Previous owner is a muppet!

[expat2000]

Hi all

Thought I'd share this one with you.

ABS starts flashing on the dash, VCDS check says front right sensor shorting out. No probs, thinks I, new one of the bay of E.


Pops the wheel off yesterday, starts to remove sensor, turns out the new one is incorrect so thought I'd have a look at the old one to see if it was repairable (probably should have done that first).


Bit of the wire is wrapped in tape, removed tape to find the epic fix below:

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh90/expat2000_2008/cars/audi/IMG_20140629_152700_zpsh2p7k5jr.jpg

Yep, at some point the wire has broken and the 'fix' was to twist the wires together and tape the whole lot up. Nice!
(Although judging by the corrosion on the wires looks like it has held for quite a while.)

Crimping the wires into proper connectors took me a few seconds and cost pennies. Makes me wonder what other horrors are waiting to be uncovered.

Stuart

[PaulF2.5TDi]

I need to repair my wire for front right ABS.
I was going to use some Raychem environmental crimps - maybe your previous owners fix is better :biglaugh:

SOme people really shouldn't be allowed tools!

[spartacus 68]

Lightly grease the new crimped ends, then use heat shrink cable to seal. Job done.

[green A8]

Without a doubt some people should entrust any repairs to qualified people. I've seen similar before with older cars, regardless of make. I used to own an old Merc that had its badly corroded hand brake cables knotted to remove unwanted slack, and maybe provide a little extra strength by a careless previous owner! I replaced the offending cables with new items. The problem seems to be that as the car get's older more bodges are attempted to keep it running for as little outlay as possible. As has been said countless times on this forum. There's no such thing as a zero cost or maintenance car. The scarey thing is that pre 1960 cars are now MOT exempt. God knows what neglected death traps we'll see charging around on our roads in a few years time.