AARRGGHH!! Wire Harness!!

I looked at the driver side wires tonight. Not as bad as the passenger side, but also cracked. Again it's only the five wires going to the throttle actuator. Someone in the past tried a poor fix on the wires near the connector. They injected some sort of rubber / insulator in an attempt to fill cracks in the insulation. I cut the connector off, and was able to pry that one open too. I'm changing all the wires to teflon insulated ones. The good news is that the cracking in all the wires stops before the bundle heads down under the module box. I'll simply splice new wires up to good lengths of old wire. It looks like a mess right now, but it will come together nicely. Let's see, where did that one wire go?

That makes perfect sense myarmar. Thanks for waking me up []. I don't know why I thought this was the throttle actuator. In any case, I was able to repair the harnesses with new wire. See attached pics...

The connector for the TA is what I circled in the attachment?

What a coincidence, I found that same thread last night! I read every posting. I'm very concerned that the wires are shot. I'll be digging in there in the near future. I'm treading on thin ice though, I've been out in the garage a lot lately, and the mrs. is getting antsy[]

I just can't stop myself. As you probably guessed, I was worried about the condition of the wire in the Throttle Actuators (TA). Seeing what the wire looked like in the MAF's, I strongly suspected cracked insulation in the TA's harnesses. I took the passenger side TA off, and pulled it apart. Guess what? Insulation cracked. Plus I'm disappointed in MB's solder quality. There is some corrosion on the circuit board. Probably from poor cleaning after initial soldering. I will touch that up as well. The inside of the assembly looks like it's in very good condition. I will give it a good cleaning, and leave it as is. I was able to get the connector apart on this harness, and I'll be able to use it again. I'm going to try and find even better insulation material for these wires, because they are very close to the exhaust manifold. Tonight I'll pull the driver's side TA. This one is a little more complicated, since it's the one with all the cable attachments. Once I'm done with this project, I'll post pics in a gallery for your viewing enjoyment. All kidding aside, this is something that everyone should consider. A short circuit in this assembly could mean big money in repairs. By the way, does anyone have a good schematic of the wiring for both TA's?

No, the section is not replaceable. You must cut off the wires from the circuit board within the actuator. Also, the wire sheathing is attached to the actuator housing using a type of retaining device that cannot be pulled out of the actuator housing without really butchering it up. The wires are not easily pulled out of the sheathing / tubing. I cut the bundle section in half (between the actuator and connector), and tried pulling the wires out of the sheathing after I cut the wire ends from the board. They didn't budge. The wires have a slight helix to them within the sheathing which makes it difficult to pull the wires out. In addition, there are four or five dummy wires made of black plastic with the wires. These are not conductors. I believe they are there purely to create a tight pack within the sheathing, and this is what makes it hard to pull the sheathing off. I left the attachment point of the sheathing intact, along with a short section of the sheathing. I will re-use this, and attach new sheathing to it. I'll use new wires, sheathing, and re-use the connector. I'll take some pics once it's done and share with you.