348 Intake manifold removal for wiring issue

I would try something else before going that route. Next batch now in route.
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Damn Dave.... what fun is that? That takes all the romance and uncertainty out of the equation.

 

You don't need to take the intake manifold off to strip the engine wiring loom out - it all threads out from underneath or between the intake runners.... unless of course you want to take the manifold off just to improve access.

 

As soon as the next batch is delivered I can answer you question as to cost. Doing anything less than the whole engine harness is a short cut in my book. Most certainly you listed the critical areas but better to be done with it for good. The seals and boots on the ECU's are good enough that I have found a cleaning technique that has proven adaquate for that area.

I predicted a far lower sucess rate than I experianced with the gold plated parts. On the 4 test cars on the road for the last half of the summer there wasnt a single failure of any kind. If would have know better at the time I would have ordered 4000 of them but being sceptical I only got 400 at the time. Now I have 4000 in route and should see them just after the holidays.

Every engine I remove for service is getting them now. I designed and built tools that make the job quite easy and those will be tested by a westcoast FChatter and then the whole package will be ready. I will prod Daniel with a sharp stick and see if he will be the outlet for some of this stuff.

 

Okay here is my take.

First and foremost, make sure that ALL of your grounds are hooked up properly, ESPECIALLY the ground from the engine to the frame.

Now.

Don't be so sure that your crank position sensors are shot just yet. You may have pulled the engine codes with the engine off. If you indeed did pull the codes with the engine off then you will always get crank sensor codes because the Motronic is not sensing them. The crank pulley has teeth that the sensors read magnetically, and then there is a space that is missing a "tooth". So if the engine is not turning the sensor cannot count the pulses and thus the Motronic "thinks" that the sensor is not working. The engine must be on and idling when you pull the codes, this way you don't get a "false" crank sensor code.

The other thing that will cause the code to be thrown is if the wiring is shot. You can have a perfectly good crank sensor, but a busted wire (which was the case I had) will not let the signal get to the Motronic. In my case a wire was pulled out of the back of the pin on the female connector of the wiring loom. Then because of the wire that pulled out the signal wasn't getting fully transmitted to the Motronic from the CPS. And thus I was getting a true CPS failure code. You will also want to check the integrity of the wire shielding for the wire on the CPS. If the shielding is crack and pealing back it will allow the signal to bleed out. The wiring does have a tendency to get hot and brittle.

Here is what I would do.

If you pulled the codes with the car off, clear them out then pull them again with the car running.
If after you pull the codes you get the CPS code again, swap the sensors from one side to the other, clear out the codes, and see if the problem jumps sides. If it does jump sides then you have found the culprit, if not, then you have so start hunting through the wiring to find the problem.

Try that first and see what happens. Then we can talk about removing the plenum.

 

That is exactly the reason I removed the plenum. It made the job soooooo much easier.

 

Only partially right....ask me how I know! It didnt work with one ECU so I swapped it to another. With both ECU's blown I then had to disect and identify the real failure.

 

Oh MAN!!! That must have been one heck of a headache, and a big time pain in the ass to trace.

 

Yup.
Last "used" part I will ever buy for a customers car, cost me $5K plus labor to save him $2K. I still have photo's of that harness to remind me. I was a little surprised when I saw the electrical tape under the motronic plug but only after flaming 2 ECU's. Sound familure?

 

Same issues in the same manner on the 95 355 that led to all the terminals being done.

Anything short of a complete and total cleaning of the sensor pins and replacement of the terminals had the same results within about 2-3 weeks. The Stab. 22 has to be put on where one drop on a Qtip does many plugs. Anything more leaves a film that hardens and mixed with the corrosion remaining on the pin insures a poor connection. I was able to see this under a microscope when I noticed the fibers from the Qtips glued to the pins and scraping with a dental tool took of a film buildup.

Nothing wrong with replacing the harness if you want to go that way but let me suggest you go with a new one. Experiance speaking there!!!

 

Yup, these things can be a pain.

 

Okay I remember that thread.

Currently I have my plenum off. Since the car was down for the fuel tank problem anyway, I figured I would get a little port work done on the runners. It does make the job of pulling the wiring loom all the way out a much easier job with the plenum off.
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Hey Tom,

Drop me a pm with your number if you would like to chat over the phone about how to pull the plenum.

 

Heya mate, is that plenum gasket re-usable?? What is it made off?? Paper, cork or rubber??

 

The tin connectors will work fine, that is what I started with and have had sucess with them many times.

It was only after I located the engineering drawings for the OEM tin ones stating a life at 10 cycles of removal/instalation and thought about it a bit...I nearly exceed the full life cycle when testing for one problem. Controling corrosion was my first concern before I located the engineering drawings.

 

WOW! 10 cycles. I wonder what the life cycle of a BMW bosch connector is? That is totally unreasonable but I guess Ferrari got their money's worth. I bet Bosch had to come up with cheaper plastic just to meet Ferrari's spec of 10 cycles. I think even the chinese are doing better than than. I also wonder what the lefe cycle of a gm weatherpak connecot is. I have though many times to just go to gm weatherpak connectors.

 

Yo Pap,

The gasket between the plenum top and runners, between the throttle bodies and the plenum top, and then between the bottom of the intake and the head are made of paper. The very first time I pulled the plenum the gaskets came off in one piece still attached to the bottom of the intake. So being a cheapass I reused it. But this time around I bought new gaskets for it, and will be replacing them like a good boy.

 

Terminal only, damn plastic will outlast you and I combined

 

Thanks mate, perhaps I will 'risk' it and not order any!!

A little Ultra-blue will seal her up.