MC turbo sensor cables / plugs

[veetesse]

Hello all...

Still tracking down the intermittent no start on the 4ktq... I've replaced
the crank sensors with two sets of spares I had....No change, so I began
looking at the wiring.

I was checking out the wire connections for the reference / speed sensor
plugs on the car (MC turbo engine with the Mac 11 ECU and wiring) and
noticed that in the cable from each sensor there are three smaller wires
that correspond to the three pins in the connector.

There's a black wire, a yellow wire and a brown wire.  The brown wire
appears to be connected to some kind of shielded ring around the base of the
plug end or possibly to some sort of braided inner sheath (like coax?).
Does anyone know if this is the case or what the purpose of the brown wire
is?

The reason I ask is that it appears that one of the wires is on the verge of
breaking near the plug connector on the ECU side (!) and will need repair or
replacement... The wire seems to be frayed right where it connects to the
pin on the female plug end.

So the question is, do I try to splice a new end on the cable? If so, what
do I splice the brown wire to?

Is it maybe possible to replace just these cables in the harness back to the
ECU with spares from another car?  I read in the archives that separate pins
(the gold plated ones) might be available from the dealer for these types of
plugs.

Any possible solutions besides replacing the entire harness?

Thanks in advance.

Elliott Bavely

86 4ktq
85 4kq
81 Coupe ITB
83 GTI FSP, 83 GTI 16V
90 VW Cabriolet