Erling G-P

As per this thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-forum/355354-newbie-close-to-buying-928-has-a-couple-of-questions.html

Went to Germany Sunday by nighttrain, inspected and eventually bought the car on Monday. Stayed in hotel in Heilbronn until Tuesday, waiting for money transfer to go through, and then set out on the home journey for Denmark.

Thanks all for the encouragement and comments in my first thread; really look forward to join the shark-owner circles (except for the financial aspects... )

Some observations:

I've never driven this far in a car before and been as little busted as I am right now. This car really is a long-distance squasher

Ahh, just love the deep, ominus rumble when you're just putting along on a parking lot.

I now know what you guys mean when you talk about 'bwaa' moments, lol

Anyone else got a 'wow' moment when you switched on the long beams ?

Engine feels good in this one; better than another GT I tried in Denmark. Pulls vigorously in all gears and everywhere in the rev-range. Oil pressure is just under 5 bar at 3000 rpm. That's ok I believe ?

Car came with a very nice service history, including an incredibly long invoice for things the previous owner had done in September 2006. Among them timing belt, waterpump, clutch, ignition cables, motor-oil/filter, brakefluid, lambda sensor, transmission oil and lots of other things replaced. Bill totals almost 7600 Euro (Also on it is a K&N airfilter which must go, based on what I've read in this forum)

Wrinkles in the seat aren't as bad in real life as it looks like on the photo. Leather in the car doesn't exactly look new - there are some scuff marks here and there, but it's still very nice for a 16-year old car. Will snap some more pics when I get an opportunity. Paint seems whole and stonechip free, but could do with a polish. Wheels are very nice indeed.

Problems/issues with the car:

There's a constant buzz tone from the instrument-panel whenever the ignition is 'on'. It's exactly like the warning buzz when you select reverse, only much lower in volume. Reaction from the Porsche Center in Heilbronn that did a superficial inspection of the car was 'Doh, we don't know what that is'. Can't say I was too impressed with that...

About 30 km into my 1100 km home journey, the aircon and fan stopped working. Was just pulling out from a pitstop and moved the lower lever to 'recirculation' to maximize the cooling effect, then both aircon and fan quit. There I was, in my black leather seat in the black cabin of my black car, in blistering summer heat... Felt like a sausage in a Weber grill...
Suspected a blown fuse and went looking for the fuse box on my next stop. Know it's located somewhere in the passenger footwell, but the drawing in the manual isn't too clear, and I couldn't spot it by lifting a few corners of the carpet. Left it as something to do when I got home. (Way past midnight now, so haven't done anymore yet). IF it is a fuse, the interesting thing is of course why it blew.

Suspect the rear shock absorbers may be done. Certain sharp ridges produces a very loud, hollow 'thump' sound when the rear wheels hit them. Have heard similar sounds in other cars when the shocks were gone, but it is my first car with such wide and low tyres (265/35/18), so of course I don't know if it's a result of that.

Electrical remote opening of the rear hatch seems to work intermittendly (Worked in pre-purchase inspection, didn't on the way home).

Thanks again all for your help in pushing me over the cliff; tomorrow I will perform the wallet-burning ritual suggested in another thread..

Cheers,
Erling

Bill Ball

Long beams - you've got Euro H4s. Nice. I put them on my US car.
Oil pressure is good.
Scuffs in black leather are easy to touch up.
Buzz in instrument panel - Dunno If it were from the center console area, I would say the inside air temp sensor fan that is behind that tiny round grill in the dash.
AC blower - yes, check fuse first, then we can take it from there. Once you pull back the passenger footwell carpet you should see a black plywood board covering the footwell. Remove it and feast your eyes on the central electrical panel. You will become very familiar with it over time. There should be a card taped to it showing the relay and fuse layout.
Provide more info on the rear hatch latch failure. Do you hear the motor turning or nothing when you pull the ****?

Welcome to the asylum.

EC928NC

Awsome! Congrats on your new car Erling.

You were on target for the fuse panel... you just needed to dig a bit farther. Mine has the same symptoms...fan worked fine, then it didn't. I suspect a fuse as well from what I've read. It will have to wait until I finish other work, just as your's must wait until you get home.

Great feeling ain't it! Congrats again.

majhopper

Congrats!

Erling G-P

Thanks guys for the replies

Bill:

Center console area; yes that's where it seems to come from - sorry about my inaccurate placing of it.

Rear hatch; ehrm pull the latch ? (I've been sort of pressing it.. ) Will try to pull it instead tomorrow...

Cheers,
Erling

linderpat

Great catch - beautiful car. I love that red piping too! Good luck with it. Doesn't sound like anything major at this early stage...

Bertrand Daoust

Congratulations my friend. I can see in your tread that you are very proud of your new car... And let me tell you that you should be. The 928 was and still is one of the the best GT ever built. Have fun driving it... And working on it!

mnotz

Hey Erling!

Congratulations on the new ride! May it eat the miles (kilometers) faster and longer than you expected in your wildest dreams ;-)

How did you like Heilbronn? Just asking as it is my birthplace and I lived there for most of my life. Actually will be out that way in a couple weeks to visit family and friends...


Again, enjoy the ride,
Marcus.

Erling G-P

Thanks again guys !

Marcus:

Surprising so small the world is at times

Didn't really get to 'play tourist' in Heilbronn, but got the impression of a nice town, with busy traffic in relatively narrow streets.
People seemed to enjoy summer in outside cafes etc, and everyone was friendly and helpful. Stayed at Ring Hotel, and got very good treatment, especially at dinner in their restaurant.

Hope you have a nice trip when you go there again yourself

Cheers,
Erling

marton

congratulations
does sound like a fuse

Marton

Bill Ball

Live with the noise for a while. Pulling the console is not something you want to do the first week. It's not awful to do, but I'd wait until you can afford a day or two of downtime. The fan MAY respond to cleaning. You may need to replace the whole temp unit that the fan is attched to - you can't get the fan separately. Even with the console pulled back, it's a bit of a pain to replace.

Yes, the latch button is a PULL.

Erling G-P

Thanks guys,

Bill: Tried pulling the latch buttons and both work perfectly..

Found the fuse box. Yikes, that thing is stuffed to the brink...
That wooden board covering it looks about as out of place in a car like this as the Terminator would at a knitting conference...
Fuse for the aircon was blown, and when I snatched a similar one from the lights, both fan and aircon worked again. Will get a replacement, but would of course be nice to know why it blew in the first place. Bill, would you think it's connected to that buzz-tone ? (If not, then what would be a likely cause for the latter ?)

Snapped some pics, mainly of the interior, as the exterior is quite scruffy after 1100 km, some of it in torrential rain. Won't clean it until after I've had my pre-registration inspection. Tax department doesn't care what I paid for the car; they make their own estimate of its worth and then bill me accordingly. Want the car to look as bad as possible when they see it..

Some things need attention:
The loose panel in the driver's door need new clips.
Scratches around the door lock.
'Holes' in the window seals - are these supposed to be there ? (Looks quite similar on both sides)
Wheels obviously needs a good cleaning after 1100 km.

Cheers,
Erling

linderpat

I don't think those gaps in the trim are supposed to be there - looks like the rubber shrunk; should be a snug fit to keep out water (these are at the rear of each rear quarter window?). Also, what kind of switch do you have for the passenger window - it looks like it has a red diagram on it?
Again, great car (let us know what your local taxing authorities think it's worth!)

chaadster

Erling,

Congratulations! Your car looks great; I'm afraid they will assess you highly at the registration!

Lots of leather...very cool. The gaps in the window molding are strange, and I'm pretty sure they should not be there. I don't know what the fix is other than to replace the trim, and I don't know what that involves.

Sounds like your other issues have been resolved, and are minor at that. The door lock trim is a bugger, though. It's hard to paint durably, and looks funny polished. I wound up using the trim kit from www.jageng.com, and am happy with that.

So enjoy the car and post here often. Welcome!

Erling G-P

Ed & Chaad, thanks for the replies

Ed, the rubber seal holes are in the rear of each door, not the rear quarter windows (those are whole).

The window buttons are beside one another, to the left, with the rear wiper button to the right of them. Seller didn't know what the red button did and I haven't dared press it yet; reminds me of a James Bond self-destruct button...

Any suggestions as to what it might do are most welcome

Tax department will unquestionably value the car too high, no matter how tatty I might make it look. In fact, I'm certain to be paying more in tax than I did for the car itself in Germany

Cheers,
Erling