budge96

i suggested this three weeks ago maybe you'll have better luck no one cared to listen to my mention of this item ...

NB 993

so I looked into the records that came with the car, the harness was checked back in 2013 by a Porsche dealer and was found to be in good condition with no need for repair. I brought it up to my mechanic today and he will check it out again.

Thanks for all of your inputs.

jay@EZimmoblock.com

Not for nothing, but did you ever figure out where that scabbed in wire is going in your fuse box (Post 17?)

NB 993

i chatted with the mechanic about it. Its certainly not factory and apparently goes to the airbag. The previous owner knew nothing about it and he told me he’s not aware of any electrical modifications. He’s owner number 3 & I am number 4 so maybe something before. I looked through all the records hx and didn't find anything either.

NB 993

Finally there is a new development in this saga.

We found that the main wiring harness has been severely damaged by heat. The protective wrapping around the main positive wire in the wiring harness going TO the alternator has been severely overheated. Something has sent more voltage to that wire than it was designed to handle.

I haven’t gotten the chance to speak to my mechanic directly by his message seemed very dire and he asked me to even get in touch with my insurance company as apparently the repair can get expensive real quick. No more details until Monday unfortunately.

What could possibly be the cause of this? Anyone has seen something like this before?

here are some photos…

Pete Debusmann

That is the “classic” failure of the wiring harness. Contact your local Porsche dealer and they can put your VIN in the system to see if the car was repaired under the recall. Probably not. If not it is a free repair at the dealer.

pete

boomboomthump

If they won't do it for free via the recall, you can order a new complete engine wiring harness used in the warranty repair for $105 via a special part number 000-043-204-61 and you will receive 993-607-016-15 ($1400) in a box.

Delaware lists the 000 part number as NLA but I ordered it via Sunset for $105 two months ago.

NB 993

Well your responses are much more encouraging than my mechanic’s.

What other parts can be damaged with the harness failure? Is there any further inspections required?

I know the harness has been inspected in 2005 and was deemed to be healthy. I found this in the car’s records. (Attached) I will certainly contact a dealer and speak to someone first thing on Monday. Is there a specific way to present the problem to them?

sorry for all the questions, I’m grateful for everyone’s help.

budge96

Uhm that's what I was referring too , the light being on and other lights coming on without the key is a dead give away !

the dealer can and will do it for free if it doesn't come up in your cars records , they can tell if the update was ever performed !

Bert

Pete Debusmann

The way to present this to the dealer is to ask/confirm if your car (VIN) is covered under the recall.

What else can be damaged? The car can catch on fire and burn to the ground, that is why the NHTSA made Porsche issue a recall.

pete

boomboomthump

2005 till now is a long time. The original wire harness was made with wires that had shielding which would dry rot and crumble from the heat (as yours is now). This can cause your car to burn to the ground as other have stated.

BTW, the same thing happens with the wires on the SAI pumps. The fix for those is to either solder on new wires or just strip them bare and use heat shrink tubing over the copper wire.

systemsc

Actually, it's the wire insulation material being used during that time period by some German manufacturers, e.g. Porsche & Mercedes, that had the problem. BMW didn't have the problem.

boomboomthump

I have no explanation why I typed shielding instead of insulation other than that post was made at 1AM after some decent amount of alcohol but yes, that's exactly what we're talking about and is shown here.

NB 993

Thank you all.

a friend sent me the technical sheet of the recall. My VIN is actually included so I’m gonna call a dealer in Columbus tomorrow.

Will attach it for anyone interested

NB 993

One dilemma I have now is that the indy shop has put in significant amount of labor into diagnosing it, with several parts already exposed/out.

Wonder if I should just ask them to get the (inexpensive) part and exchange it rather than wrapping it all up and then redoing it all at the dealer.