Protect brm engine harness from chafing?

prsa01

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2000
Location
mpls,mn usa
TDI
14 jsw 6m, 96 B4v, miss my a4 :(
I have seen many references to harness chafing but have not seen, or have missed, any info on how to protect the areas that chafe. It sounds like a pita and relatively expensive so if anyone had ideas on how to protect the problem areas it would seem worthwhile.

1). ID the problem locations (pics, diagram,???)
2). Ideas to protect those areas (padding, wrap,...)

Thanks for any ideas
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
You would have to open up the harness and wrap the wires inside the plastic fluting, then put the fluting back on, then tape it up again.

The issue is the fluting rubs little grooves through the individual wires' insulation (the colored parts) and exposes the metal wire strands inside. This both thins and weakens the wires, and also exposes them to short circuits between each other.

Most of the problem happens in a ~1 foot section as the harness passes by the starter, but there can also be issues where it bends around the head under the injector harness plug as well as where it turns and goes up behind the tandem pump area and across the back of the valve cover.

Plus, as I have found, sometimes I just cannot pinpoint *exactly* where in the harness a problem lies, but the problem IS remedied once a new harness is installed.

What sucks is, they are obsoleting some of these BRM harnesses now, so cobbled fixes may be the only choice we have going forward, which really, really sucks. Time = money. If you are doing this yourself, you can assign whatever amount you want to your time, but when you are paying someone else to do it, paying them 3+ hours labor to try and fix a harness will be more than the cost of a new harness provided it is still available.

A4 Jetta trunk harnesses, another common problem, are also NLA. I have sadly had to spend FAR more time rebuilding those than a new one would have cost, and there are still a LOT of those cars on the road. I wish someone in the aftermarket would step in and make a replacement available. But a BRM engine harness is far more specific, and not likely to be something anyone will bother to tool up to produce. :(
 

prsa01

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2000
Location
mpls,mn usa
TDI
14 jsw 6m, 96 B4v, miss my a4 :(
Thanks OH, great explanation

Sorry to hear the engine harness will become difficult /impossible to source.

Do you think injecting something similar to silicone sealant into the loom at the problem ares to surround the individual wires, isolate them, and stabilize the sections could possibly help.?

I suppose the added weight may cause issues with vibration and whatever reduced flexion in that area may very well lead to flex related issues at the boundary.

oh well, I guess just deal with the issues when they occur

Thanks again for helping me understand the issue
 

Satsonic

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Location
Chicago
TDI
2006 Jetta TDi (BRM) - DSG Trans (02E)
Yeah likely best wait and see what happens. But keep up in the engine & trans mounts. Those really help to control the vibration and gives your harness best chance of long lasting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I certainly would not discourage anyone from trying some prophylactic measures here. However, you may not easily see the fruits of your efforts for 150k miles of use (or more), and there could also be some other bad thing caused by changing something although I think that is highly unlikely.

In other words, can't hurt to try!

On new harnesses I have installed, I wrap some more tape on the outsides in some key areas, tightly. I have the super secret cloth tape, too. The part number is N-105-920-02.
 
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