[snova]

Just ordered mine.   When I replace it, IF the old one is in perfect shape inside the insulation, you guys owe me $ 120 ..

$120 seems a bit high. Mine had lost insulation at the alternator end and cracked closer to the starter. You may find it easier to remove the starter to get the wire on the starter correctly.

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[ds968]

$ 120 was rounded off.. the total price including the $ 9 shipping, was $ 116.  I didn’t give a second thought to shopping around for better pricing, I typically will do that with higher priced items though..   So I just ordered it from where I have bought the majority of anything I need for my 968 ; Sunset Imports / Porsche  in Oregon.   For out of state customers I believe they offer a minimum 15% off retail price, sometimes a greater discount on certain items, and there is no tax charged. 

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[snova]

$ 120 was rounded off.. the total price including the $ 9 shipping, was $ 116.  I didn’t give a second thought to shopping around for better pricing, I typically will do that with higher priced items though..   So I just ordered it from where I have bought the majority of anything I need for my 968 ; Sunset Imports / Porsche  in Oregon.   For out of state customers I believe they offer a minimum 15% off retail price, sometimes a greater discount on certain items, and there is no tax charged.

Yes they have different pricing for online vs local pickup. Cheaper for me to have them ship it across town then try to pick it up

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[ds968]

Not only that, what surprises me is the parts price differences among dealers, which sometimes are inexplicably large .  It seems the only things controlled by Porsche are accessories with the crest logo on them, no matter where the dealer is located, but Porsche allows its dealers the discretion to set their own prices on mechanical, electrical , or, interior and exterior components .   I get that a dealer in Beverly Hills will have higher operating costs than a dealer in , say, Omaha and charge “moderately“ higher prices for parts , but unless you need that part the same day and pick it up,  or your car is in a shop and it gets delivered there by the local dealer, you may as well look online or call around and even with shipping you might still end up paying quite a bit less. 

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[Roboman]

I looked at a couple of UK and EU sites, the prices were generally higher than US prices until postage is added into the mix.  I ended up with Euro 110 delivered (about $135).  But continuing on DS's theme, and I guess I show my political colours to a certain extent, I'm anti excessive profit.  I know the maxim is "let the market decide" but I have trouble with that when the consumer is, for the post part, completely ignorant of the real cost of bringing most items to market.  Even if we just look at this item .... a foot or so of cabling, some copper eyelets, a small plastic plug, and some insulation.  No high skill production techniques, no high tech. development costs, no IP payments ...... cost of production including labour is at a guess about $15-$25 with labour being the largest part ...... but I'm happy for anyone in the production world to contradict that guestimate. Then as DS says, there's the distributed cost of premises upkeep etc    Okay, so you can't own a Porsche and whinge about Porsche prices, and I'm not ..... but I am whinging about excessive profits on items needed by people who can't afford Porsches. ...... and don't get me started on the youth who think the likes of Facebook are free and don't understand they are driving up the prices of almost every item known to man.  Excuse that little rant, I must be letting off steam in anticipation that this weekend France will go into its third lockdown  

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[ds968]

Agree, the   “if you own a Porsche, you shouldn’t complain about the price of parts”  argument is nonsense when it comes to the principle of the matter ; price gouging is wrong at every level, free market or not .. and I see lots of folks on the Maserati forum, going on a rant about the cost of parts, for a near $ 200 K car , but again, based on the same issue : not a problem with a 50 % or even 100% markup but when some parts are at 500 % or more pure profit, it irks you no matter how much money you have ..and what about many people who have had these cars for decades, are now retired so less income, and need the part to just keep that car running, it’s not as of it’s some frivolous expense ..like jewelry where you can live without it so you don’t really have to buy it, but if you “want to” , you can come to terms with the 1000% profit concept .   

BTW local dealer could have that cable ready for me to pick it up at their parts department in about a week,  for $ 159 + tax ..so about $ 174 . 

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[snova]

Lets not forget the other factors such as operating and opportunity costs which go into determining net profit. If profit is high, we would see other companies stepping in and making these cables.

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[pdxmike]

There used to be third-party vendors for the cables such as Iceshark but they're no longer around. 

 

Sunset is the best - their parts guy managed to get me a rear shifter linkage freighted from Germany in just a couple of days. They used to have a younger transaxle specialist in the service department. Next time I screw something up on my car I'll call and see if he's still there. 

 

snova - yes my shop has been A&P - it's been a mixed bag. They are highly competent but of course don't see a high volume of transaxle cars and certainly not 968s. Our tolerance for "acceptable" doesn't align - they thought my balance belts were fine when they were off by a tooth, couldn't figure out my rough clutch issue after replacement (it was due to no grease on the input shaft), couldn't solve a noisy lifter issue after variocam pad replacement. That kind of stuff. But - they do listen and are more than willing to go back in and take a look, and they've also let me order my own parts. Knock on aluminum, I haven't had any issues requiring service for almost 2 years now (just living with my noisy lifters until the next belt change). Do you have someone else local? 

 

Also FYI - the Batteries Plus on Broadway had my 968 battery in stock when I replaced in 2018-ish. I think it was Duracell. 

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[Roboman]

There you go Dan, your local dealer is all heart!

Snova I know what you're saying, and with special parts it more acceptable, but you and I could go into business and make a good profit on these. Helped of course by rumors and photos strategically placed on the appropriate 944/968 forums!

4 days to lockdown .....

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[snova]

There used to be third-party vendors for the cables such as Iceshark but they're no longer around. 

 

Sunset is the best - their parts guy managed to get me a rear shifter linkage freighted from Germany in just a couple of days. They used to have a younger transaxle specialist in the service department. Next time I screw something up on my car I'll call and see if he's still there. 

 

snova - yes my shop has been A&P - it's been a mixed bag. They are highly competent but of course don't see a high volume of transaxle cars and certainly not 968s. Our tolerance for "acceptable" doesn't align - they thought my balance belts were fine when they were off by a tooth, couldn't figure out my rough clutch issue after replacement (it was due to no grease on the input shaft), couldn't solve a noisy lifter issue after variocam pad replacement. That kind of stuff. But - they do listen and are more than willing to go back in and take a look, and they've also let me order my own parts. Knock on aluminum, I haven't had any issues requiring service for almost 2 years now (just living with my noisy lifters until the next belt change). Do you have someone else local? 

 

Also FYI - the Batteries Plus on Broadway had my 968 battery in stock when I replaced in 2018-ish. I think it was Duracell. 

If it wasn't for A&P, I wouldn't have gotten to know my car as well as I have.  

 

I also tried Matrix but they said they only work on rear engined cars.  

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[snova]

There you go Dan, your local dealer is all heart!

Snova I know what you're saying, and with special parts it more acceptable, but you and I could go into business and make a good profit on these. Helped of course by rumors and photos strategically placed on the appropriate 944/968 forums!

4 days to lockdown .....

sure.. we can sell new uncrackable 968 dashboards in all colors possibilities and rear 968 glass hatches which don't delaminate. /s

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[MCL968]

There is a guy named David Cunningham on the Facebook 968 page who makes a great set of cables, you might want to look him up.

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[machinist_dc]

Hmm, good to know, didn’t realize that could be the case .  I’ll have it inspected the next time I have any service done to it. 

Incidentally , my car did start all by itself ( many, many years ago ) in the middle of the night, but fortunately it was stopped by a bunch plastic bins which were in front of it, against the garage’ retaining cement wall.  No damage, just a light bend in the front license plate.  I can’t remember what my mechanic said the cause was ( other than stating that “starters” will occasionally,  but rarely do that  ) but I’m pretty sure he didn’t think anything else needs to be done, however I think I did replace the stater.  Didn’t touch the wire harness .  Since that happened I always park the car in neutral just in case.. never had a recurrence though. 

Auto-starting is when you are lucky.  If you don't replace that harness, you could have a fire next time.  The only way to truly know the shape of your starter-to-alternator cable is to slice the outside sheath and inspect.  If it's original, it's trashed.

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[ds968]

Auto-starting is when you are lucky.  If you don't replace that harness, you could have a fire next time.  The only way to truly know the shape of your starter-to-alternator cable is to slice the outside sheath and inspect.  If it's original, it's trashed.

In theory that seems very plausible, but considering there has not been a single reported fire in 968 history *  ( on any of the forums which contain 968 groups ) in light of the fact that probably the overwhelming majority of our cars have the original cables which have never been replaced, I think the realistic risk of that happening is extremely low.   That said, no one wants to become that first statistic,  so low risk or not it seems prudent to get a new cable in there . 

 

* referring to fires caused by the cable, not RAP’s car fire ..  now, if it’s determined that was the genesis of the fire and not something else,  then we will have a first real life case . 

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[machinist_dc]

I watched a video of a 968 burning on the FB 968 Enthusiasts group a couple months ago, and I thought I remembered it being attributed to the alt-start harness.  I'll try to find it again this afternoon.  I posted on the thread:  "That's why I make these:" with a photo of the battery cables and alt-start harness set that I sell.  Even if it wasn't the cause of the fire, I'd still like to avoid auto-starting and think others would as well.

 

I needed an alt-start harness for my car but had no interest in the poor quality OEM harness with PVC insulation on the exciter and solenoid wires and an onion sheath around the main alt-start cable.  That is an atrocious design flaw and I was amazed that mine had not already shorted out when I removed it.  That's why I made my own and began selling them.  Mine use 125C GXL XLPE insulation on both the exciter and solenoid wires and EPDM welding cable for the alt-start cable.  My positive battery cables are 125C SGX XLPE-insulated and negatives are EPDM welding cable vs PVC on all of the OEM stuff.  All of mine are sheathed in 125C PET.

 

 



In theory that seems very plausible, but considering there has not been a single reported fire in 968 history *  ( on any of the forums which contain 968 groups ) in light of the fact that probably the overwhelming majority of our cars have the original cables which have never been replaced, I think the realistic risk of that happening is extremely low.   That said, no one wants to become that first statistic,  so low risk or not it seems prudent to get a new cable in there . 

 

* referring to fires caused by the cable, not RAP’s car fire ..  now, if it’s determined that was the genesis of the fire and not something else,  then we will have a first real life case . 

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[94SilverCab]

Hi Machinist,

 

There was a gent that produced a harness kit some years ago "Ice Shark", you should look up how his et was designed.

 

If you have these skills, Ice Shark also did a wiring kit for the headlights, that I would be very interested in having for my car, so please go forth and design and build  

 

Thanks,

 

Jay

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[machinist_dc]

Hi Machinist,

 

There was a gent that produced a harness kit some years ago "Ice Shark", you should look up how his et was designed.

 

If you have these skills, Ice Shark also did a wiring kit for the headlights, that I would be very interested in having for my car, so please go forth and design and build

 

Thanks,

 

Jay

 

Hi Jay,

 

Yes, I read a lot about his (Dan's) work on Rennlist threads when I was working out what to offer with my own kits.  I have sold several of my kits to folks who were also owners of Iceshark's kits.  Originally, I just built alternator/starter harnesses.  I got into battery cables at the urging of others who told me about the quality of the Iceshark cables and were in need of new ones.  By day, I work in a Fortune 500 electrical prototype lab working with industrial/commercial components with sometimes extremely high current ratings.  I apply the industry best practices we use in the lab to my Porsche wires and cables.

 

I did look into building the headlight kits but I haven't been able to source the components for prices that make it worthwhile to produce them and still be able to sell them for a fair price.

 

I may look at it again this summer.  Right now I work full time and am taking two classes this semester (managerial accounting and business law) which are taking a lot of time, leaving no room for new product development.

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[Waylander]

I wonder if you can make cables for RHD cars?

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[Roboman]

My replacement arrived yesterday, it's not as heavy duty as I was expecting! Maybe next week I'll have the time to at least remove the old one and compare them ...... and do the crunch test on the old insulation!

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[ds968]

My replacement arrived yesterday, it's not as heavy duty as I was expecting! Maybe next week I'll have the time to at least remove the old one and compare them ...... and do the crunch test on the old insulation!

That’s disappointing, but Porsche ( as well as many other brands ) change OE suppliers from time to time, and more often than not will opt for the cheaper alternative, so the quality is not always top class ..   I should be receiving mine tomorrow or Saturday so we’ll see how it compares to what’s there now.  

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