axl911

After finding out my 95 135K miles doesn't have the engine harness updated, I got worried with visions of Lucas smoke, fire, and general mayhem coming out of my engine compartment. Living 300 miles away from the dealer (in El Paso for now), I decided to replace the harness myself along with several while you're in there projects.

After 3 days, I got the old one out and new one in. Overjoyed, I decided to cut the old one open as justification for my effort....and what did I see?

...

Nothing. No broken insulation, no frayed wires, no fleeting Lucas smoke. The inside was perfect. Wire and insulation were soft and pliable.

Oh well.....hope the car runs when if get everything put back together.

black ice

Okay, you got me. what is Lucas smoke????


dave

axl911

Lucas smoke is a vital component for old (maybe new) English cars. I read somewhere that everything that is electric runs on smoke. Once smoke leaked out, it won't work anymore.

Lucas, prince of darkness. English cars have lots of electrical problems, lights that are dark, wipers that don't work. And they actually used components made by Lucas.

MarkD

Fun job, eh?

Old joke:
Why do the English drink warm beer?
Because Lucas does the refrigeration

Had an MGB once... reverse lights came on one day and never went out.

1pcarnut

There was one part of the harness that ran past the headers that was the culprit and the heat caused the insulation to dry and crack.

Priceless

I purchased my 1st porsche 2 weeks ago. It is a 1996 993 with 32,000 miles. I purchased it from a local colleague (doctor). he was the 3rd owner and bought it in 2002. Do you know if the 1996 had harness problems also? I guess I should ask him if he knows if this had been changed. thanks in advance. BTW, I LUV MY NEW CAR/MISTRESS :-)

___________

Rodney

96 993 Cab Black/Black/Cashmere
06 Audi A4 3.2 Quattro Black/Black
08 Acura MDX AWD Grey/Grey

CalvinC4S

I have seen cars catch fire from this, just under the heater blower motor.


There will be a service bulliten out on your car. Call the dealer with your VIN.

The Brewmeister

What about the three position Lucas light switch?
-off
-flicker
-dim

Canyon56

Great joke, never heard that one before.

The wipers on my Healey used to go on when I honked the horn.

Priceless

will do. thanks calvinC4S.

___________

Rodney

96 993 Cab Black/Black/Cashmere
06 Audi A4 3.2 Quattro Black/Black
08 Acura MDX AWD Grey/Grey

lexart

The other three switch settings:

-smoke
-smolder
-ignite

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, and Joseph Lucas invented the short circuit.

berni29

Hi

The harness that came out of my car was black and charred in places with several bare wires. The OPC service staff had it in a bag for me to see. No wonder the rear blower did not work.

Berni

David in LA

Consider yourself a lucky one. Anyone who searches will see posts and pics from 8-9 years ago when EJ was pushing to get Porsche to acknowledge the problem and issue a recall/TSB. There were some scary pics...and the harness from my MY93 was also in pretty bad shape and the car was shorting/running rough, especially in heavy rains.

chris walrod

They invented intermittent wipers, very intermittent

Also, invented the rear window defroster, this was so your hands would stay warm while pushing it. Sorry, couldnt resist.

axl911

Yep....this is what made me wanting to change it myself.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1274509281.jpg