconsin Joe

Roger has the cap and cover.
At least he used to (I got mine a year or so ago and haven't needed a new one since).

Less than $20 for the pair IIRC.

ROG100

Cover is $6 and the cap is $7 - in 928 speak that is cheap 8>)

safulop

Wow, that is cheap. I'll stick them in with my next order, no doubt not too far in the future.

Weird thing is that in August I asked my shop to reinstall the cover, then I verified visually that they had done so. Come November I'm checking the oil etc. and happen to notice that the whole business is gone with the wind. Possibly due to the wrong routing of the positive post wire, the shop tried to stuff everything under the cover and it just didn't hold. I have to rearrange things first next time.

Actually, the cheapest thing you can do for your 928 is the free Craigslist ad offering it up for sale