We are having custom made alternator harnesses made for the 928.
The charging system has been upgraded to 4 gauge wire


Price will be $895.00
It takes a week or so to have them made .
Let me know
Thanks
Tom

 

Very nice and so much more than just an alternator harness....

 

Yes, this is the "infamous" 14 pin harness that runs across the front of the engine to the alternator and then to the starter.

I was by 928 International and got to see and hold this thing in my hand.

This is a piece of automotive art!

When these things started to "get rare" at Porsche, I bought up the few remaining looms for the '87/'88 cars. (We adapted those looms to fit the '89 and later cars).

I can honestly tell you that this loom is better than the factory loom. Better wire, more current carrying capacity for better charging, and better heat shielding.

Art. State of the art.

 

Do other cars commonly have this kind of support when parts are no longer supplied by the factory? I'm constantly amazed at some of the offerings that are available from our dedicated vendors. Thank god I picked a project car with such dedicated support!

 

Still remember the young guy with an 85 at a Sharktoberfest....went to crank his car and the starter motor just ran on and on , the car started still grinding on the starter...he popped the hood and smoke was coming out of his 14 pin harness.....disconnected the battery and shut down the car. The next day he and a friend fitted a good used harness and all was good !! That was back when there were "good used harnesses " ...

 

Beautiful work Tom..thanks for all the effort and investment I'm sure it has taken to get across the finish line.

 

Just so I'm clear here, I'm not minimizing the engineering of this product, nor scoffing at the price, so please do not take it as such.

Would it be possible to create this from scratch? Pick up a 14 pin harness, a bunch of high quality wire of varying gauges, some really good heat shielding, heavy gauge terminals and some good solder and piece it together?

I enjoy the creative aspect behind this, and am just curious as to viability of such a project.

(and again - please do not take this as any sort of criticism...it's merely curiosity. I'm not having any issues with my harness, nor am I planning on undertaking such an effort.)

 

It's possible and many have done it in the past. I don't see why some one couldn't now.

There are threads on it and it costs about $200+ in wiring and connectors alone to do the harness correctly.

 

I did mine for around $100 all included with automotive wires from local hardware store and connectors from ebay. Replaced the 14 pin with GM Weatherpack 6+4 pin. My harness hasn't got the correct wire colors and it doesn't look as good as this one but it works.

 

I've made a few of these harnesses for my car and a few others ( there is a thread on here somewhere) The expense is in the connectors and the correct crimping tools plus the time to do it correctly. Inside the old harness all the insulation had been destroyed by heat and it made a massive difference to my car not just regarding voltages.

It is good that there is now a couple of suppliers of this harness.

 

Yes. The materials are commonly avail, but it requires some skill to crimp and seal the harness. Sean in TX has been making them from scratch for a while I think, and he can make them for any year I believe.

If you are handy, you can DIY.

 

Looks like a fantastic product and I knew it was only a matter of time before Mark jumped on these. He's seen how many I've been selling and being the smart businessman, he knows there's a good sized market for this. Job well done guys, it's great to have so many choices.

 

For most people its a lot of trouble to do this really well. The net materials costs can be quite reasonable if you buy everything in bulk. But to do a 1 off its rather more challenging. The correct type of wire in matching colors is difficult to order in less than 100' and sometimes longer lengths. Yes you can use the wrong color and lower grades - but would you want to here?

You would not want to use commonly available PVC insulation here, you need cross-linked rated to 125C, Type SXL would be good. This is very hard to order in large gauges in small quantities.

Having got the wire you need the right terminals & connectors, heat shrink tube, good high temp sheathing in various sizes which is also hard to order in small quantities, and the tools (???) and skills to assemble it well from an electrical and mechanical performance perspective.

So is it possible to do this yourself? - definitely, can you save money? maybe some, but not as much as you'd think without making many of them, is it easy? for some yes - for others no.

I've done this and I wouldn't describe it as quick or easy. If you measure something wrongly and only really discover this when you go to fit it... then...

Alan

 

Unmet need, meet Market. Market, meet Unmet need. Have fun. Play nice.

 

Noob question here. What are the symptoms of the old harness going bad? Looking at my harness I see no cracking or gross problems, but it's and 88 with 65K. I'm not alone in having weak voltages at idle, especially with fans on, AC on, headlights on so I've ASSumed (stupid I know) that its the alternator undergoing it's slow death spiral.

How best to test this? Voltages at the alternator and at the battery? Sorry. Still learning this car one subsystem at a time. Noob out.