[ThickasaBrick]

Thanks for the help. And thanks for reminding me that I need to check the relay and fuse box behind the ash tray. I have a 90 745 turbo gas car that had all kinds of problems in that area. Of course being a 90, it DOESN'T have the bad engine bay wiring problem though.

I had already planned on using the liquid insulation product (I have used it in the past on many projects) but this car, which is pushing 30 years of age, has some wiring that is totally bare it's entire length! I really need to score a used harness that was a replacement harness from somebody's rust bucket that they are having to part out. I actually saw such a car here in the classifieds but the seller instead decided to keep the car's parts for himself when he found another car. There simply can't be that many of these left that still have their original harnesses!

You want to hear something really funny? About the time that Volvo straightened this mess out, Mercedes must have started buying harnesses from the same junk OEM supplier because 92-95 M119 and M104 powered W124s (E-class) had the same exact engine bay wire rotting problem! I have a 93 400E that I had to replace the entire harness on and the rotted insulation bits falling off of the old harness look EXACTLY the same as the rotten insulation bits falling off of my 85 Brick's harness do! A replacement harness scored from the junkyard fixed my 400E, I've got to come up with a similar solution for my diesel. But it doesn't look good though. This whole entire 9 years I've been on the lookout for a diesel 7 series in my junkyard travels, and I never saw even one!