Hey, Everyone!
Last night I lost a headlight--no big deal. Today when I replaced it, I noticed (passenger side) the wiring (dreaded engine wiring harness?) was out of the protective plastic housing (it was crunchy) and just hanging loose. I found a few crunchy wires and covered them with electrical tape. I then stuck the bundle of wiring back into the crunchy housing and gave that a layer of electical tape. Did I do the right thing? The driver's side wiring is flawless.

Thanks as always--merry Christmas and happy new year!

Oh, are you talking about the flexible wiring loom--the accordion stuff?

(Were they using that in the 86 models?)

If that's the stuff, don't worry about it. It seems to degrade pretty badly over time. If it was a different material, it still could be heat related more than anything. The radiator is over there, and the exhaust side heat comes out and can bake that area of the engine compartment much more than the left side.

As long as the wires weren't bare (the wiring insulation, not the loom) then it should be fine. You might want to inspect the wiring harness at points that you can visually check, but it doesn't imply that the entire wiring harness is rotten. Besides, that isn't even the same harness as the engine uses. So don't worry unless you see some engine wiring that is rotting.
--
Chris Herbst, in Wisconsin.

Hey, Chris,
The wiring came from the side along the edge of the engine compartment, ran down into the the wiper pump and went off into the headlight. Most of the really crunchy wires were running (best I could tell) from the wiper pump. The p.o. had wrapped one of the wires in electrical tape. It was strange: I checked the drivers side several times and it was perfect: No crunchy housing, perfectly bundled wiring. I know I'm prolonging the inevitable:I will replace everything in my quest for 300K. I know you guys will be there all the way. Thanks , Chris and everyone. Hope you get everything you want for Christmas!