How bad is it...REALLY?
#1
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
How bad is it...REALLY?
How screwed am i…? While finally getting somewhere with my tune on the car utilizing the M-tune and Rouge DME (thanks Joshua for all your help) I fried the front engine harness…FK!! UGH!!
Here’s how I f'd it up…hooked up the battery cable and started the engine with a new Map. It’s warmed up and running smoothly and idling on its own. First time in a while it ran this well, I made a couple minor tweaks to the map and decided to take an eeeasy cruise around the block. Closed the hood, back out and drove down the street. I come to a stop and apply the brakes and the car stumbles, pops and dies!! Smoke!! is now coming from the dash! I grab the fire extinguisher looking for flames, but the smoke subsides. I open the hood and find that I had left the wrench laying on the tire well when I had installed the battery cable. It was now wedged up against the coil and really warm, definitely had some current running through it. I get the car back and find this. The wire from the coil to the ignition and to the fuse box is fried. No telling how much damage there is to the other wires inside the harness, so replacement is a MUST! PICS
Question: How difficult is it to replace this harness? What needs to be removed to get access?
Three steps forward….two back.
Here’s how I f'd it up…hooked up the battery cable and started the engine with a new Map. It’s warmed up and running smoothly and idling on its own. First time in a while it ran this well, I made a couple minor tweaks to the map and decided to take an eeeasy cruise around the block. Closed the hood, back out and drove down the street. I come to a stop and apply the brakes and the car stumbles, pops and dies!! Smoke!! is now coming from the dash! I grab the fire extinguisher looking for flames, but the smoke subsides. I open the hood and find that I had left the wrench laying on the tire well when I had installed the battery cable. It was now wedged up against the coil and really warm, definitely had some current running through it. I get the car back and find this. The wire from the coil to the ignition and to the fuse box is fried. No telling how much damage there is to the other wires inside the harness, so replacement is a MUST! PICS
Question: How difficult is it to replace this harness? What needs to be removed to get access?
Three steps forward….two back.
#2
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Wow... bummer! Glad it didn't get any worse than that and start a fire. I've not replaced that part of the wiring harness before but it can't be fun!
#3
Basic Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
#4
Basic Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
#5
Basic Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
you are going to need the ignition plug to, hopefully you wont need the under the dash harness that is a MAJOR pita
#6
I think it's one of those jobs that requires patience, but it's really hard to do. I redid my entire wiring harness last year and it wasn't too bad. You could run a new wire by poking a hole at the base of the snorkel, kinda like LR shows for the new speed and ref sensor harness.
Personally I think that if your going to do it then run the wire through the snorkel with the rest of them and keep it clean.
On the bright side, wire are cheap and a burnt coil is a lot cheaper than a fire.
Good luck,
Phil
Personally I think that if your going to do it then run the wire through the snorkel with the rest of them and keep it clean.
On the bright side, wire are cheap and a burnt coil is a lot cheaper than a fire.
Good luck,
Phil
#7
Basic Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
I think it's one of those jobs that requires patience, but it's really hard to do. I redid my entire wiring harness last year and it wasn't too bad. You could run a new wire by poking a hole at the base of the snorkel, kinda like LR shows for the new speed and ref sensor harness.
Personally I think that if your going to do it then run the wire through the snorkel with the rest of them and keep it clean.
On the bright side, wire are cheap and a burnt coil is a lot cheaper than a fire.
Good luck,
Phil
Personally I think that if your going to do it then run the wire through the snorkel with the rest of them and keep it clean.
On the bright side, wire are cheap and a burnt coil is a lot cheaper than a fire.
Good luck,
Phil
Last edited by lart951; 02-21-2015 at 12:14 PM.
Trending Topics
#8
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Luis, you bring up a serious possibility...the way the smoke was coming up through the dash vents the harness under the dash may be toast as well.
Not really looking forward to this...
Not really looking forward to this...
#9
Basic Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
Rennlist
Site Sponsor
#10
Rennlist Member
i fixed a harness a few years ago . If you can just get a replacement harness do so.
I did it with new cables and a solder iron and spent allot of time on it . NOT a job i want to do any time soon again
I did it with new cables and a solder iron and spent allot of time on it . NOT a job i want to do any time soon again
#11
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Fortunately, Luis, who's licking his chops right now has a replacement harness available...thank you, Luis. I like my car too...in one piece.
#12
Wiring is a game of patience. I wired cars to pay for university (alarms, starters, stereos) and you just have to pluck away at it and muster all the patience from the depths of your being.
I would get a wiring diagram and print it out nice and big and all the wires. It'll take a couple hours, but at the same time you'll have peace of mind that your harness is in good condition. If it's not then I agree with the idea of popping another one in if there is too much that's fried.
Phil
#13
Rennlist Member
Installing the engine harness isn't that bad really. Pull the plugs of the DME, KLR, altitude sensor, tach/boost gauge connector in the cabin, then unplug the stuff under the hood -- TPS, AFM, knock, ISV, injectors, Temp sensors, cycling valve, Speed/ref, grounds, main junction, diagnostic port, etc. Then pull the rubber boot from the firewall and pull it out. I'd pull the seats and look up to see what you find under the dash, and at the bottom of the fuse box. That's where it could get ugly...
What bum luck - everyone has forgotten a wrench under the hood, so for it to land there is just a bummer. I guess Porsche had this in mind when they came up with that heavy plastic cover for the stock coil. Makes me want to come up with a similar cover for my MSD coil.
What bum luck - everyone has forgotten a wrench under the hood, so for it to land there is just a bummer. I guess Porsche had this in mind when they came up with that heavy plastic cover for the stock coil. Makes me want to come up with a similar cover for my MSD coil.
#14
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Tom, I wish it were the ECU harness, that's a piece of cake, but it's the front engine harness that runs along the front cross beam from the headlight motor/coil toward the drivers side and under the brake booster shield and through the drivers side firewall under the fuse box.
My head is just blowing up with what to do....breath....exhale...repeat.
Yeah, in hindsight the cover would've saved me from this..
My head is just blowing up with what to do....breath....exhale...repeat.
Yeah, in hindsight the cover would've saved me from this..
#15
Rennlist Member
Oh, right, of course. So sorry about that. I wonder how the new dme faired!? These fuse boxes tend to be old a brittle but everything is designed to be serviceable. Hopefully it's just a circuit or two (sorry, that's about as upbeat as I can be about that...).
Tom, I wish it were the ECU harness, that's a piece of cake, but it's the front engine harness that runs along the front cross beam from the headlight motor/coil toward the drivers side and under the brake booster shield and through the drivers side firewall under the fuse box.
My head is just blowing up with what to do....breath....exhale...repeat.
Yeah, in hindsight the cover would've saved me from this..
My head is just blowing up with what to do....breath....exhale...repeat.
Yeah, in hindsight the cover would've saved me from this..