1989 911 questions
#1
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From: King of Prussia, PA
1989 911 questions
I recently purchased a 1989 911 3.2 and I a few minor issues are popping up and I am not sure if they are common and/or how to correct them.
1 - Every once in a while when I turn the key to start the car, nothing happens, the dash board lights light up, but the car does not start, if I take the key out of the ignition and try again it starts up. I am not sure what is happening to cause this.
2 - When the heat is turned off the car still blows out hot air and I can't quite figure out how to turn it off. I turn on the air conditioning and the hot air still seems to come out of another vent.
3 - I have a factory installed CD player and it does not read CD's. The radio works, but I put in a CD and the CD player does not play it.
I am not sure if these are common issues or what I can do to correct these. The first issue is the one i really want to know about because I do not want to get stranded anywhere.
Thank you in advance for your responses!
1 - Every once in a while when I turn the key to start the car, nothing happens, the dash board lights light up, but the car does not start, if I take the key out of the ignition and try again it starts up. I am not sure what is happening to cause this.
2 - When the heat is turned off the car still blows out hot air and I can't quite figure out how to turn it off. I turn on the air conditioning and the hot air still seems to come out of another vent.
3 - I have a factory installed CD player and it does not read CD's. The radio works, but I put in a CD and the CD player does not play it.
I am not sure if these are common issues or what I can do to correct these. The first issue is the one i really want to know about because I do not want to get stranded anywhere.
Thank you in advance for your responses!
#2
I'll take a stab at some potential answers... Maybe others can chime in with more suggestions.
My brother had a similar issue with his '83 SC in regards to the car not starting with the key. Turning the key to full start position did nothing. No click, no starter noises, etc. Replacing the full ignition lock (where the key goes into) fixed that problem. Something was worn and not making contact for starting. Porsche sent a new ignition assembly that fit his original key in a pretty timely manner.
You could have a heater box stuck in the closed position. Heater boxes are located just forward of the engine (visible from the bottom of the car). Heated air from your heat exchangers pass through these 'boxes' and if the windmill looking type vents are in the closed position, heat passes forward to the cabin. If the heater boxes are in the open position, heat dumps out around the rear wheel area and does not reach the cabin. There are two heater boxes, one on each side of the car.
A 1989 CD player could have laser alignment problems and / or could just be worn out. It also depends on what type of CD you are playing. Recordable CD's may just not play in a player from '89 since that technology was not around back then for the consumer. Many people have trouble with old factory CD players. I'm not sure what model CD player is in your dash, but if you post it, we may be able to tell you who made the player. Alpine made some of the factory units and you might be able to find a shop that services Alpine stuff that could align the laser, clean it, or whatever.
Otherwise, box up the old player for the next owner and then just get a new unit if cosmetics and / or originality is not important to you.
Good Luck,
Jay
90 964
84 3.2
My brother had a similar issue with his '83 SC in regards to the car not starting with the key. Turning the key to full start position did nothing. No click, no starter noises, etc. Replacing the full ignition lock (where the key goes into) fixed that problem. Something was worn and not making contact for starting. Porsche sent a new ignition assembly that fit his original key in a pretty timely manner.
You could have a heater box stuck in the closed position. Heater boxes are located just forward of the engine (visible from the bottom of the car). Heated air from your heat exchangers pass through these 'boxes' and if the windmill looking type vents are in the closed position, heat passes forward to the cabin. If the heater boxes are in the open position, heat dumps out around the rear wheel area and does not reach the cabin. There are two heater boxes, one on each side of the car.
A 1989 CD player could have laser alignment problems and / or could just be worn out. It also depends on what type of CD you are playing. Recordable CD's may just not play in a player from '89 since that technology was not around back then for the consumer. Many people have trouble with old factory CD players. I'm not sure what model CD player is in your dash, but if you post it, we may be able to tell you who made the player. Alpine made some of the factory units and you might be able to find a shop that services Alpine stuff that could align the laser, clean it, or whatever.
Otherwise, box up the old player for the next owner and then just get a new unit if cosmetics and / or originality is not important to you.
Good Luck,
Jay
90 964
84 3.2
#3
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From: Cumberland, RI
As I understand it, there are (2) parts to the lock - the electrical part & the mechanical part. If there is no difficulty turning the key from locked to on, you only need the (much less expensive) electrical-only part. Mine does both, the hard to get to release from locked & the "sorry, I don't feel like making a connection" fault.
Heat - these are separate controls from the AC as mentioned. I could be wrong, but it seems that it's possible to have both the heat & AC on concurrently (which blows my mind). If the mechanical roto-doors Jay mentions are working (easy to see from under car, looks like a nuclear radiation symbol, basically). You can confirm flaps up / doors closed & flaps down / door open by yourself or with someone in the cabin moving the floor levers for you.
CD - sorry, I went aftermarket on mine (and am thrilled with the Nakamichi CD400 / Infinity Kappa / Clarion SRV303 under-seat subwoofer setup).
Heat - these are separate controls from the AC as mentioned. I could be wrong, but it seems that it's possible to have both the heat & AC on concurrently (which blows my mind). If the mechanical roto-doors Jay mentions are working (easy to see from under car, looks like a nuclear radiation symbol, basically). You can confirm flaps up / doors closed & flaps down / door open by yourself or with someone in the cabin moving the floor levers for you.
CD - sorry, I went aftermarket on mine (and am thrilled with the Nakamichi CD400 / Infinity Kappa / Clarion SRV303 under-seat subwoofer setup).
#4
Originally Posted by 84_Carrera
Heat - these are separate controls from the AC as mentioned. I could be wrong, but it seems that it's possible to have both the heat & AC on concurrently (which blows my mind).