deimos

It's been about a month the '84 928 has been in the garage up on jack stands. I've gone through pretty much every system in total, replaced a ton of little parts, and some larger ones. The final work this weekend was TB/WP and all the front end engine maintenance items (belts, seals, filters). The list of what's original is far smaller than what's new.

I spent today cleaning the electrical system, took out the entire white fuse/relay board and went through every wire cleaned, toned, and re-connected everything. Yes, everything on that board. It could not have been any more tedious; trust me on that.

As a result, all of the interior lights work again. All of the lights in the guage pod work again. The most important thing, the radio and all speakers work again.

A few Questions:

1) Where does the "thermoswitch" go? I assume somewhere in/near the radiator, but I can't find where. The electric cooling fan works with a short, but never comes on with A/C on, hood shut, and engine hot (coolant flowing through all hoses). I'm guessing the "thermoswitch" has something to do with this. I can't find anything that looks like the one 928 Specialists sent me (75C).

2) How do you get the left/driver's side plastic cam cover on? I took it off fairly easily, but I have no idea how to get it back on unless I take the banjo bolt out of the power steering pump. Hints?

3) When I turn on the car, it fires right up and purrs for me. I get a fast, green flashing light where the turn signal indicator normally is. The red exclamation point light is also on. I'm guessing it's trying to tell me something.

4) None of the gauges work (engine temp, speedo, odo, trip odo, oil pressure, fuel level). I called the PO, he confirmed they never worked for him either, but the car sat for 7 years, so he never cared to fix it. They do all bounce off their resting posts a little bit. No idea if this is some diag signal either.

5) The horn doesn't work when all hooked up. It works if I manually short it and makes my ears bleed. I swap the horn relay with something comparable, no dice. It gets voltage all the way through, no idea why this doesn't work.

6) Can anyone recommend a good porsche shop in the Boston/MetroWest/South Shore area of Massachusetts?

Any Boston-area 928 fanatics wanna poke at it with me this week/weekend? I'll buy as much beer as it takes.

Thanks in advance for the answers!

docmirror

4) investigate the large plug on the pass side near the jump start lug. It is a 14 pin connector and supports all the gauge senders from below the engine in front. It also has the starter solenoid pick wire, which can get hot and damage the wires in the harness.

Doc

rixter

you've gotten a great start... here's a couple add ons to Docs advice.. (I recently had a local car w/ same problem and this solved most of the problems)

1. disconnect the ground strap located behind the tool kit in the hatch, clean it and where it attaches well (wire brush works good)
2. pics show location of 14 pin connector for main harness, BE CAREFUL while removing to avoid problem in pic 2
3. clean this well, reconnect... then reconnect battery ground strap and see what you get

hope this helps

WallyP

The thermoswitch sounds like the switch for the cooling fan - if so, it goes in the lower forward side of the left radiator tank.

You may need to pull the instrument pod and clean the contacts there, or (as already suggested) clean the 14-pole connector near the jump start terminal. While you are at it, clean the wires and cables on the jump start terminal.

Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net

www.musantemotorsports.com is north of Hartford. Farther away, but David Lloyd is probably worth the trip

mcv200

These guys are the best in the south shore area.....alittle expensive, but the best.
http://www.ranrace.com/

You can also try Motor Cars International in East Bridgewater, MA. Although I didn't have very good luck with them when they changed my torque tube. Good luck!!

Mike V

Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net

I don't see any 928s at http://www.ranrace.com/

SharkSkin

Preachin' to the choir on that one...

Sounds like you've made some great progress, and there's already lots of great help here. Here are some more thoughts on the issues you're having:

Item 3:
You may have a short or other damage to the turn signal assembly or harness. Does it do this in all positions? Also, the "!" light will stay lit if your parking brake is on...

Item 4:
Easiest thing to check is the 14-pin plug, so check that first... but there is also an edge connector inside the pod that could be at fault.

Item 5:
It's possible that the contact on the steering wheel is crudded up from sitting for 7 years. It may correct itself with a little driving.

HTH

worf928

Would this '84 be a locally-procured one? Maroon? Euro?

DonS

Greetings from another '84 owner. Mine's been up and down off the jack stands since September but you're definitely more ambitious or have more problems than me.

(4) If you handled cleaning the fuse panel then the dash shouldn't be a problem. Pull it and clean the connectors. A small hand is 'handy' with the right side mounts but if you line it up carefully it should go back easily.

(5) Pull the horn pad off. The three rubber bumper bolts on the wheel are the contact points. A PO probably tightened them all the way down so they're not making contact; and the rubber has probably compressed, too. Remove, add a small washer at the very bottom (if they've been tightened 100% and distorted the bumpers) and then back them out 1/2 turn at a time until they make contact with the pad.

Two steps forward, one step back and you'll be dancing in no time. Hang in there.

Gretch

European Performance Engineering in Natick is very good with 928s. They serviced mine for about 8 years and I have seen several there over the years. There is also an EXCELLENT body shop next door. The race and repair shop owner is Jerry Pelligrino. He is a great guy and has Porsche gear oil in his veins. He isn't cheap, but I did not consider him to be expensive either. He took excellent care of my car for me when I was not able to. During the week, I am in Boston and work out Westboro way. If I can be of some help, let me know.....

deimos

Thanks to rixter and docmirror for the 14-pin plug pointer. I took it apart, verified connectivity, and cleaned it all up. The horn works reliably now (not sure how that's related).

The gauges still don't work. I believe the flashing green light (turn indicator) is due to the two front parking lights being out. The guages don't even bounce anymore, they just sit there as if disconnected. Next is to take the pod off and start poking at connectors there.

I've also found and replaced the factory 92C thermoswitch with the new one (75C). I still can't get the electric cooling fan to work when the engine is hot or the a/c is on. Thanks wallyp for the pointer.

Euro Perf Eng in Natick is close, if I can't figure out the guages, I'll give them a call. Thanks for the pointer.

While I was screwing around tonight, I took apart the sunroof assembly. It appears to work fine, just the motor is dead (won't spin even when disconnected from the gears).

However, I believe I have enough to get it registered and inspected. The to do list is:

1) Flush brake fluid;
2) Flush trans fluid, replace trans filter/seals;
3) fix guages
4) lots and lots of interior work to make it look pretty again.

I'll spare you the "done" list, it's long. I've been able to avoid asking lots of stupid questions by lots of searching. Cool group.

deimos

After flushing the brakes and checking all the pads, I took the car for a spin today. And by spin, I mean "the scca racer" spirited drive. Ok, I flogged it after letting it warm up. The suspension is real stiff like I'd expect, and it handles a drift around a rotary well. Hearing the leather dash creak is going to take some acclimation. Other than that, once it warms up, it moves well.

deimos

More progress. I've been driving the car daily for a week now. The interior is starting to take shape. I refuse to spend $500 on a new center console; however nothing I do makes it look as good as the rest of the interior. Next decision is seats, whether to get them re-done or just replace them with Corbeau or something.

PO did something nasty to the slotted wheels. I cleaned them with just soap and water and they look like they've been bathed in some sort of acid cleaner. It's my understanding these are some sort of >20% magnesium alloy, so I can't really wetsand the top layer of oxidation off and polish the heck out of them. Magnesuim is white after all.

I found a radar detector installed! It's annoyingly loud and ancient technology, but eh, I may keep it.

I've become an expert at pulling the pod and gauges in under 30 minutes. I tested all the gauges last night, they all work fine. Apparently something is causing the speedo/odo to stop working, and the temp gauge to randomly point into the red. I fail to believe the car is instantly overheating after it sat all night. My infrared temp gauge tells me various parts of the engine are at 150F or so after a good flogging. I have summer fluid in it (water and water wetter only). Given my temp readings are on the outside of the engine, that seems about right.

The top coolant hose coupling seems to have sprung a tiny leak when at operating temp.

Good news is, the engine has yet to burn any oil, nor leak any. I cleaned the heck out of it to see where leaks may appear, so far, still shiny clean!

The transmission is the same way since the flush, filter, and fluid change.

Best quote so far, "Dad, can you not take turns that fast? I can't lift my head from the side of the car."

Here's pics of the progress thus far:
http://lewmanracing.com/images/2005-...ess/index.html

I know I don't post much, but these forums have been a great help, combined with that apparently underutilized search feature.

jserio

If you have the slotted wheels you should get them chromed. They look much better chromed. Your brakes should be a night and day difference now. I changed the fluid in mine and what a difference. If your speedo is not working you could try checking out the sensor in the spare tire well. It connects to the rear top of the tranny. If you manage to get the speedo working and your odo doesnt work that is because that little plastic gear strips inside the speedo. You will come across a consol for much less. Just watch ebay. They was a nice interior that for 500 i think not long ago. And as far as the radar goes any help is good help. GL