You have gotta see this wiring mess...

cnielsen · 11:33 PM

Please read... I think this is important...

OK, so my friend had a 3.2 Motronic motor put in his SC and has had nothing but trouble ever since...(I don't want to start an SC vs Carrera war here!) So here is the story...

He had the motor, harness and everything installed by a new but well known shop in the greater Seattle area...I will not expose the name unless people want to know. Anyway, "they" installed everything and the car has continually been eating motronic brains ever since. About 6 months later the engine threw a rod bolt and needed a rebuild. This was done by the same shop.

Now about 3 years later the motor needs to be rebuild again due to faulty rings...he has decided to change to carbs as well to finally rid himself of the constant electrical nightmares. This work will be done by a different shop for sure!!!

So... I told him I would sell the motronic intake manifold and wiring harness for him and hopefully recoup some $ that was spent on the second rebuild and carb conversion. I get the parts home and clean them up... here is what I find... There was a big mess of loosly tied electrical tape, I remove it and find this...

Notice the exposed bare wires and the obviously burnt ground wire in the background...

Here is the other end of that ground wire... what a mess. Now why would anyone cover a wire with electrical tape unless it was like this to begin with and they were trying to cover something up.

Geese, no wonder he was having problems! Can you believe this work was done by a so-called "professional" Porsche mechanic? This should be stopped! All I can do is advise everyone to be careful of the work you are having others do, inspect everything carefully and get some referrals from others who have used the shop.

LakeCleElum · 08-04-2004, 06:03 AM

PM'ed Ya....

masraum · 08-04-2004, 06:09 AM

What?

Is that bad??!?

It's kind of sad these days that you can get screwed like this almost anywhere. That it's more SOP and good, honest shops are very rare.

Britwrench · 08-04-2004, 06:54 AM

Now that you have cast doubts on the reputation of all three independent Porsche shops in Seattle area, you should let us know the whole story.

cnielsen · 08-04-2004, 07:09 AM

True, I don't want any of the good shops to be hurt by this...So if you are using any of the shops in Seattle or Bellevue you are fine... This was a shop in Redmond. I believe there is only one so that should narrow it down.

porsche356a · 08-04-2004, 07:51 AM

Chris - PMed ya...

john walker's workshop · 08-04-2004, 10:09 AM

i just talked to monty at redmond european, and he hasn't done any of those conversions in years, and doesn't know of any car that had a lot of computers replaced, so that rules him out. no other "porsche" shops in redmond, so it must be a shop that works on multiple makes.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

I dealt with a 'marginal' shop on the West side of L.A (since gone out of business). because they had a 3.2 I wanted for a 75 roller. I dropped in on them, unannounced, when they were doing the harness splice. All the wires were stripped back, heat shrink tubing was slid on, and they were doing staggered 'telegraph' splices throroughly saturated in solder. The guy doing the work was an 'undocumented' Mexican mechanic, and I was blown away by how meticulous his work was.

Never had any trouble at all with the install. I guess you pays yer money and takes yer chances.

Randy Webb · 08-04-2004, 11:14 AM

Your friend needs to contact the shop - show them the photos and ask what they are going to do about it. If they do nothing, it's tiem to complain to the Wash. consumer protection people. This is an excellent example of how one bad shop harms other, good ones - note the post above re damaging reps. Not to mention the damage to consumers...

Icemaster · Icemaster's Garage

Are you sure it was a "Shop" that did this repair? How did the motor, harness etc. get to the shop? Did the shop just install the parts that your friend provided or did they obtain the parts? If a PO did this kludge, then your friend handed them the basket of parts, I'm not so sure that I'd go blaming the shop. I think you might want to provide everyone with a little more detail before judgement is passed.

cnielsen · 08-04-2004, 12:22 PM

The harness was a virgin harness when removed. The only wires the PO cut were the ones running up to the trunk...basically power supply etc.. These wires had to be fabricated...leading to the "mess" you see here. Quality work could have been done and should have been done to prevent all of these problems.

I really don't want to be the person that exposes the name publically...you know...liability issues. But, this is crap work and I just want everyone to be careful with who you choose to do your work.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Chris,
I've got you beat, my wiring looked like rabid ferrets ran through it! I replaced all of the wiring in the engine compartment and all of my issues were gone! It was a pain, but It was worth it!

Soterik · Soterik's Garage

As Walker just mentioned....there is only one Redmond shop....and Monty did a twin plug engine transplant on my 67S, and did a great job of making everything look "correct", he had to swap wiring harnesses, install two MSD's, fabricate a correct 911R looking bracket to hang on the "left" wall for the fuel pumps, volt regulator, coils, paint sheet metal, valve covers, fan, install new shroud, yada yada etc.

The engine runs absolutely flawlessly, and it LOOKS absolutely stunning as well.

And....I could still pay my mortgage after I got the bill (it was truly very reasonable for all the work they did...).

Here's a shot.....

http://www.pelicanparts.com/swapmeet_pics/R_Gruppe_02/HTML/Page-86.htm

Eric Linden
67S RGruppe 2.7 twin plug
67S soft window targa
67s project
69S targa w/ 2.7
70T driver
71E finishing resto
73S minor project
56 Speedster
56 Oval window beetle project

Zeke · 08-04-2004, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randy Webb
Your friend needs to contact the shop - show them the photos and ask what they are going to do about it. If they do nothing, it's tiem to complain to the Wash. consumer protection people. This is an excellent example of how one bad shop harms other, good ones - note the post above re damaging reps. Not to mention the damage to consumers...

I think after 3 1/2 years, he has little to claim.

That is a terrible mess, I'm sorry to see that something like that was done. But after all this time, the state is not going to be very agressive.

Randy Webb · 08-04-2004, 04:47 PM

Zeke, I agree. But they willprobably record it. Others can then see the complaint - and if they get a bunch of complaints then they may act.

BTW, there is no liability for telling the truth. Don't be scared of those with more money - speak up (this will also remove any clouds from other shops fitting the description - see JWW's post trying to do this).

john walker's workshop · 05:13 PM

there's more to this than is being told. apparently mr neilson and his friend have an axe to grind, and are putting the blame on someone who simply hooked up a couple of wires to make the car run, and who now is being made totally responsible for the whole can of worms. (other work was done on the car there, and there was a problem being paid for the work, the case went to court, and the shop won). and it was a can of worms, even more than the already installed harness which the shop in question had nothing to do with. you will probably hear from the shop owner soon enough to put some closure to the whole thing.

Randy Webb · 08-04-2004, 05:16 PM

Huh! Well, it won't be the first time... Thanks for clearing that up, John.

cnielsen · 08-04-2004, 06:24 PM

I am not doing any such thing. The whole situation is and was DONE several years ago and I do not care about either side of the "story"...as there are always two distinctly different sides. I am just trying to show people that they might not be getting the quality of work they are paying for wherever it may be done...just watch out. I have nothing to gain or lose from the whole thing and more importantly, I don't want my reputation on the line. Fact is, this person did do the wiring and it sucks.

This is not my car and I don't care. In only discovered the problem. I do not have any interest in this whole thing other than to make others more aware of potential work that may be done on their own cars.

This is exactly why I did not want to point a specific finger...just be aware!!!

Please take this for what it is worth and don't read into it any further.

Randy Webb · 08-04-2004, 07:25 PM

But, Chris, what are the exact facts? Who made the snarl of wires to begin with? That's really the crucial issue isn't it?

Br@Redmondeuro · 08-04-2004, 08:22 PM

I have worked in the “Redmond” shop that is being unjustly implicated here and am shocked at the mudslinging. I have worked with Monty over 4 years and have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge from him. He is very reputable in the community and industry. He is highly ethical and certainly would never do such low quality work.

This particular customer appears to be in retaliation because he lost a court case several years ago – talk about holding grudges. Porsche shop owners (and others) beware of the types of hacks who don’t want to put up money for quality work, who try to weasel through the work the cheapest way they can. It is not uncommon for this certain type of customer to try to push off shoddy work.

Chris - just because you haven’t named names, everyone knows who you are talking about, so you do need to be concerned about liability – as this is slander and can be held up in a court of law.

I do understand that in the industry one can come across poor mechanics, and those type get their just deserve and have to shut down shop, as one did in Seattle. But more often I have come across jobs, where I have had to fix major problems caused by hacks. Brandon