I have a 2002 Targa that had an engine fire prior to my purchase in May 2019. This is my first 911 so I am still learning how it goes together. The repaired engine is back in but I can't get the engine harness, which I bought used off of a 2004 911, to fit the male side of the interior harness, bought from a 2003 Targa. Is there any reason these two will not fit together? Both cars used the same engine, and the 2004 engine harness fit every single item on top of the engine, with no leftover terminals. Here's the crazy part. I did a test connection and both terminals connected easily into the connectors just last week, with no fuss. Then I found several blown fuses, along with a dead battery, and thought I better remove both engine harness connectors since it was so easy. After I resolved the dead battery and blown fuse issue, I can't for the life of me get either one to go back on. I really don't know which one goes in which position. Is there a specific attachment ring pattern (or key) that only lets us put the correct terminal on the matching receiver? One of the female terminals has two blue dots on the collar. The other one has two white dots. There are no matching marks on the bracket, since the old one was burned up in the fire and replaced new from dealer.

Another mystery is that when I replaced the blown fuses, the secondary air pump came on and ran constantly with the key off then began overheating with a strong burning smell. It stopped after running for about a minute but I still smelled something burning, and it was super hot. I removed the electrical connector to be safe. Can you guys tell me what causes that to happen? The engine has not been started since the fire. I still need to drop the oil pan to check things out inside of the pan. The oil filter had no particles in it and the oil was clean, but the IMS bearing cover showed signs of long term seepage, so I changed the bearing, along with the RMS, clutch and flywheel. Any other things to watch out for before first startup?

 

UPDATE -- I finally got the harness connectors to seat correctly. I must have had them backwards on my second attempt I wrote about in the first post. Also, after the air pump had a chance to cool down, I plugged the terminal into it again and have been checking on it tonight. It has not come on or even gotten warm. Not sure what happened earlier tonight. I'll give further updates this weekend. My next task is to reinstall the transmission. It is on a dolly and jack combination under the car. I'll take my time and ask questions as I go.

 

Good luck. I've reinstalled 996 transmissions, and every time I think it is going to go easier, but by the time I'm done, I feel like I have wrestled a bear. The only "easy" way I've found is to put the engine and transmission together first, then reinstall the assembly into the car. Granted, this is much easier with a lift and a hydraulic lift table.

 

I totally agree. I spent over 5 hours with my grown son today trying to mate up the engine and transmission with the engine in it's fully installed position. There is just not enough wiggle room under there to do it with only dollies, jacks and jack stands. So tomorrow I'm going to disconnect the hoses and drop the engine and attempt to attach the two parts under the car. If that doesn't work, I'll have to raise the rear again and slide it all out, thus negating about 12-15 hours of hard labor. You live and learn. Next time I'll attach both parts on a lift table or two dollies before final install.

 

Sorry, that wasn't meant to discourage you from installing the transmission while the engine is in the car. It can definitely be done in the car. I don't want to steer you wrong. I do it with a lift cart and a transmission jack (wheels removed ) on top of the lift cart; engine support bar under the engine; car on a two post lift. It works, but is tricky. Aligning the splines on the transmission shaft is often the hassle. Once you get that aligned, the rest is good. I use spare bolts as alignment pins, and have also used bolts to pull the parts together once I know things are mating correctly. There's probably a better technique, but I don't know what it is.

 

Thanks for that detail on your method. Since I only have a floor jack and a trolley jack, I could not get the angles to match up between the tranny and the engine while the engine was fully installed. I spent three hours this afternoon to drop the engine about 8", and mate up the two parts. It was much easier to see the angles and hit the center of the flywheel with the spline gear, which mated up the first time. I used the trolley jack and wood blocks to alternately support the tranny and then to fine tune the line up of the engine. Then I used tranny bolts to guide it all into place evenly all the way around. Good news is I got it back in place and bolted up before supper. It was a good day!

 

Congrats! Job well done. Nice feeling of satisfaction when it all goes together, eh?

The first time I did this job, it went sideways, something must not have been lined up with the salve cylinder, and as soon as I stepped on the clutch the slave came a apart, losing fluid into the housing. I had to drop it all back down and do the same job again. Ugh! Glad you got it the first time.