308 GTSi Mystery Wire | FerrariChat

308 GTSi Mystery Wire

Discussion in '308/328' started by chipkent, Feb 13, 2010.

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  1. chipkent

    chipkent Karting

    Jul 16, 2009
    115
    I have a very late Eurospec 308 GTSi. There one mystery wire that I'd like to know about. The wire is in the engine compartment and is ziptied to the aluminum breather tube between the two fuel tanks. The other end of the wire is not hooked to anything. It enters the engine compartment just above the passenger side fuel tank and is tan. The only tan wire I can find on the wiring diagrams is for optional rear fog lights, which this car does not currently have. Is this wire original to the car, and if so what should it hook to? Was it retasked when the car was federalized? (lambda junk was removed before I bought the car)
     
  2. Paul_308

    Paul_308 Formula 3

    Mar 12, 2004
    2,345
    The 1982 308s had no lambda junk, came in 1984. Tan wires (beige) were used on the WUR, AAV, and Coolant Switch. Make certain they are not missing.
     
  3. Paul308GTSi

    Paul308GTSi Formula 3

    Oct 26, 2008
    1,003
    Queensland Australia
    Full Name:
    Paul D
    I have a eurospec GTSi ....... the brown wire in the back of mine goes to the aerial , , , the wiring diagram shows two white wires going to the aerial , reality says one white and one brown ............. I also found that the brown wire is duplicated and power goes to both when the aerial is activated. I found out the hard way because some idiot had replaced the aerial , , , they simply used the second wire to connect the new aerial , , dissassembeled the old aerial ( why why why ??? ) and left a bit of the old aerial under the carpet with the power wire attached. Occasionaly when I would put the aerial up or down the fuse would pop because the positive was touching the body panel. It made a very confusing situation because I would drive the car and all would be fine , , , park it , put the aerial down ( fuse would pop but I wouldnt know it had happened ) , the next time I would drive it everything on that fuse wouldnt work ............ I'm gonna go to jail for a loooooooooooooooong time when I finally catch the idiot that did these things to my car. :D

    alternately ...............

    There seems to be wiring differences in so many cars , , you can figure out what the wire does with a simple test. What I do to diagnose a mystery wire is connect it (the brown wire in this case) to one side of a 12v bulb , the other side of the bulb to earth. Turn the ignition on and try some switches .............. when the bulb lights up you know what switch or power source is supplying it ..
     
  4. Paul308GTSi

    Paul308GTSi Formula 3

    Oct 26, 2008
    1,003
    Queensland Australia
    Full Name:
    Paul D
    I have seen posts about a coolant switch , , I dont think my car has one .

    Is this a switch that is mounted into the coolant tank ??? If so I DEFINITELY dont have one ............
     
  5. chipkent

    chipkent Karting

    Jul 16, 2009
    115
    The coolant switch is in the middle of the engine valley. It is hard to see with all the hoses above it.
     
  6. chipkent

    chipkent Karting

    Jul 16, 2009
    115
    The 1982 Euro 308s did not come from the factory with lambda junk, but it was often hacked on in some way when they were imported into the US. Each car is different, and they were often done at a level of professionalism way below what you would like for someone working on a Ferrari.

    My WUR, AAV, and Coolant switch are all functioning fine so I know it is not for them. Also all of those components have wires entering the engine compartment on the driver's side and not the passenger's side, which is where the mystery wire comes from.
     
  7. Paul_308

    Paul_308 Formula 3

    Mar 12, 2004
    2,345
    I think you are confusing 'lambda junk' with the cat temp sensors used to federalize the car. Both have exhaust monitoring but until 1984, only cat temperature was monitored. Lambda monitored oxygen etc...neither important or relevant to the mystery wire.

    The euro cars of that era with rear fog lights did use beige or orange wires. The diagram notes "cable available for optional fog lights". However, fogs always appear to be bundled with other rear lights entering the rear of the car from the left side. Right side was used almost exclusively for the antenna to reduce noise pickup into the radio.

    If this is the case and your car works fine, is identification of the mystery wire more than idle curiosity? I.e. are you wishing to use it for something?

    ___________________________
    http://www.FerrariDiagrams.com
     
  8. chipkent

    chipkent Karting

    Jul 16, 2009
    115
    When I pulled the exhaust system, I removed a sensor that looked just like an O2 sensor, but it could very well have been a cat temp sensor. There was also a non-original solenoid in the warmup regulator circuit. It isn't relevant, but there was stuff to adjust the mixture beyond what the factory installed.

    I took a look at the car, and think it may be the wire for the antenna motor. My antenna only seem to currently have the wire for the signal, and it doesn't raise or lower on it's own.

    I currently have the engine out and am trying to resolve any weirdness introduced by POs while I have easy access. The mystery wire is one of the weird features I'm trying to bring back to the way the factory made it. I'm also paranoid about electrical problems from bad wiring because my first car caught fire from an electrical problem. Same story with my granddad's XKE.

    When I get a few minutes, I'll pull the fuel pump fuse and see if the wire is the antenna wire.

    Thanks for the help!
     

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