Tito

Hi Mark C,
Yes I distinctly remeber seeing your car as there are not many walnut dashes out there, your interior was light , while mine is a darker blue.
Peter estimated £400 for the loom and another £400 approx. to change the loom. He told me that the engine did not have to come out for this replacement and that they have done others recently. Ironic , as they had not diagnosed the cause of your smoke when I was talking to him.
Porsche if you are reading this shame on you!

Tito.

MarkC

Phil,
My car is an import (from Saudi). It was first registered on 12/10/96 by SAMACO (a Porsche dealer) in Jedah.
The DVLA therefore gave it a "P" plate which I later changed to the RSR one it wears now.
I spoke to SAMACO to confirm provenence prior to my purchase in April 2000. I can't be entirely sure why it didn't get registered until then but all the paperwork checked out so I was convinced to buy. The most attractive part was the it had only done 9,000 miles.
I had AFN check it out then and subsequent services at GTOne and a re-map (and end boxes/mufflers) at AMD have not found any major problems. Shame they didn't spot the wiring though.
Peter at GT One is saving the old "loom" for me so that I can pass details of it to E.J. I don't know where he sourced the new one but it arrived today.
I've noticed few part code tags with what look like '94 designations while tinkering with the car such as when I upgraded the speakers and fitted a mini subwoofer under the passenger seat, and others with '95 designations. Perhaps mine got an earlier "loom". I guess that components are made in batches and get used up at differant rates during build.

Mike in Switzerland

Mark

slightly off the topic but I was looking to get an AMD chip as well - how do you find yours (Gert fitted an RSR exhaust to my car and i noticed it seemed to rev more quickly (or maybe it's just the noise?))

Phil, I have a LHD '95 C2 Coupe which I imported in 2000 and put on a great cherished plate (C2 COU). I've now taken the plate off to sell (as I am exporting the car) and the DVLA put the car on a V reg!

Regards, Mike

PS Any UK C2 Coupe owners (993 or 996) want a notable plate -

993C4

EJ,

I VISITED YOUR WEBSITE BUT I CANNOT SEE ANY PICTURES FOR THE WIRING HARNESS. I CAN ONLY READ THE TEXT AND SEE EMPTY WINDOWS. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO POST THOSE PICS ON THIS THREAD?

THANKS
95' 993C4

Tabor

Porsche has a history of not doing the honorable thing. The 968 Ring and Pinion problem comes to mind. Their chain tensioners maybe?

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Sure:

tom_993

Here's a pic of my harness. The area shown is right near the connection to the alternator. See E.J.'s pic of the whole harness to put that area in context.

Tom

Tito

These pics are shocking - possibly literally.
I stalled my car 2 nights ago and the alarm went off. At the time I thought this shouldn't be happening- could this be the first sign of my WH cracking up.
Tito

Peter Topping

There are a number of issues that can point to a faulty engine wiring loom on a 993.
These are as follows:-

1. Battery discharges for no apparent reason.
2. Starter still runs after engine has fired up
3. Starter engages/starts when engine is running while driving
4. Spark voltage down on scope test
5. Engine runs lumpy
6. Engine will not run on 6 cylinders
7. Engine back fires and pops
8. Engine down on performance
9. Difficulty in starting engine
10. Black smoke from engine when starting
11. Smell of petrol when starting

The most serious problem is that the wiring loom can go “live” to the alternator; this is potentially a fire hazard that could happen at any time.

The wiring loom connects from the engine bay junction box to the injectors, starter motor and alternator – the alternator is live all the time carrying high current with no fuse protection.

The loom is shielded in a wrap. Cutaway the protective wrap this will reveal the sheathed cables within, this sheathing will probably be cracked in a “hooped” effect around the core of the cables. This sheathing is of the wrong material, becoming brittle and cracking when hot, this then shrinks revealing the core cables to short out.

This issue seems to affect the earlier non VarioRam 993's, strangely the replacement wiring loom has a different part number.

Porsche have to recognise this as a grave problem and have to take ownership of the situation.

MarkC

My car has now been fixed and I'm looking at the old wiring harness, what a mess!

Peter at GT One cut into the flexible rubber cover about a foot down from the fuse box to determine if it had failed in a similar way to another one he had to replace a few weeks ago. Most of the wires at this point have damaged (cracked) insulation to some degree but some of them have big chunks of insulation missing and have shorted together and burned through
I'm going to try to put some photo's here...
[IMG]a:\loom close up.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]a:loom very close up.jpg[/IMG]

The insulation on the earth wire at the alternator connector has gone completely but the positive is still ok.
[IMG]a:alternator connector.jpg[/IMG]

E.J - I've recorded the info you want and will send it spearately via email.

Tito - Final bill £770

Phil - The new part came from Porsche GB via AFN. They have them in stock now perhaps they think they'll need them!!

I am soooo lucky the car did not catch fire, but I fear others will not be so lucky. Porsche really ought to issue a warning via their dealers and associated owners clubs. I'll certainly be bringing it to the attention of the PCGB and TIPEC in the UK.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Glad you're car is okay now. This is obviously a serious problem. Thanx for the good write up Peter Topping.

E. J.

Tito

MarkC,
I am glad your car is OK now.
I really think that Porsche are going to loose a lot of respect and credibilty if they don't clear up their own mess voluntarily. They are obviously making money hand over fist and can afford to sort it out.
If they wont do it of their own volition , I hope that the regulatory body in the US with a lot of clout forces them to sort it out.
At the end of the day £770 is a cost that most owners of cars in this age group will have to bear I suspect. In cars of this age and class this should not be happening. We would all be chuckiling if we were refering to a Yugo or Lada, I suspect that these days these cars have their acts sorted out. Its time that Porsche caught up.
Tito.

Gibo993

Hi Mark,

Got my ECU back from AMD £200.(Geoff was excellent he replaced the injector drivers)
Stuck it on the car and guess what, same problem.
The sysmptoms are exaclty the same as your car loads of smoke and fuel, sometimes I start it runs on 5 other on 6 but always over fueling.
Wish I had found this post earlier, I have spent about £350 and now looks like I need a new loom

I feel sick, its been 5 weeks and I have had it with this car, the way I feel at the moment its going up for sale as soon as its working again, If it ever does.

I will post my findings on the loom website (can't remember the site off hand PJ's ??)

I will have to turn to drink and loose women if this keeps up

As you say there is always an upside !!!!

<img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

Jim Carmichael

While I have not experienced this problem with my 95, a few weeks ago I contacted Porsche dealer and he says never heard of this problem...
I have just emailed this page to Porsche Canada, we will see if they reply.........

pookee

My local dealer told me it only happens to cars with high miles that are in high temp areas like Florida.
<img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" />
Makes you think twice about these Porsche service folks.