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Hi everyone, I'm new to the 968 and recently acquired a black/tan '96 6-speed coupe with 64k miles. What a joy to drive!
I've put about 300 miles on her in the last week and here is a running list of fun things I've discovered:
parasitic battery drain: I was left stranded on day 3 and had to get a jump...what fun. Using a battery charger I would get a full charge overnight, only to see it drain by the end of the day after disconnecting it. I'm taking it to the shop on Tuesday for them to hunt it down, but...
in looking through the old service records they fixed a faulty hood light that was causing a drain some years ago.
the hood emblem is always VERY hot to the touch, and given it's proximity to the hood latch and the light, I'm wondering if the light mechanism were faulty again, would this account for the hood emblem being burning hot if it were drawing power?
I only noticed this after always disconnecting the charger and closing the hood by pressing on the emblem, that it is WAY hotter then the surrounding metal. At first it didn't register since I am in AZ and its 110 daily right now, but you can only touch it for about 2 seconds before getting very uncomfortable
thoughts on this?
rattles galore from the air vents above the AC controls...definitely after driving over bumps, but also when at idle. It's very distracting and takes away from the overall driving experience.
when I slightly slide up the defrost vent mechanism slightly (enough to feel resistance) it improves, but not all the way
anyone deal with this? is this just the price of admission with a 968?
sunroof leaks
probably very common...drain seems to be working
since the battery died, the Porsche 220 CD/radio won't work without a "code". The 4 digit radio code on the Porsche "credit card" that looks to have to come with the stereo won't unlock it.....can this be overridden?
No window tint, so the rear carpets in the hatch and on the back side of the rear seats are "crispy"
any sites sell only the rear portion of the carpet set only?
lots of other cosmetic things that the PPI failed to mention (some significant...very annoyed), and I'll chip away at those over once it cools off a bit
I never had a battery drain but it's very easy to isolate your under hood light, just unplug it. If the light is staying on it will generate alot of heat.
Im in Las Vegas so I understand the heat - I unhooked my hood light because I always open my hood once I put the car in the garage to let the heat escape with a fan blowing under the car.
Yes, a little bit obsessive - but it will help preserve the rubber and plastics.
Thanks Storm...I confirmed this morning its the hood light. Hood emblem, light unit,bulb, etc were hot as could be this morning. The light unit disintegrated when I pulled the prongs off the light, so the plastics have definitely been taking a beating from this thing being on. Makes me wonder, after I get the drain addressed, is there an LED option that won't produce as much heat?
I've pondered something similar to you regarding putting a fan on the engine after a ride when its this hot outside. The cooling fan runs on avg. for 10 minutes after I park the car, and I initially thought this was what was stressing out the battery.
Hi everyone, I'm new to the 968 and recently acquired a black/tan '96 6-speed coupe with 64k miles. What a joy to drive!
I've put about 300 miles on her in the last week and here is a running list of fun things I've discovered:
parasitic battery drain: I was left stranded on day 3 and had to get a jump...what fun. Using a battery charger I would get a full charge overnight, only to see it drain by the end of the day after disconnecting it. I'm taking it to the shop on Tuesday for them to hunt it down, but...
in looking through the old service records they fixed a faulty hood light that was causing a drain some years ago.
the hood emblem is always VERY hot to the touch, and given it's proximity to the hood latch and the light, I'm wondering if the light mechanism were faulty again, would this account for the hood emblem being burning hot if it were drawing power?
I only noticed this after always disconnecting the charger and closing the hood by pressing on the emblem, that it is WAY hotter then the surrounding metal. At first it didn't register since I am in AZ and its 110 daily right now, but you can only touch it for about 2 seconds before getting very uncomfortable
thoughts on this?
rattles galore from the air vents above the AC controls...definitely after driving over bumps, but also when at idle. It's very distracting and takes away from the overall driving experience.
when I slightly slide up the defrost vent mechanism slightly (enough to feel resistance) it improves, but not all the way
anyone deal with this? is this just the price of admission with a 968?
sunroof leaks
probably very common...drain seems to be working
since the battery died, the Porsche 220 CD/radio won't work without a "code". The 4 digit radio code on the Porsche "credit card" that looks to have to come with the stereo won't unlock it.....can this be overridden?
No window tint, so the rear carpets in the hatch and on the back side of the rear seats are "crispy"
any sites sell only the rear portion of the carpet set only?
lots of other cosmetic things that the PPI failed to mention (some significant...very annoyed), and I'll chip away at those over once it cools off a bit
Thx for any ideas on tackling these items.
Ed
Ed, welcome to the world of 968's! I too had a parasitic drain, in my case it ended up being the passenger side hatch strut causing the issue. For the hood light, you may want to check the microswitch in the hood latch, if that is not working it will cause the hood light to be always on. Unless Porsche has started remanufacturing the carpet, I believe the hatch area carpet is NLA. On the sunroof, if the drains are clear, then unless I am mistaken, the only other items would be either the interior or exterior sunroof seals.
Understand how PPI's fail to mention lots of items that I consider significant. I have been chipping away at my punch list for over a year, a little bit at a time.
For the radio code join the renntech forum. There is a thread on radio codes. Loren the administrator will get it for you. Provide serial number and model number. That's how I got my CDR220 code.
Hook up a durametric, and you can see all the alarm point status. I believe they are left and right door, hood and trunk. If any of these are open, this will leave the light on for those appropriate places, it will also prevent the alarm from enabling correctly. The light if I recall will flash fast for a few seconds, then slow periodically. If it flashes fast, then every once in a while flashes rapidly again, one of the sensors is not working.
This can lead to drain. The switch on the hood is very very finicky. Also for a little secret tip, if you remove the drivers fog light, behind there is a bowden wire you can pull and release the hood. For those of us that have electric locks and broken or missing mechanical actuators, if the battery dies you cant get the hood open from inside the car...
One thing that was recommended to me when I first got my 968 was to have a spare fuel pump relay with you at all times. I just changed my for a solid state one.
Check all rubber hoses/lines. If it has any cracks replace all...
Hello Parkland,
Welcome to the forum and the community of 968 owners who love and care for these cars. No one addressed your dash rattles, so I'll say what little l know on that. My plastic in-dash vents do not rattle. There are good tutorials on Pelican and other places about replacing the infamous cracked dash and those explain how to remove the outer vents that make up the middle upper dash - in fact they come out early in the process so investigating won't be terrible. I think you'll find little brittle and broken plastics parts bouncing around. But I'm guessing, not betting! Have you looked into the rea service history and are you in good shape on the timing belt, water pump, etc?
How about a few pics of your '96!! BTW, it isn't actually a 1996 model year car is it? That would be a one of one - very rare!! Just joking about a typo! Anyway, share with us a few pictures and how you found the car. Where is it from? How did you find it? Why did you pick this one?
Good luck with ownership and again, welcome!
Ha! Yes definitely not a '96....its an early '92 with the recessed hood ornament. Thx for the info again everyone, and I'll investigate the rattles more once I get her back form the shop. Getting fluids and other odds and ends taken care of, including one of the Porsche Classic head units with the nav screen/Car Play (the one DIN version).
Sweet, even if it is black. Make sure you get a windshield sun reflector that fits just right.
Are the coco mats easy to clean? I thought all the dirt just fall through to the carpet underneath?
Love to get the Porsche Classic Radio! Are you redoing the speakers at the same time? Tell us how you like the unit please.
Great looking car! Between you and I, we've found 2 of the "188 A1 Black NA 968 coupes paired with a cashmere interior" across the entire North America production run. :-)
Assuming you're in North America (which I think you are given the the left-hand-drive and mph speedometer), head over to http://968register.org/ and register your car there - you'll get some good info on your car as it relates to the other 968s out there.
07-27-2020, 01:50 AM
New 968 owner: need advice with this repair list
