Officially in this forum now (long)
06-18-2004, 11:28 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Officially in this forum now (long)
Well after 18 months of looking and a couple of thousand miles in road trips I am finally a 964 owner. Actually the bank and me. I picked up the car in Houston on Wednesday morning after driving down on Tuesday. Got the car and had a PPI done and then headed north.
Everything was cool until Wednesday in Northern Oklahoma when a rear sidewall let go. After putting on the spare inflatable I limped around Northeast Oklahoma until it was decided that I was better off heading to Missouri and stopping in Joplin. Thanks to the guys in Vinita for calling around. The sad part is that after parting with $24K for the car I had to drop another $700 for new rubber. I went with four new Bridgestone RE950's. The other three Kumho Ecatza's (KH-11's) were fine, but I didn't trust them, so pitched three tires with virtually no miles on them. Oh well. Ayway the car is a fun drive (and drive fast!).
Some notes and questions. Average mpg=24.33. Cheapest gast $182.9 in Choctow Nation, Oklahoma. Average speed. probably faster than necessary. Definately a totally different drive than the 944 Cab I traded in on this car. I'll wash it up and post a picture after work.
Some questions for all you 964 expert types.
Is the targa top always so noisy (above 80 mph)? I think it's a seal, but I figure I'd ask some other owners. I know that the seals were replaced because the car has a ton of paperwork starting from the PDI in 10/1991.
The top itself was refurbed in 2002.
The CEL comes on and I can extinguish it using the switch. Sometimes it comes back on but if I hit the switch again it stays off.
In the clock, I have three lights: seat belt warning, airbag warning, and the rear spoiler warning. A PO (there were two) replaced the spoiler with a whale tail. I know I saw a jumper solution for the spoiler somewhere in my surfing. The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling as I had my seatbelt on. Once again, I know I read somewhere that this may be a problem in the clock. In fact it was replaced at Don McGill in Houston under warranty for the same problem.
Acutally everything I noticed show up in previous repair records. Very weird.
Other issuses noticed: a cracked foglight lens, the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded, the whale tail has some stress cracks at each top corner at lid, one tweeter needs resecured, dash has a little wave action going on, hi-intensity washers don't hit the headlights (work up at windshield), cruise controls works intermittently, and the engine insulation is falling down. Also the shop recommended that I have a 30k service performed so I start fresh (makes sense) and then have the 30k service every 15k and said it'll run forever.
So has anyone here just pulled out the insulation and run without it? Also has anyone seen the mylar reflectored backet style insulation? I saw it somewhere, but as usual can't remember.
After starting the car the oil temp takes a few minutes to move and the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center. It may be down a quart since I drove close to 900 mile on the way back to St. Louis. Is this normal?
I think that's it for now.
Everything was cool until Wednesday in Northern Oklahoma when a rear sidewall let go. After putting on the spare inflatable I limped around Northeast Oklahoma until it was decided that I was better off heading to Missouri and stopping in Joplin. Thanks to the guys in Vinita for calling around. The sad part is that after parting with $24K for the car I had to drop another $700 for new rubber. I went with four new Bridgestone RE950's. The other three Kumho Ecatza's (KH-11's) were fine, but I didn't trust them, so pitched three tires with virtually no miles on them. Oh well. Ayway the car is a fun drive (and drive fast!).
Some notes and questions. Average mpg=24.33. Cheapest gast $182.9 in Choctow Nation, Oklahoma. Average speed. probably faster than necessary. Definately a totally different drive than the 944 Cab I traded in on this car. I'll wash it up and post a picture after work.
Some questions for all you 964 expert types.
Is the targa top always so noisy (above 80 mph)? I think it's a seal, but I figure I'd ask some other owners. I know that the seals were replaced because the car has a ton of paperwork starting from the PDI in 10/1991.
The top itself was refurbed in 2002.
The CEL comes on and I can extinguish it using the switch. Sometimes it comes back on but if I hit the switch again it stays off.
In the clock, I have three lights: seat belt warning, airbag warning, and the rear spoiler warning. A PO (there were two) replaced the spoiler with a whale tail. I know I saw a jumper solution for the spoiler somewhere in my surfing. The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling as I had my seatbelt on. Once again, I know I read somewhere that this may be a problem in the clock. In fact it was replaced at Don McGill in Houston under warranty for the same problem.
Acutally everything I noticed show up in previous repair records. Very weird.
Other issuses noticed: a cracked foglight lens, the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded, the whale tail has some stress cracks at each top corner at lid, one tweeter needs resecured, dash has a little wave action going on, hi-intensity washers don't hit the headlights (work up at windshield), cruise controls works intermittently, and the engine insulation is falling down. Also the shop recommended that I have a 30k service performed so I start fresh (makes sense) and then have the 30k service every 15k and said it'll run forever.
So has anyone here just pulled out the insulation and run without it? Also has anyone seen the mylar reflectored backet style insulation? I saw it somewhere, but as usual can't remember.
After starting the car the oil temp takes a few minutes to move and the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center. It may be down a quart since I drove close to 900 mile on the way back to St. Louis. Is this normal?
I think that's it for now.
06-18-2004, 12:02 PM
#2
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Re: Officially in this forum now (long)
Congratulations. I'll take a crack at some of the questions:
After putting on the spare inflatable ....
If you read the owner's manual, it will tell you that you can't use the spare on the rear (move one of the front to the back). Evidently the requirement is there because the engine could overpower the spare, or possibly the diameter difference is better tolerated in front. I would put the spare on the rear, but drive carefully and not too far.
Average mpg=24.33
Pretty good if you were at any speed.
The CEL comes on and I can extinguish it using the switch. Sometimes it comes back on but if I hit the switch again it stays off.
What did your PPI say about the the CEL? There should be stored fault codes identifying the problem.
The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling.....
You will need a KTS 300 to reset the airbag codes. This can be the clock, but the connectors at the crash sensors seem to be the problem in most cases. The fault code will tell you what caused the lights to come on.
a cracked foglight lens
the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded
the whale tail has some stress cracks
one tweeter needs resecured
dash has a little wave action going on
hi-intensity washers don't hit the headlights
cruise controls works intermittently
engine insulation is falling down
This plus tires plus engine light plus airbag light? $24K sounds like too much for a car with a big and expensive squawk list. I would definitely try to get the seller to pay for the defective tires and the cost for fixing the problems behind the warning lights.
....the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center....
Watch out on oil level. I don't know why, but the normal position for the oil level gage is in the red zone. Fully warmed up at at idle, the gage will move to to the middle range, but at speed the level drops to the red area. Keeping the level at mid gage is overfull, and you will have problems.
After putting on the spare inflatable ....
Average mpg=24.33
The CEL comes on and I can extinguish it using the switch. Sometimes it comes back on but if I hit the switch again it stays off.
What did your PPI say about the the CEL? There should be stored fault codes identifying the problem.
The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling.....
You will need a KTS 300 to reset the airbag codes. This can be the clock, but the connectors at the crash sensors seem to be the problem in most cases. The fault code will tell you what caused the lights to come on.
a cracked foglight lens
the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded
the whale tail has some stress cracks
one tweeter needs resecured
dash has a little wave action going on
hi-intensity washers don't hit the headlights
cruise controls works intermittently
engine insulation is falling down
....the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center....
06-18-2004, 12:20 PM
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Hey Craig,
Welcome aboard! I can take a crack at some of your questions.
>The sad part is that after parting with $24K for the car I had to drop another $700 for new rubber. I went with four new Bridgestone RE950's. The other three Kumho Ecatza's (KH-11's) were fine, but I didn't trust them, so pitched three tires with virtually no miles on them. Oh well. Ayway the car is a fun drive (and drive fast!).
Short of buying another matching Kuhmo, you did the right thing by buying new tires. Our cars handle strange when mixing different model tires. All four need to be the same make and model.
>Is the targa top always so noisy (above 80 mph)? I think it's a seal, but I figure I'd ask some other owners. I know that the seals were replaced because the car has a ton of paperwork starting from the PDI in 10/1991. The top itself was refurbed in 2002.
If the refurb was poorly done, you'll never make it quiet. The vinyl has to be pulled tight, or it will resonate. Assuming that you have a good refurb, there are a few things you can check:
-There are clips on the front and back edge of the top that hold the vinyl to the frame (while the top as a unit is held down with the locks operated by the handle, left & right). These clips interface with matching metal tabs on the frame. If the tabs aren't in the clips (there is some adjustment of the screws holding the clips, not much), the vinyl is free to flap about. With the top installed, you can shine a flashlight into the crevice, and make sure all four leading edge clips have a good bite on the their tabs.
-I recently had my top refurbished. After getting it back, it was much noisier than before. Even though the guy who did it had done them in the past, and was well aware of the need to (for example) make sure the new vinyl is tight. I wound up experimenting with window insulation of various thickness that I bought from Home Depot, that I attached to the top itself (across the front edge), so the insulation is contacting the seals at the top of the windshield (body or the car). Wonderful, my top is now so quiet. I found that insulation that was too thin didn't really do anything. Insulation that was too thick made it too hard to clamp the top down, and/or caused the clips mentioned above to lose their bite.
-There are also some shops that specialize in Targa tops, including finding sources of wind noise. Not sure if there are any near where you live.
>In the clock, I have three lights: seat belt warning, airbag warning, and the rear spoiler warning. A PO (there were two) replaced the spoiler with a whale tail. I know I saw a jumper solution for the spoiler somewhere in my surfing.
Yup, there's a DIY on P-car.com, plus a recent thread on the this subject. I think you can find it with a search. Or, check my semi-recent posts--I contributed to the thread.
>The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling as I had my seatbelt on. Once again, I know I read somewhere that this may be a problem in the clock. In fact it was replaced at Don McGill in Houston under warranty for the same problem.
Yup, there's a problem with the clock circuit board that can cause this problem. The system is designed so the seatbelt light is also lit when there is a fault detected in the airbag system. You could have another faulty clock (seems unlikely), a real system fault, or the P.O. may have simply turned on the ignition with the clock removed (e.g., to install custom gauge faces). This causes the diagnostic test to fail, and the only way to clear the error is with the "Hammer." No matter how you cut it, you're going to need professional help on this one.
>the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded,
Yup, I've had all my replaced. You can get the rear tail-lights for a little over $130, the center reflector for about $180, from discount Porsche parts dealers.
>one tweeter needs resecured,
This is probably your crossover. You can confirm this by swapping the left & right tweeters. My passenger side failed. When I got it out, the coil inside was bouncing about inside the box. Pretty cheap stuff.
>and the engine insulation is falling down.
I used some galvanized wire to prop mine up until the engine is dropped next. Looks respectable.
>After starting the car the oil temp takes a few minutes to move and the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center. It may be down a quart since I drove close to 900 mile on the way back to St. Louis. Is this normal?
You won't get a proper reading on the oil guage until the engine is at normal operating temperature. You should read your owner's manual section on how to check the oil, very informative.
Enjoy!
Welcome aboard! I can take a crack at some of your questions.
>The sad part is that after parting with $24K for the car I had to drop another $700 for new rubber. I went with four new Bridgestone RE950's. The other three Kumho Ecatza's (KH-11's) were fine, but I didn't trust them, so pitched three tires with virtually no miles on them. Oh well. Ayway the car is a fun drive (and drive fast!).
Short of buying another matching Kuhmo, you did the right thing by buying new tires. Our cars handle strange when mixing different model tires. All four need to be the same make and model.
>Is the targa top always so noisy (above 80 mph)? I think it's a seal, but I figure I'd ask some other owners. I know that the seals were replaced because the car has a ton of paperwork starting from the PDI in 10/1991. The top itself was refurbed in 2002.
If the refurb was poorly done, you'll never make it quiet. The vinyl has to be pulled tight, or it will resonate. Assuming that you have a good refurb, there are a few things you can check:
-There are clips on the front and back edge of the top that hold the vinyl to the frame (while the top as a unit is held down with the locks operated by the handle, left & right). These clips interface with matching metal tabs on the frame. If the tabs aren't in the clips (there is some adjustment of the screws holding the clips, not much), the vinyl is free to flap about. With the top installed, you can shine a flashlight into the crevice, and make sure all four leading edge clips have a good bite on the their tabs.
-I recently had my top refurbished. After getting it back, it was much noisier than before. Even though the guy who did it had done them in the past, and was well aware of the need to (for example) make sure the new vinyl is tight. I wound up experimenting with window insulation of various thickness that I bought from Home Depot, that I attached to the top itself (across the front edge), so the insulation is contacting the seals at the top of the windshield (body or the car). Wonderful, my top is now so quiet. I found that insulation that was too thin didn't really do anything. Insulation that was too thick made it too hard to clamp the top down, and/or caused the clips mentioned above to lose their bite.
-There are also some shops that specialize in Targa tops, including finding sources of wind noise. Not sure if there are any near where you live.
>In the clock, I have three lights: seat belt warning, airbag warning, and the rear spoiler warning. A PO (there were two) replaced the spoiler with a whale tail. I know I saw a jumper solution for the spoiler somewhere in my surfing.
Yup, there's a DIY on P-car.com, plus a recent thread on the this subject. I think you can find it with a search. Or, check my semi-recent posts--I contributed to the thread.
>The airbag and seatbelt lights are puzzling as I had my seatbelt on. Once again, I know I read somewhere that this may be a problem in the clock. In fact it was replaced at Don McGill in Houston under warranty for the same problem.
Yup, there's a problem with the clock circuit board that can cause this problem. The system is designed so the seatbelt light is also lit when there is a fault detected in the airbag system. You could have another faulty clock (seems unlikely), a real system fault, or the P.O. may have simply turned on the ignition with the clock removed (e.g., to install custom gauge faces). This causes the diagnostic test to fail, and the only way to clear the error is with the "Hammer." No matter how you cut it, you're going to need professional help on this one.
>the rear lens and Porsche reflector are faded,
Yup, I've had all my replaced. You can get the rear tail-lights for a little over $130, the center reflector for about $180, from discount Porsche parts dealers.
>one tweeter needs resecured,
This is probably your crossover. You can confirm this by swapping the left & right tweeters. My passenger side failed. When I got it out, the coil inside was bouncing about inside the box. Pretty cheap stuff.
>and the engine insulation is falling down.
I used some galvanized wire to prop mine up until the engine is dropped next. Looks respectable.
>After starting the car the oil temp takes a few minutes to move and the oil level guage takes a minute to start moving up to the center. It may be down a quart since I drove close to 900 mile on the way back to St. Louis. Is this normal?
You won't get a proper reading on the oil guage until the engine is at normal operating temperature. You should read your owner's manual section on how to check the oil, very informative.
Enjoy!
