Hi, so yesterday I changed the Rear Differential Fluid on my 08 LR3 (with Locking Rear Diff), and I noticed that the wiring assembly that connects into the Diff was possibly 'damaged', but certainly gives me cause for concern - There's a silver-colored, approx 10mm diameter, 'shroud' that looks to be made of some sort of 'insulation' material, that surrounds the 2 very thin wires, which connect into a plastic connector, which connects into the rear diff. Issue - These 2 wires had a length of approximately 15mm that was not at all protected by anything - It's as if the protecting shroud/tubing has 'split apart' from the plastic connector unit. In any case, it wouldn't take much to snip and damage one or both of these wires. So, I patched it up with electrical tape and a marine heat-shrink tube as best I could, which didn't really help much, so smeared some rubber caulking around the wires, in order to try to provide a rudimentary level of protection. Thoughts? Can I buy a replacement wiring harness? Is it easy to connect? Price? Part number? Do I need to pull apart the whole vehicle to make the connection to the other end? Thanks!

 

You'd probably need to get that bit off a wreck at a salvage yard and splice it in. But if you have done what you did, you should be OK. If there is a connectivity issue with that unit, you will get a fault right away.

 

Thanks Unseenone, yeah, good news, no faults or anything weird, so actual wiring and connection is fine. Therefore 100% 'preventative' maintenance. I've given it some more thought, and I think I'll do a 'proper' job with some plastic or metal corrugated electrical tubing - The stuff that is 'cut' (slit) down the middle. I'll use small zip-ties to 'close' them up, one wrapped around the wires. Corrugated because the wires make (almost) a 'right angle' turn in order for the Connector to snap into the housing on top of the Diff. In other words, I need to create a 'protected right angle' housing. Also, if I use this corrugated tubing, I can wrap some insulating material around the wires. Or maybe just pack it with some rubber caulking. Sidenote, I may do the same thing to the various wires that attach to wheels (and near suspension) - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor, Brake Pad Wear Sensor, Ride Height Sensor, etc. Both my Brake Pad Wear Sensors are broken - I did this on my last Off-Road trip. Seems to happen every time I go Off-Road. Thinking that some extra protection wouldn't be a bad idea.