Gold Kit still in use?

We have over a decade of success in the most hostile environment...a ferrari! I was sold a long time ago as I experienced the positive transformation as a beta tester for the gold kit.

Excerpts From a random paper...
<<<<"Gold Verses Tin for Use in Contact Applications... Gold is considered the metal of choice for highly reliable contacts. It avoids porosity, diffusion, and durability problems. The decision to use non-noble alternatives should be based upon sound engineering criteria as well as cost. Tin and tin alloy platings are effective finishes for contacts because of their low cost, conductivity properties, and solderability. Even major objections (i.e., durability and corrosion resistance) to tin and tin alloy platings can be overcome with proper application. If tin or tin alloy platings are used for applications that require relatively few mating cycles, their durability is not an issue. The motion of the contact interface during its service life is the single most important cause of failure of tin-plated contacts. This failure mechanism is defined as fretting corrosion and is driven by small amplitude relative motion at the contact interface. Fretting action causes metal transfer and wear. If the contact is made of a base metal, oxidation of the surface and the wear debris occurs, which leads to a process defined as fretting corrosion. This often leads to rapid and dramatic increases in contact resistance. Noble metals, such as gold, do not oxidize and are not susceptible to fretting corrosion. Lubricated tin plate and gold contacts showed no change during the same test. For tin-plate contacts, the most important factor is to attain mechanical stability (i.e., the prevention of motion at the contact interface). This motion could be rocking, rotation, or translational in form. Mechanical stability can be achieved in a number of ways. For example, high contact forces can promote mechanical stability. Large interface areas tend to increase stability at the contact interface and protect, in particular, against rocking and rotational motion.">>

 

The dissimilar metals would not overly concern me actually.
But I often wonder how the gold clamps harder. Under the ultra thin gold layer is the same pin/connector that is tin coated. The tin plating is likely thicker I would think the tin clamps harder actually. Never understood how the gold clamps harder as if the underlying clamps are spring steel vs pot metal or something. It’s not it’s actually the exact same connector regardless of plating, one goes left and one goes right on the assembly line for plating.

I suspect it’s new connectors that gives benefit not the material. I could be wrong of course.

 

Ok. Any particular reason you desire to install it again?

 

tin is an alloy of dissimilar metals. There are photos I posted in similar threads showing spread oem pins. A decade later the gold pins still touch when released from contact. The contact is better. I remember Helms talk about internal Bosch/ Ferrari document listing pins designed for a ridiculous 20 or so connect/disconnect cycles. The SRI spec pins claim to far exceeded that. Decade later we still have flawless function we never got even when our Ferraris were new. There is no question that pins can have different specs but look the same. Look the same with different specs is found all through industry. Bolts have head markings but just looking at a grade 10.9 vs. a 12.9 nut look the same but different specs.

 

It's not what is happening with the connections, it what happened with your (and some other's) connections. On the other hand the connectors on my 95 355 look like this.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

Certainly in case like yours it would be wise to replace the connector pins, or at least clean them, but that your original connectors appear as you showed has nothing to do the quality of the connectors Ferrari used. The problem is environmental or maintenance related.

And the argument of gold is better than tin, or dissimilar metals in general, is an argument by fools. As for clamping force, same connectors, different plating. Just buy quality TE Connectivity JPT, and note it's not just the plating on the pins that matters, it's also the plating on the wires. Sorry, but sometimes you just have to stop and think and recognize what is BS and what isn't. If you bought the kit from DH you got taken. Sorry, but that's the reality. If you feel the need to defend it because you bought it, you are doing the community a disservice.

Image Unavailable, Please Login
----------------------------
It's just not an argument that a proponent of gold on tin can win. It's science and metallurgy. It's not that gold on tin will cause a problem, it that it introduces the possibility of a problem. Why would you do something that is potentially detrimental? I posted this years ago. One end of a gold plated auto cable plugged into a tin plated jack. The other was plugged into a gold plated jack. The system was is a relatively high humidity environment (my basement listening room). I would not want to introduce the possibility of this happening in my 355, or any car I own. Lastly, if you do use gold connectors and there is a problem it isn't the gold that is going to corrode. It's the tin pins on the components that it connects too, like you fuel injectors, which could be damaged irrepairablely.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Perhaps DH misunderstood that doc. Here are the spec for the current JTP. They are identical for gold or tin. Note what it says under durability. That does not mean the part is only good for 10 cycles. It means it meets the durability requirements IF the termination resistance remains under 5 milliohms after 10 mate/unmate cycles. And regardless, it has nothing to do with gold vs tin.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

FWIW I put a gold kit on my car around 12 years ago and have been happy with it.

the factory boots and connectors at that time looked like sh.t on my car and back then there was no other readily available kit with all new boots with everything I needed in one package. The gold kit had that, so I went for it.

I never had a single problem in all that time, including a 5 year layup in a crappy/damp storage unit. During the 5 year layup the car was permanently connected to a battery tender and started perhaps 3 times per a year when I was back in town. It always started on the first try, even with 5 year-old fuel.

When the car was out of storage I did the engine out service and I put another 20’000km on it, all trouble free.

I have no way of knowing if the car would have been ok without the kit, but I had no problems at all.

 

Flashbacks of monster cable from the 90s. Nobody invite an audiophile into this thread or it's really going to be ugly.
A good electrical connection is a good connection.
A bad connection is a bad connection and will cause issues.

 

I have seen all that stuff online too. You will have to search it but same places have the weather pak connectors etc. In the SRI kit their smooth boots are thicker than the OE corrugated boots and thus last longer. They will stand the wires proud but after some heat in the engine bay and some time they contour down to the wire path nicely. I'd look for smooth boots vs. corrugated.

Another huge advantage no one talks about when re-repinning connections is to make sure you get a several good wire brushes so when you cut off the old pin you can really clean the copper wire ends for a good connection to the new pin base. When the OE pin is cut off you will literally see powered corrosion dust fly in the air under good lighting as you wire brush the copper. Ferrari used crappy pins and had crappy connections to those pins. I don't think their copper wire is very good either. Take a look and feel of similar sized mil-spec wire it a real eye opener.

Make sure you get a high quality de-pin tool. In the SRI kit it is the FBB2 tool and is very stout. That tool was developed because lesser over the counter tools we kept having to rebend the tips to disengage old pins out the connector bodies. Also make sure you buy a quality crimp tool and test it on several pins before you use it for real. A crimp tool seems like low tech but if you fail to get a high quality positive crimp that locks the pin on the copper wire all your effort is for naught.

Phase 2 of the SRI kit was repin of the ECU connector. That is a good thing to do too but many stop after the trauma of just doing the engine bay. I have never seen an OE ECU connector without spread OE pins. The ECU is the brain. If it isn't communicating then I guess its like talking to grandma with senile dementia.

 

Mine is about 15 years and has been fine
As said earlier just replacing most of the boots on mine should have been done back then at least
Been pressure washing car and lightly in engine bay for all these years with no problems.
I personally think it is a nice option and the boots on it now show no sign of what the originals looked like only 10 years in
Should I have done it who knows but if your boots are good then it would likely not be as important in my opinion.

also I have done more engine outs than originally was done and driven more than originally. Did it need to be done no but the boots had to be changed anyway
So I did. Especially the injector boots they were bad and would have allowed a lot of water into the connections.

 

With the issues I had over the last 2 years I also unplugged and plugged in my main ECU more in two years then first 20 years so I think sometimes that could play into issues

 

I beta tested SRI's injection harness for the 550. It was fantastic but never put into production or many just made one off. If anyone looks at the actual injector wiring they would be horrified. How it works is beyond me. It looks like a 5th grader put it together with electrical tape. Today if I was renewing engine bay connector pins I would be rewiring the injector harness with same gauge mil-spec wire. What ferrari made is an embarrassment. It is quite a miracle these cars ran at all.

 

This is the Jaguar technical Service Bulletin regarding gold-tin mismatch:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

The action was to tre-pin the harness connector with gold pins to match the gold pins on the TPS.

 

....and Ferrari knew that the TPS had gold contacts and did it right from day 1.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Why spend thousands?
I repinned my looms for less than $150 using tin junior power timer pins.

Here is what I did.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/348-motronic-2-7-connector-harness-repin.444155/

 

Here is some reading for you.

 

I never got onboard with the gold connector kit. I've owned my 355 for 15 years and the only electrical issues I've had were bad fuses, relay, and the alarm siren battery. Let me ask you this, are you equally concerned about the OBD connectors on your daily driver that probably has way more miles? I have a 1988 BMW with 600k miles and the original harness/pins. Owners look for reasons to spend money on their Ferrari

 

well people don't plug and unplug the pins regularly on other cars as the engine removal Ferraris do, it happens all the time on these cars and that causes loss in pin tension. People tend to nut pull out even and tilt them causing expanding pressure on the clamp ends making it worse faster. I believe its the new pins and opposing clamp ends that solves the issues, as opposed to the gold material itself solving the issue.


But the kit comes complete with everything and the tools so that alone makes it attractive, the fact that is is gold is a bit of a red herring I think, but the idea of the kit to redo them is solid, some with more experience know where to buy the pins and tools. Its DigiKey btw.

No denying the convenience to the gold kit, dead sure it helps yes but its not the gold per say, its the new pins I do believe at least. That said would I use it, sure its a good idea and is complete.

 

Yup!
It is the new, clean, corrosion free, stronger clamping force of the Junior Power Timer pins that is making the connection better.

 

Moot point. The "SRI Gold Kit" is not sold to the public anymore. Only available in house for customers' cars being serviced by SRI.

 

There is no winning.

With gold on tin you don't even have to wear through the gold. With clamping force, as with most things in life, it's always how much is enough, and if some is good, is more better?

All I know is that neither my 355 or 308 has suffered any contact related issues, both with original harnesses and contacts. Not about to eff up either one.

 

The shop that did the engine out when I bought my car in 2010 put the GCK in my car. Pitched like some magical improvement.
It caused more problems than I care to discuss. I ripped that crap out the following winter.

A BS kit made to sell to uneducated 355 owners who wanted "the best" and had the money.

@ernie saw the BS about the same time I did. His thread on the subject is the thing legends are made of.