I removed my dash pod for troubleshooting and cleaning, and the plastic housings around the wiring terminals are literally disintegrating / crumbling / falling apart!!!.

The green one is about 1/2 gone, 1/4 of the blue one is gone and the gray one has already lost the tab. Is there a source for just the terminal outer housings, as well as the crimp terminals and the terminal blocks?

 

Yep, your Porsche dealer has something called a "tech connector kit" which has all sorts of replacement connectors for just about everything on the car.

You can also look on each connector, typically there is a part number stamped on them and you can search for those online as well, or provide them to your dealer.

 

The moral of the story is, assume that these connector outer housing shells will fall apart in your hands if you try to disconnect them from the instrument pod...and pre-buy the connector shells before you attempt any pod repairs. Not replacing these broken shells may cause a loose multi-pin connection to the pod and resulting multiple faults.

I can't believe I found them... but I did! Special thanks to N41EF on Renntech and Sunset Porsche for chasing these down!

" ...the part number is PNA72104300202 (32 PIN Socket Housing). This means that you will get a blue, green and grey plug. On a side note, there are subtle molded differences with each colored plug, so you can only slip a green plug into a green socket."

Full thread:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...-cluster-plug/

 

I just called Sunset. The bad news is, the 3 connector set is out of stock in the US and on back order in Germany. I really hope this doesn't mean they're NLA.

 

OK, who's hoarding these? Suncoast told me that somebody snatched up the remaining connectors in the US.

 

Unfortunately, the "tech connector kit" is a service department only kit, and not available for retail sale. Maybe I could beg a favor from a dealer mechanic?

 

If they are backorder usually they will eventually be fulfilled. I've only had one order rejected that was on BO from Deutschland. Interestingly enough, about 1 month later I placed the same order and it was fulfilled.

 

A local dealer mechanic was kind enough to look through their tech connector kit, but they weren't in there. I'm not sure if they were out of those particular ones or it was never part of the kit.

Pretty cool looking parts drawer though, looks like a big sample case and the drawers are interlocked and slide out sequentially.

 

Given a part number, the parts counter guy should be able to do a search for other dealers inventory, which has bailed me out more than once.

 

Thanks, dealer parts guys did just that without me asking. One set was at a dealer in FL, but the parts guy there said they were already spoken for by a customer awaiting other parts. The only other set was in Toronto, and I'm sure the shipping would be almost as much as the parts.

I buttoned it back up and I'll just put in order and wait for them to get back in stock.

I did find them available ($1 to $2 each) from electronic distributors in Germany and UK, but order minimum is 500 -1500 pieces...for each part number. Also waiting for a US supplier to get back with me on price / availability here.

Group Buy anybody?

 

Funny that some people are having so many problems with these connectors. I have had the clusters out of my car and my buddies car (both 2000's) and never had a problem with them.

 

US supplier for the Tyco connector shells no-bid these parts. I wonder how the EU suppliers got them?