Thread: Oil in the wires/ECU

Hi all I just had a look at the plugs on the offending harnesses and good news no oil, (Discovery 2 TD5 built Mid 2002 120,000 klm). Have looked at all the threads I can find here on the subject and found one that suggested stripping the insulation off the wires before the plugs, then soldering a small part of the wire and redoing the insulation.?

Wondering has anyone tried this and did it work?
Am I lucky and Land Rover have fixed this on the 2002 model?? (knowing my luck this will be a NO! ??)
Or
Is this something to look forward to?
Is a quick clean up of the plugs going to get me home?
Is the ECU sealed so that the oil cant get in?
Worst case senario would be ??? $$$$
Andrew

Originally Posted by discodancer

Won't hurt to carry a pressure can of ( non-residual) electrical contact cleaner ( ex Jaycar or Electronics store etc)
If it starts to run rough ..like it is on 4 cyls... and wont "pull the skin off a rice custard" then oil in the harness is an obvious check.
Spray the plugs clean and things will probably improve until it clags up again.

Once oil travels down the copper wire inside the plastic shielding .. a loom replacement is the "only" option....ask me how I know.

Cheers
Bob

Bob,
Sorry but that is absolute rubbish and similar to a dealer sentiment, not criticising you as there are many that have been told the same. There are plenty of us on here that have had oil in the injector harness, into the main loom and through to the ECU plug and have not had to replace the whole loom. Generally the reason we replace the injector harnes is it is relativelly cheap and an easy task. The main loom is however an expensive item and time consuming to replace. There are several post on how this has been done, but basically you set up a container on top of the female lower plug near the head. Disconnect the ECU plug from the ECU and place a container underneath to catch the residue. A small plastic coke bottle is a possible use as it will push or thread in. Some good gaffer tape around it to seal. Then either cut a hole in the botle and pour in non destructive contact cleaner or even metho and allow to gravity feed through to the ECU plug overnight or put a bike car valve in the bottle, by removing the valve you can 1/4 or 1/2 fill the bottle through the valve, replace the valve and apply low pressure from a compressor or bike pump. Only very low pressure or you can create a missile. Once flushed clear liquid will be coming out at the ECU plug. You can allow it all to drain but contact cleaner is non conductive so should not be an issue so it can be run straight away. I just cleaned any residual every couple of days for a week and then checked it weekly until there was absolutelly no residue. Have not replaced the main loom and it has not missed a beat. Replaced the injector harness with a new one and cleaned up the old one as a spare (yes they do clean up and work), just need some new O rings and I will have a good spare if it happens again.
Beware a lot of dealers or ill informed service departments will tell you it needs a new loom and if it is under warranty is not an issue, but if it is out of your pocket it can be a big expense that is not needed.