XS29L9B

good analogy

Spun

Ok, so your timing is good, your issues are minor and you get to learn how to work on one of the best cars ever made. Path forward for you:

(Spun) pull the connectors and clean them for the entire light. The connectors can loose connection for many reasons over the years. Do the tail lights and sides (rears are easy) - 90 min job to get in perfect. Buy a small file and some fine sand paper and easy

(Spun) Ok, little trickier, but not impossible. Take pictures of where you think it is leaking and we can walk you through it. Otherwise, take it buy a shop and if it's just the filter area, could be it just needs tightening. Had that happen to me... 15 min

(Spun) could be the module/unit/brain for it. Located on the right side back of the console. Lots of threads on it here and not to big of a problem. Call 928 intl this month and their goodies are 1/2 off. 30-45 min job to remove and replace. 1st time will take you a little longer, but you have 928 friends near you (we are everywhere) they will speak up soon. Join 928 owners club.

(Spun) time for a replacement motor. I am not sure if they are the same as the 88 or 89, but if they are I have spares. PM me or call 928 international. Tom and Mark are your friends. The job will take 90-120 min your 1st time.

(Spun) two for one on this one. There are a couple great threads here on pod removal. I can drop a POD in 15 min or less, your 1st time will take an hour. Call Roger at 928Rus and get new bulbs for the entire cluster and call?928 international for the dimmer. Knock both out and she will seem new. 30 min to reinstall pod.


(Spun) yes, you are correct. Both my 89 auto do as well. I like it that way. Makes it easier to push it around in the garage.

(Spun) a couple bucks at 928 international each. 15 min job

(Spun) bigger pain than anything. The may have hosed the central lock, but you will find you never use it anyhow. It's sort of a PITA to me. The keyless $ay have a flaw or the electric door throw may be going out. It is a pain to get to, wait on this one until you have 928 friends to help. I have just gotten good at getting to this spot. 2-3 hour job...

(Spun) well, the good news is that is about to change. There is instructions and help somewhere on rennlist for everything. Some are so well written it makes baking cookies look harder. My 1st job was swapping oil pans where I had a crack... that was fun (10 hour job). Now I do that without instructions and can swap a rack, motor mounts and pan gasket in 6-7 hrs... including taking lunch.

As far as 928 issues, yours are minor. I would scare you if I told you everything I have had to do to some. The worst was an 89 auto that I redid half the front of the car from fans to electrical to fix all the mickeymouse things the prior owner did. you can drive and love yours while you do these minor things and learn. Parts are not to bad when the sale is on and the work is fun. Best hobby and way better than watching TV.

Welcome to the tank.
*

Tom in Austin

Congrats and welcome to the 928 ownership experience.

If you're like me and run of of time to futz with all those little odds and ends, just leave the car with one of our 928 experts like Stan and come back for it a week later. Not only will he figure out and clear up everything on your list, he'll have checked your crank end play and found anything that you didn't already know about.

Koenig-Specials 928

Welcome aboard gmshtr. We've all been down this same road and like others have indicated, this RL house that you've just entered has now turned into a home. All the help you need is right here.

But first, fix that fuel leak. The others can be done later.

bureau13

I knew going in it would be a project...it's sort of what I wanted. That said, given the age of these cars, even the most well-sorted will have things pop up that need doing, more so than a new car off the lot. I just made a list of things to address and put it on my phone. I check things off as I get to them, and add more as I find them. I don't think the list has shrunk much, but the car is getting better. Embrace it! The feeling you get when you drive the car and things work well because YOU made them work well (with lots of help from the good folks on here ) is far better than just buying a nice new car and driving around. At least, that's the way I see it...

WallyP

Welcome aboard!

Perhaps you should look at it this way - you just purchased a twenty-eight-year-old Heathkit Electrical Training System. If you are going to keep the 928 and enjoy it, you will have to learn some basic automotive electrical skills.

Buy an inexpensive, but good multimeter - should cost $15 - $25. Also buy a 12-volt test light - looks like an old-fashioned icepick with a clear handle containing a bulb and an attached wire with an alligator clip. You will need both.

- Right tail light and side marker lights out (brake, signals, reverse lights all work) I've checked the fuses and the bulbs...no luck.
Power comes in to these two lights on a single wire that is green with a red stripe. This wire splits into two wires at a seven-pin connector near the light unit. Follow the wires from the light unit to the connector, then use the test light to check for power on the green/red wire. Hopefully, the problem will be a dirty connector - just find where the power disappears.

- Discovered a fuel leak today...hopefully it's nothing complicated. Looks like it's coming from the tank, but after reading through these posts, it's probably coming from the fuel filter. It only leaks when it's running.
Very glad to see that you are doing research! That will make a huge difference in your learning experience. It can be very difficult to get the pump and filter connections leak-free. You must use a properly-fitting wrench and carefully counter-hold when tightening these fittings. There should be a copper sealing washer on each side of each connection. If the fitting still leaks after tightening, the sealing washers may be work-hardened. Remove the sealing washers and suspend them on a piece of coat-hanger or similar wire. Heat the washers red hot with a torch or over a gas flame, then let them air cool and try installing again. Many people find that it is easier to remove the pump and filter as a unit and work on the connections on the bench. Make sure that none of the pump, filter, lines, etc. touch the body after installation, or there will be noise transmitted to thru the body.

- Cruise Control doesn't work...that's actually the first thing I noticed when I got on the highway from ATL. Fuses all OK....
Usually a vacuum leak, but can be an electrical problem. A MityVac (vacuum tester and hand pump, $25) is another very useful tool. The moist common problem is leaking diaphragms in the HVAC system. You can pull the small cover panel off the console by your right ankle and find the colored vacuum lines. You can work the bar of solenoid valves out and disconnect the lines there for testing, or you can use a knife to cut each line and small pieces of rubber or plastic lines as splices on the good lines after testing. Use the MityVac to test the end going up into the dash, and plug the other cut end of each line that won't hold vacuum. The orange line is the most common failure.


- Passenger window is very slow to lower and raise
The fix is to make a list of WYAITs (While You Are In There items), do your research on how to remove the door panel, gird your loins and dive in. Cleaning and lubricating the window motor/gearbox/linkage will probably help, but do some research.

- Ridiculously dark instrument panel...dimmer doesn't seem to work
The dimmer usually doesn't. Most people bypass it. Getting the lights brighter requires removing the pod and working on the lights. More research.

- "D" doesn't light up when in gear
That bulb gets much more use than any other. Replacement requires pod removal and soldering in a replacement. Most people make a long list of WYAITs and pull the pod.

- Gear lever will move through all gears when car is turned off and key out
"They all do that."

- The lugs in the rear passenger wheel are way longer than the others...I think...or they have different lug nuts on them.
Your car originally had rear wheel spacers and longer studs. If the spacers are missing, it is common to find open-ended steel lug nuts replacing the stock aluminum ones. You may not have the stock wheels.

- The power lock button on the center console doesn't work at all (fuse OK) The previous owner put keyless locks with a little remote, but the driver's door doesn't lock/unlock...although it tries.
Aftermarket stereos, alarms and lock systems are trouble. Few installers know how to properly deal with the 928 electrical system. Sounds as if you get to go into the left door as well as the right. Do the same WYAITs as on both.

At this point, you have a limited number of choices:
- Learn how to do minor repairs, adjustments, maintenance and improvements as an enjoyable hobby.
- Find an honest mechanic who knows the 928 - very, very rare, but they do exist - and prepare to spend serious money maintaining your supercar.
- Take it to a "Porsche mechanic", who usually works on 911-based (VW -based) cars, knows nothing about 928s and doesn't want to, and prepare to spend serious money to have someone learn just enough to screw up your car.
- Take it to a Porsche dealer for an even worse and more expensive experience.
- Hate the car until you sell it.

It should be obvious what I think the best choice is. Good luck!

Cameron

You are suffering from a bit of initial frustration - understandably. Once you work through those relatively minor issues, you will be able to focus on the joy of owning and driving what has been determined to be the greatest GT ever built.

Today, for example, I got a big thumbs up from a driver of another vehicle while dropping my son off at school. Then I got a 'that's a nice Porsche' from a guy at the gas station while tanking up. You will find that this kind of thing happens all the time with you and your girl.

When my son said he likes the 928 more than our Audi and asked me which car I like better, I said that's easy the 928. When he asked me why, I said, 'Well to sum it up, how many 928s are we going to see today - one - and its ours!'

Stromius

Welcome... as you have 2 pages of advise (already!) I'll just say welcome!

I started with limited skills but now can at least claim to have been my car's steward for all things for 7+ years. Decent skills and thanks to this forum and folks smarter than me, I can manage just fine and you will too!

crushingday

..is worthless

rnixon

Congratulations and welcome. It doesn't sound like there's anything major wrong with her, so don't panic.

If you can do plumbing, you can do electricity. Voltage is pressure difference and current is flow. Simply cleaning connectors and ground points will solve many issues. The biggest time sink is just getting at stuff, which is the same on any car.

linderpat

Read, then reread, then reread one more time Wally's post. There is simply nothing else to add.

soontobered84

Congratulations on purchasing your car. Did you expect a new car? As others have said, you bought a 28 year old car, you can't expect new. A good PPI which is almost always recommended, would have pointed out each of these issues ahead of your purchase. These issues could have been used as bargaining points during the purchase. Water under the bridge at this point.

Enjoy the experience. Read the forums. Ask questions. The folk on this forum can be very helpful during the learning process. Good Luck with your car.

sstrickstein

As mentioned, Your driving a aging supermodel. Take a drive, enjoy the attention and the experience. Pat her on the *** every once in a while. Understand she may wake up in the morning with bad breath and crazy hair, but once you slide in the saddle, nothing comes close. Personally I just sold a 944 I restored so I could keep working on my 928S. The 944 was fun but nothing comes close to that 928's ***. Oh yeah I'm an *** man.

buccicone

Between both my '86.5's I have seen all these on at least one if not both.

GregBBRD

Tough to add anything here....people far smarter than I am have already given you a bunch of information and input.

As a person that works on 928s every single day of my professional life, let me assure you that your "list" is a real blessing for you. To find an almost 30 year old car that has so few things wrong with it is amazing! Most lists I get are pages and pages of "deferred maintenance" or things that require "correct repair", instead of people "hacking" at the problem and making it worse/more involved.

Your "list" isn't even a day's work, here! That's fantastic, for an almost 30 year old vehicle!

I "get" cars in, from so called "professional 928 experts" that make me shudder. The things they do wrong/fail to do/miss-route/plain old don't know how to do, is amazing.

I'm three weeks (on and off) into "repairing" a late model 928 which got "repaired" by two previous owners and sold by both. Each of the previous owners had the engine out and "played' 928 mechanic. What a fricking mess! I spent an entire day, just looking, locating, and repairing the "landmines" left from the prior "mechanics". It took us 700 miles of test driving (and hours and hours of diagnostic time) to locate and repair the three separate issues that made the car miss-fire. I can't even begin to tell you how bad this poor car was. Without someone that really, really knew these cars, this car was "headed" to 928 Internaitonal for dismantling.

Keep in mind that I've been a Porsche mechanic exclusively, for my entire life.....over 40 years of only working on Porsches (professionally). These 928s are not simple cars. Even "dealer trained" Porsche mechanics, back when these cars were new, hated working on them. They are very, very complex....compared to almost all other Porsche models.

My point?

If you are not familiar with tools and with repairing cars, proceed with caution. Read and research carefully. There's a lot of people on this "List" that will encourage you to fix everything yourself, but will conveniently "leave out" their own failures and shortcomings.

Proceed with caution when finding a "professional mechanic" to repair your vehicle. People that know these cars are very, very, very few and far between.

Truthfully, I only have one wish with 928s....

Please people (and mechanics)....take the "extra parts" that you can't remember where they go and put them in a baggy. Put that baggy in the glove box.....so someone who actually knows where these pieces go can install them, someday, instead of hunting around 928 International for them.