Nathan J.

I had the odometer go out on my car, and after removing the cluster noticed that the Porsche part number on the frame for my cluster was different than the one show in PET. These part numbers are:

My cluster = 944.641.311.04
Cluster in PET = 944.641.941.01

I am curious whether anyone else has had a similar experience in their car?

Jfrahm

I happen to have my early 92 cluster on the bench doing the odometer gear, etc. It's part number ends in 311.64

BTW I am trying a Volvo 850 gear since the 968 gear was going to come from overseas and the Volvo gear appears to be the same. Details to follow when it shows up.

-Joel.

Nathan J.

Joel,

Thanks for the feedback, it makes me feel better that there is not something fishy going on here from the PO.

I took my cluster to Palo Alto Speedometer to get it repaired, as they are local and I can just drive there . During the process they replaced the odometer carrier gear, which was $35 for this part alone. The bright side is they fixed it in one day.

Nathan

Jfrahm

Cool, I was hoping to have the car back together today but maybe tomorrow, and the Volvo gear was around $10. There is another gear that carries this little one they say I should replace but that seems unnecessary.

I was amazed at how well the light tunnels are holding up in this cluster, maybe that coating got improved. I am also replacing some bulbs while the cluster is out, staying stock.

Nathan J.

Joel,

One thing that Palo Alto Speedometer mentioned to me was that the odometer gear itself was replaced previously, so maybe both the gear and the gear carrier are subject to failure over time. I just mention this in case you want to make a value judgement of "while you are in there", and potentially eliminate a future replay of a broken odometer.

I ended up using aluminum HVAC tape to "re-silver" the light pipes on my dashboard, and it made a noticeable improvement in the brightness of the illumination. I now can dial the rheostat back a bit from full on, to get my preferred level of illumination. This was not the way it was before, when full on was still a little bit dim to me. I suspect that the HVAC tape was not the best solution to getting a mirror finish on the outside of the light pipes, but it worked will enough, and I suspect it will last a long time, at least long enough that I never have to worry about it again.

Nathan

Jfrahm

Yes I thought about the carrier but really it looks pretty robust. The lentil-sized 15 tooth gear on mine had lost one tooth and that was it. I am still waiting on my gear, some issue with the first ebay seller but I should have the gear for $9 from another seller today or tomorrow. i plan to calibrate the fuel and voltage gauges also.

I am replacing the wedge bulbs and a couple other bulbs, to my surprise the light tunnels are in amazing shape but I will put aluminum tape on them anyway to maintain and protect them.

Thanks for the advice,
-Joel.

Nathan J.

Joel,

I replaced the three bulbs that feed the light pipes a while ago LED bulbs from Superbrightleds.com, and this made a big difference in the amount of light getting to the dash. More light, less power and less heat seemed like a slam dunk to me. I can find the part numbers if you are interested?

BTW, I made the big mistake to apply power to the dash before hooking up the airbag (to test out the fix on the light pipes), and now I am in warning light purgatory. I highly recommend you not do go down this road, as I have tried everything I can think to fix it, but no fix in sight

Nathan

Jfrahm

I wasn't interested in LEDs, I like to be able to dim the panel with relatively fine grained control and I have been happy with the wedge bulbs over the many years and many 944-series cars I've owned.

If there were good dimmable options for the wedge bulbs (I use 194's) and I felt like upgrading the other bulbs in the climate control, etc. to match I might go for it, but I am OK with the stock presentation if working properly.

The airbag light is a problem, I have a homebrew cable but hopefully I will not need it. Thanks for the reminder.

Nathan J.

Joel,

I am very curious about your homebrew cable for resetting the airbag light. Is this the one that is described on Clark's Garage, or some other configuration? I am at a point where I will take any glimmer of hope for a solution that has worked for someone [up to and including witchcraft if that is what it takes ]

Thanks

Nathan

Jfrahm

I kinda don't recall, I bought a cable for OBDII and an adapter to the round OBD connector and as per some thread or another had to cut it apart and rewire it. It's been forever since I messed with it.

I see there is another option now:
https://www.bergvillfx.com/index.php...he-19-pin.html