awilson40

I have several electrical issues...Heater Fan and AC sometimes dont work...wiggle the relay and they work. I would like to remove the fuse box and clean all connections and relays. Can the fuse box be removed ?? If so How?
Thanks

jim968

Almost anything can be 'removed', depending on how much trouble you want to go to to get it apart & back together. 8)

Going from memory (been about 6 years since curiosity led me into this), take the cover off of the fuse /relay box. Look in the corners of the panel everything is plugged into. I don't recall the type of fastener, but you'll see 'em. Remove fasteners. Pull up on panel; it'll be stiff & resist movement, because of all the wires attached to the bottom. As it starts to move up, _look under the panel_ ! There's 50 or more wires you're going to have to unplug, then plug back into the right places if you continue. Stop at this step, and think long and hard about continuing.

Alternatively, if you can get your head & shoulders into the driver's footwell all the way (may have to remove the seat), look up on the extreme outside / forward part of the under-dash area. Shine a good light up there. The hole with all the wires in it? That's the bottom of the fuse /relay panel you're seeing.

After seeing the rat's nest of wiring, you may want to just visit your local electronics store and buy a can of spray contact / tuner cleaner, and pull the fuese or relays one or two at a time and spray the sockets & pins. It may also help to 'tweak' the pins a little so they make better mechanical contact with the sockets.

Jim, your call.... & good luck.

IceShark

Jim is right, you don't want to mess too much in that snake pit.

There are two **** with a phillips drive indent in the center to release. Use a heat gun or hair drier to warn up the wires and get them to move a bit so you can pull up. Then you can get at things.

Frankly, I'd forget about it and figure out how to make the legs of your relays thicker like coating with a solder layer so they will engage the socket terminals better.

awilson40

Good advice,
I think I will leave well enough alone.
Thanks

SoCal Driver

Here is a scan of the bottom of a fuse/relay block out of an 86.

There is a center locking bar that slides to one side to release all of these inter connect blocks. These are the rectangular blocks with all the wires going into them. You can see the end of it at the top.

The extra relays wiring blocks are integral with the relay socket. Just two on this unit.

The two heavy power wires in the upper left have to be unbolted. Take the power off the battery first.

Daunting but not a difficult task.

If you choose to leave the fuse/relay block in disconnect the battery when you use the contact spray as all it would take is a bit of arcing to have a really nice fire. Use plastic safe contact spray.

<img src="http://home.attbi.com/~hughbro3/images/FuseBlockBottom.jpg" alt=" - " />

jim968

Thanks, SoCal! That's the first time I've actually "seen" (as in able to see clearly) the bottom of the panel, despite owning two of these cars for a total of almost nine years. My mental image didn't include the group wiring blocks or the latch bar. Makes much better sense now, and would be possible, tho' still not easy, I suspect.

Jim, now let's count the wires!!!8)

SoCal Driver

Grab the image as I have this on my ISP's web space.

I don't see where taking out the unit is that difficult. There is sufficient wire to pull it out and disconnect all the plugs and wires.

I haven't tried to pull the plug body apart as it has a zillion of those little plastic on plastic latches around it. Would have to stick a tooth pick in each one as you lever it open.

I can see where one of the socket pins could be loose on the relay blade. Just seems like a rubics cube to take apart.

Notice that on the bottom of the one I have there are a few additional wires that were added.

Ratcals

I'm having a similar problem. I've tried replacing the relay and the problem is still there. I've temporarily fixed it by wedging a piece of cardboard in between the affected relay. Rather than remove the fuse box I plan on leaving the bottom connectors on and just taking it apart while still installed. The outer case comes apart into two pieces and the sockets for the relays are on the top. You can then get inside with a wire brush and clean the contacts and make sure they are not spread too far apart. I'm thinking that's what's wrong with mine. So I'm hoping I can squeeze the contacts together with a pair of pliers and eliminate my problem. My house is still being built so I don't have my own garage yet so this project is scheduled for the spring, right after I re glue my rear hatch.

Mark

SoCal Driver

Ratcals, if you get a chance take a good picture of the insides when you have it apart. I used a scanner to get my image.

Ratcals

Give me a day or two and I'll get you some pictures. I have a spare fuse box I got off Ebay for real cheap so I could see how it worked.

How do you upload pictures here anyway?

Mark

Ratcals

You'll have to excuse the quality of these I just moved from Germany and all my stuff is still in storage so I had to borrow. They still give you a good idea of what is going on inside there. I couldn't figure out how to upload pics to the board so I posted links.

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/thenealclan/Mark/porsche/DSCN0125-1.jpg" target="_blank">Pic 1</a>
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/thenealclan/Mark/porsche/DSCN0129-1.jpg" target="_blank">Pic 2</a>
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/thenealclan/Mark/porsche/DSCN0131-1.jpg" target="_blank">Pic 3</a>
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/thenealclan/Mark/porsche/DSCN0132-1.jpg" target="_blank">Pic 4</a>

I can provide more if necessary, but like I said these should give you a good idea.

Mark

rcldesign

Anyone interested in replacing all the relays and fuses with a solid state solution? No moving parts. Long life. Great reliability. Lots of wiring! Fuses never burn (flips breakers instead). I *could* make/sell these, but I don't know if I'd be the only person to actually own one. Any interest? How much would one be willing to pay for such a device?

IceShark

rcl, wouldn't this cost a small, or not so small, fortune? Plus you would have to clip all the old wires and reconnect. It would be rather easy to screw up that operation. Based on my experience, many 944 owners are downright afraid of electrics. Wondering if they should attempt putting in headlights and the associated wiring package. A fuse board would give them nightmares for a month.

I don't think this idea would ever fly. Besides, for most people the benefits would be marginal and the 944 is a small population = no customers.

I sell the headlight package which has all sorts of immediate benefits people love. That has sold way more units than your idea ever would but I still don't think I have recovered development costs. Well, I'm not rich, anyway. Be careful.

rcldesign

I did some preliminary work on it... I can probably sell them for ~$400 with screw terminals for all the wires. Installation would still be a pain in the ***, but think of it this way: no more DME relay! (that would be my motivation). The only reason I haven't gone through the bother of making one for myself was that I am going to go standalone soon which means no DME anyway. If I did make one for myself, I can always make more in quantities of one for a good price.

Ice, I was looking at your e-code headlight thinggy, and I'm kind of liking it a lot. Do you have any pics from the front with the lights on? If not, do they have the dark center parts with the outside ring lit up? I looked at Danno's site, but the javascript to view larger pictures of some of the tings wasn't working on my PC for some reason...

IceShark

rcl, $400 sounds about right but you still have the installation problem which you can never solve. I'd say: don't get messed up in this project. <img border="0" alt="[nono]" title="" src="graemlins/nono.gif" />

I don't have any pictures of the lights from the front as I haven't gone out and bought the new digital camera yet. Those pictures on Danno's site were made by Ben S., one of my first customers. And he didn't have the wiring installed.

No dark center spot or ring on the outside. These are built to work, not make a fashion statement. <img border="0" alt="[byebye]" title="" src="graemlins/wave.gif" />