89 S4 Fuse Panel Replacement
 

I am being told that I need to replace the fuse panel on my 1989 S4. From what I can gather, the part number is 92861010517. My question is can I use a later model (1990+) or an earlier S4 model fuse panel as a replacement?

Thanks!
Mark

Have you looked at the fuse / relay charts shown on 928s R Us web site for differences between years?
Would think that is a great place to compare them. ;)

https://928srus.com/pages/charts

Dave K

Why are you being told to replace it?

I'm sure there is a good reason Porsche changed the part number the next year but I do not know why
We have the correct one https://shop.928intl.com/Used-Fuse-P...28-610-105-17/

When I turn on the headlights the pod gauge lights go out and the center console lights do not luminate plus after the head lights have been on, sometimes when I turn off the engine the driver side running lights stay on. The mechanic thinks these issues may be caused because he thinks there is a crack in the fuse panel or some other issue that is causing a break in the electrical connection. On top of all of that, now my HVAC blower is not working but that may or may not be tied to the fuse panel. I have owned this car for a year and have had nothing but issues. I am determined to get her on the road because I have a enjoyed the very few occasions I have been able to drive my 928.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! If for some reason it ends up that my problems are not being caused by my existing fuse panel can I return yours? Of course, I'll pay for the return shipping.

"The mechanic thinks"

That generally leads to..lots of thinking and throwing parts at a problem.

"he thinks there is a crack in the fuse panel or some other issue that is causing a break in the electrical connection

There he goes thinking again. They dont crack, and if they DID, it likely wouldnt impact anything, as connections are in sockets, not 'the base panel' itself. Has he SHOWN you a broken CE panel?

Post photos of the CE panel..lets start at the top.

THEN lets work on the individual issues.
-When I turn on the headlights the pod gauge lights go out and the center console lights do not luminate plus after the head lights have been on, sometimes when I turn off the engine the driver side running lights stay on.

Has he tried a new switch?

-my HVAC blower is not working

Has he tried a new resistor pack? This failure happens on all cars ever made up to about year 2000 or so..and not uncommon on an old 928.

This may be of use: https://scott-yoo.com/porsche/1987-9...esh-procedure/

Good luck, you're in the right place to get good advice on a path forward.

Cheers

Ya..an OLD german car is full of electrical pitfalls, but none are hard to maintain or fix...but...unless you have a trust fund, this is NOT 'by the hour' mechanic work.

None know how to use a multi meter anymore.

"Cracked CE panel"...that is a new one...

We frown upon people installing electrical items then returning when it did not fix their problem

89 and 1990 are very different. 89 is very specific for the model year unlike the ones before and after covering multiple years. Even some of the location and types of relays are different.

The mechanic that fixed the previous electrical issues I was having isn't an hourly mechanic and the repair shop he works out of, Scott's Shop, specializes in Porches. I visited all the Porsche repair facilities in and around Sarasota FL where I live and as soon as I said the words "928" they all told me to go to Scott's Shop. Thus, I don't have a lot of options available to me so at this point so I am just going to take it on faith that since he has already spent many, many hours under my dash, he at least has a good idea on what is causing my electrical issues; the HVAC blower not working is a new issue that the mechanic is not yet aware of. The long and short of it is I have owned this car, which has been my dream car since I was in my 20's, for almost a year and I just want to finally be able to drive and enjoy it, especially now that the weather down here is cooling down.

I hope I am not coming across as being bitter about all of your responses to my post. I am both impressed and appreciative that all of you responded to my question so quickly!!!

Nah..yer good, its you adding more good info.

If he thinks its the CE panel, he can buy one and go that route on his dime.

But IMHO, you would solve this at home with help here, quicker.

Likely nothing wrong with your car (one problem at a time) that isn't normal in your environment.

Ignition switch.

The big fuse panel (CE Panel) is made up of a boat load of sockets for relays and connectors are are all connected to each other with actual wires. Seriously, its like a weaving loom went crazy back there. The wires all have crimped-on ends that plug into the sockets. Sorry to say, but there is no way a crack could cause a malfunction. Things can go wrong. For example you can get corrosion between the crimp ends and the sockets or between the crimp ends and the wires. You can have crazy POs trying to install alarms or radios or what have you and hacking things up. But no crack caused malfunctions.

I wonder if there could have been a mis-communication. There is a flex circuit that goes on the back of the guage cluster. That can have cracks as well as corrosion.

Might take a hard look at symptoms to see if wolf928 could be right. CE panels rarely fail. I have had corrosion problems in the one in my Cab because it is a '79 and, with the roof cut off, it has had a lot of exposure to water. However, I think ignition switches pretty much always fail eventually. Its a screwy design where they are sending tons of current through the switch rather than just sending signals though the switch and them sending those signals to relays. So they get hot and they fail.

Also the resistor packs on the blower pretty much all fail at some point too. Very common. There can also be a problem with the relay in the control head (in the console). Try it on all settings/fan speeds and post the results here. The different problems have distinctive symptoms.

Good luck with your mechanic. The hardest part of owning a 928 is finding someone to work on it. I gave my brother one of my old 928s and he took it to a german specialty mechanic with a lovely accent, who left it sitting for a year waiting for Auto Atlanta to get a part from Germany that Mark or Roger or Greg would have had in stock. The struggle is real. Most folks here either go the one of the three known great 928 shops or have given up and do it themselves.