All,

I am in a bit of a pickle. Driving home last night I started to smell an electrical burning smell from under my bonnet. I then tried to pull over and stop my Landy, but I could not switch off the ignition (when I switched it off the starter motor just kept turning over, so I kept going about 2 miles home.

As soon as I got home I disconnected the battery to find a completely melted and charred main harness of my electrical. (See photo attached).

Unfortunately I cannot seem to figure out exactly which part number it would be and all the images on line are for a bunched spaghetti of cables which I am unable to discern.

The set of cables that are messed up connect the ignition to the alternator and the started motor, they unplug right by the ignition coil but I assume it is a connection that just goes through to the ignition switch somehow.

In any case I need a replacement for the charred remains pictured here. I found the 2.25l Petrol version of this for sale, but I don't know if that will work with the 2.5L diesel engine I have. Here is the link to that one: www.landrovertreasureshop.com/product/genuine-land-rover-engine-harness-2-25l-petrol-defender-90-110-part-prc4019/

I found this as the closest item, would this work? https://www.autosparks.co.uk/lr421-land-rover-defender-90-110-engine-wiring-harness.html

I can easily re-install this piece if I could just find the right piece.

Any help would be great,

Christian

From my VIN here are all the details of my Landy:

LD - Defender
H - 110
A - Hard Top
C - 2.5L, inline 4 cylinder, diesel
8 - LT77 5 Speed Manual / Left Hand Drive
B - 1984-86
A - Solihull, United Kingdom
145912[/ATTACH][GALLERY=] [/GALLERY]

looking at it i would say the auto sparks is the one to get I've used them before quality gear

you got away lightly with that meltdown. could easily have lost your landy.

So, I ordered a new harness, I sent Auto Sparks all the photos of my connections and told them that my alternator had 3 wires, but in the end the harness they sent only had two wires connected to the Alternator vs. the three I had in my original harness. I contacted them to ask if it will work, but the techincal guys are on "Annual Leave", so I thought I'd try this forum as I have to take my Landy out today.

Can I use a two wire to the alternator setup if my original harness had three cables? The plug is the same, please see attached pictures.

On my 200tdi I have 2 brown wires, around 4mm OD, from the alternator. These go back to the battery. Is that where the 2 on your original harness go? Is it also where the single one on the new harness goes? If yes, no I wouldn’t use it.

What alternator are you using? What is it’s output?