Varmints gnawed on my wiring harness.. under the cowl they chewed through almost all of the wires (harness is like 3 wires away from being 2 pieces) Under the dash many of the wires have had their insulation chewed off. I think it's too far gone to attempt to repair. I know I could get a good used harness from a donor teener, but I'm wondering if I should just start fresh with a painless wiring kit. Has anyone here used one?

The reason I'm thinking of a re-do is I'm making many modifications.

V8 (with its necessary wiring and alternator)
air conditioning
no engine compartment relay box
electric water pump
electric fans
mirror based domelight
front trunk battery
no side marker lights

BTW, I've decided to go ahead with the soda blasting, and then I'll go with my first choice of retina burning yellow (faster) Thanks all for helping me make tough decisions!

If you decide to use a used one, lemme know. I've got a complete late harness in a box at the shop, and a couple out at the yard we can chop up if you just want pieces.

Funny this topic should come up now. I just finished rewiring a Jeep CJ7 with a painless harness that I got from Joe Richard.

The painless harness has it's pluses. The wiring is labeled well, with each wire printed with its circuit on the outside to make it easy to trace. The fuse block is a standard GM block, and it uses ATO (blade type) fuses. But I still have mixed opinions on it. For a 914, you are probably better served by putting in a factory harness, and modifying it to suit your V8 conversion. With the painless harness, you have to either splice the various factory connectors from the 914 harness onto it, or disassemble the connectors and resolder the pins onto the painless harness. It can also be time consuming because you have to route all the wiring and cut it to length.


Get a factory harness, replace the fuse box with a jwest engineering fuse box, install it and test it. Then modify it to put the V8 in. The wiring behind the dash will just plug in, and using the painless harness will take you days to sort out all the gauge and switch wiring.


Good luck and let me know if I can help with the wiring.

Ok, I guess I'll go with a factory harness. How the heck do you get it through the rear firewall? I still haven't finished pulling the old one, but that part looks difficult because it goes into the center tunnel before going through the firewall.

I originally planned on using the original harness, but after seeing how embrittled the plastic covering on the wire was I decided to make my own (didn't want to be chasing electrical gremlins forever). I got a helluva deal on a 52lb. lot of primary wire in various gauges and colors, and a painless wiring fuse block (18 circuit, I think) w/relays which will make it much easier wiring in the "extra crap" that I've determined this car will require. I'm installing things like powerlocks, alarm system, power windows, cruise control, two 220 cfm blowers for the A/C condenser coil, a power retractable targa top..........okay, the retractable targa top is BS , but the rest will be installed. Reconnecting the original connectors may be the most time consuming part of making the harness, but the piece of mind will be worth it IMO.

Wiring and mechanical stuff doesn't scare me............but rust does!

Esp. if you're going to make extensive modifications, I'd just do it all yourself. Use GM Weatherpak connectors (available at several places, but Speedway Motors has best prices I've found so far), and get factory colored wire at British Wiring (Lucas shop, but they have colored and striped wire in bulk at good prices). The corrugated wire "sleeves" used on most cars in the past 10 years or so it widely available and cheap. Buy a GOOD crimp tool and lots of extra crimp-on connectors.

For just making a harness to make the engine run and have the basic stuff working, this isn't all that big a job. You can wire as much or as little as you like. The biggest deal is wiring the dash (lots of wires, lots of connectors, relatively little space). The rest is pretty easy.

When I did this the last time (early 60s Mini), I made up my own colored wiring diagram first using magic markers on large sheets of paper. This step helped a great deal on getting everything to make sense before I started to cut wire. This works v. well if you have a top-down rough drawing of the car and draw out the harness on that, so you figure out where you want to run wire, and roughly how long the harness sections need to be. Work it all out on paper first, and you'll save yourself a good bit of wire from cut and fit mistakes.

Unless you're going to be adding a LOT more circuits, I'd recommend using James' ATO fuse block for the 914. Three extra circuits if you need them, and it's nicely made and nicely labelled.

QUOTE (bondo @ Jan 24 2005, 12:29 PM)

Ok, I guess I'll go with a factory harness. How the heck do you get it through the rear firewall? I still haven't finished pulling the old one, but that part looks difficult because it goes into the center tunnel before going through the firewall.

Putting a harness in a 914 is a simple process. First remove all the connectors for anything that is not in the passsenger compartment. Then tape up the harness with electrical tape until both the front and the rear ends are kinda pointed.

Lay it in the passenger compartment and feed the rear taillight wiringunder the brace that is in front of the center tray and then through the firewall. I used a piece of coathanger taped to the end of the wires. Keep feeding wires until the grommet is outside the firewall (it takes some patience and some spary silicone ). Wire the rear of the car. Lay the front part of the harness in the proper location going forward, until you get to the fuse block. Feed the front through the hole up next to the fuse block. Then feed it through the hole below the tank. From theere it just lays in the front trunk, with leads out of the holes in the front pane.


I knew I should have taken pictures when I did mine.....

I have an aftermarket harness I am getting ready to put in, even though everything works on my car. I am not dealing with the headaches of the stock wiring, like the insulation falling off.

I know it's not going to be the easiest thing in the world to do, but, I feel way more secure with not 40 year old wires.

QUOTE (iiibdsiil @ Jan 24 2005, 02:32 PM)

I feel way more secure with not 40 year old wires.

This is truly amazing to me......

People in this group will replace a wiring harness that, if it shorts out, will only leave you sitting on the side of the road. But they won't replace 40 year old plastic fuel lines that will rupture and burn the friggin car to the ground!!!!


I am not picking on you directly, just the general attitude about electrical problems.



Now back to your regularly scheduled mayhem.....

QUOTE (bondo @ Jan 24 2005, 10:29 AM)

How the heck do you get it through the rear firewall?

do a search here, this has been discussed before. i have done 4 so far, it get's easier each time.

take the new harness, lay it out on the floor, then everything that goes to the rear of the car (starting from the fuse panel!) has to be funneled through, starting at the *front* of the center tunnel, then through the firewall and on, everything for the front of the car goes through the front firewall ...

i posted tons of pictures of this in an earlier thread, i think it was early lascht year.
so, do a search and make sure you include ALL posts.

did someone move that into the classics?
Andy

what the heck, did the search myself ...

here's the link to the previous thread about replacing the main wire harness:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...=ST&f=2&t=13582

Andy

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jan 24 2005, 02:50 PM)

what the heck, did the search myself ... here's the link to the previous thread about replacing the main wire harness: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...=ST&f=2&t=13582 Andy

Thanks! You da MAN!

I have seen / heard a lot more horror stories from people about the electrical in their 914's then the fuel lines.

I have a friend that will not drive in any Porsche that is not equipped with a fire extinguisher. He has owned 4 914's, and had them ALL catch on fire, one of which was 15 minutes after taking delivery of it off the transport truck from the guy he bought it from. He was still talking to the driver, letting it idle, and up in flames.

Guess who I bought the kit from? Yup, it was him. Thank God I don't have any problems now, but WHEN I do, it will be much simpler with the new harness, since it is labeled every 6 inches what the wire is.

No more of that 4 different frigin browns going to one thing and whatever else Porsche does that is retarded.

QUOTE (iiibdsiil @ Jan 24 2005, 02:10 PM)

No more of that 4 different frigin browns going to one thing and whatever else Porsche does that is retarded.

huh?

the original wire-harness is well sorted out, the diagrams are easy to read, as are the colors ...
the problems are not from the factory harness, the problems are from the dump POs that feel the need to hack into the harness without understanding the basics of electrical current!

Andy

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jan 24 2005, 03:16 PM)

QUOTE (iiibdsiil @ Jan 24 2005, 02:10 PM) No more of that 4 different frigin browns going to one thing and whatever else Porsche does that is retarded. huh? the original wire-harness is well sorted out, the diagrams are easy to read, as are the colors ... the problems are not from the factory harness, the problems are from the dump POs that feel the need to hack into the harness without understanding the basics of electrical current! Andy

I have to agree with Andy....the stock wiring harness is simple and should be dead on reliable.....the only "hot" spot is the engine compartment and that is due to heat and chemicals (gas, oil, brake parts cleaner

Most all electrical problems are from the owners or past owners....bad installs of alarms and car stereos are probebly 90% of the problems people have.

Sure there might be some corrosion built up on the terminals and fuese, but those are easily dealt with.

QUOTE (Mueller @ Jan 24 2005, 03:25 PM)

Most all electrical problems are from the owners or past owners....bad installs of alarms and car stereos are probebly 90% of the problems people have.

And VARMINTS!

I think the brown wire he speaks of is the brown ground wire thing. We're used to black being ground.. but on a 914 there are lots of brown wires.. they're all grounds. Knowing that helps alot.

I know that without the wiring diagrams, a 944 is lotsa fun screwing with the wiring.

I can't remember for the life of me, but I think there were like browns with red, browns with white, browns with black... WTF? Ground is one color, no? On Fords it is...

QUOTE (iiibdsiil @ Jan 24 2005, 08:36 PM)

I can't remember for the life of me, but I think there were like browns with red, browns with white, browns with black... WTF?

yes.

ground going to the chassis.
ground going to a switch.
ground going to a light.
ground going to a relay.
etc.
etc.
etc.

if you want to follow a wire from the dash to the hand-brake lever switch, would you rather have a bundle of 5 black wires and no way of knowing which one in the harness goes to the handbrake switch, or would you rather have a brown with white stripe so you can actually follow the wire?

i have no idea why a bundle of same color wire would be any advantage?
unless you're in the business of selling multimeters ...

QUOTE

I know that without the wiring diagrams, a 944 is lotsa fun screwing with the wiring.

i'm sorry, but that puts you right into the DAPO category.

no one should attempt any car-wire repair or "improvement" without a wire/current-flow diagram.
you're setting yourself up for a nice bonfire ...

Andy

listen to andy/mueller. don't go crossing wires without knowing how they flow.

I never said I was good, I just remember it being a pain in the ass for some reason.

So why does Porsche use all these different colors with brown, is there no chasis ground on a Porsche? On Fords, every ground circuit is 57, black. That's it. They run to the nearest grounding block, so no way for errors really.

Never really thought about it...

QUOTE (iiibdsiil @ Jan 24 2005, 09:41 PM)

So why does Porsche use all these different colors with brown, is there no chasis ground on a Porsche? On Fords, every ground circuit is 57, black. That's it. They run to the nearest grounding block, so no way for errors really. Never really thought about it...

good example IS the handbrake-light switch ...

the light bulb in the dash has constant 12V, the ground wire from the bulb runs in the main harness all the way down the center tunnel, then exits at the back firewall (together with a few other brown wires) then runs around behind the drivers seat, along the long to the handbrake lever to a switch that will shorten it out to ground.
when the lever is UP, the circuit is closed turning on the bulb.
when the lever is DOWN, the circuit is open, the bulb is off.
there are several other ground wires in the main harness serving similar purposes.
without the different coloring, brown/white, brown/red, brown/black, just looking at them in the harness, you would not be able to tell which one goes where.

the main difference, and the BIGGEST single mistake for "hobby" car electricians, is to fail to understand that these cars are wired to "switch the ground", which is exactly the opposite to many american build cars, where you "switch the phase" ...

on our cars, the switches are on the "ground" side of things, not on the "hot" side of things.

and frankly, as far as i'm concerned, if you didn't know that, you didn't have any business cutting even a single wire on ANY porsche (or VW for that matter) ...

Andy

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jan 24 2005, 09:52 PM)

on our cars, the switches are on the "ground" side of things, not on the "hot" side of things.

This isn't that unusual. The horn on most cars is a switch to ground. Points in just about every car are also switches to ground. Lots of British stuff has half the switches to ground. Just depends on whether its more convenient to place the switch before or after the load, based on how the harness lays out.

That the same on 944's too? That would make a lot of sense....

Electrical is not my thing. I have done a few 944-LT1 conversions, and the wiring change is very little. I had to figure out which wires did what for the gauges though, that one was fun.