Refurbished my climate control unit (CCU) with a pristine air conditioner switch and new clear CCU mounting cover. Also tested all of my climate control motors that control the baffles in the dash, the potentiometers, sensors, and solenoids.


Refurbished CCU with new clear mounting cover.

 

Since my daughter was off from school on Monday, we took a drive from the LA area to Montecito via Ojai and the backroads for brunch



And on the way back, the 968 passed 96,800 miles

 

Good some good news and some bad news from my mechanic. Good news first:

They're doing the timing belt, water pump, and a valve gasket replacement. When they got in there, they said they normally have issues with getting the valve covers off and getting them realigned. Zero issues with mine. They also said it was immaculate on the top end, basically looked brand new. So kudos to @RajDatta from when he did it when he owned it. Said the belt wasn't showing signs of wear, only age so probably didn't need to be done right now but I feel better about it.

Bad news: The flywheel lock broke. Seems odd but ok. They ordered another, but it'll be another few days to get the car back. I also had them look at my AC issues. Turns out my compressor wasn't bolted to the car, just held on by the belts and pulleys so it's warped. So they got on a replacement ordered. I dont know how that is missed any of the times mechanics have been in there. That was probably the vibration I was feeling sometimes when I was driving. Won't know for sure until I get the car back.

Ultimately, it'll be nice to not have to worry about this. My kids are excited to go for rides again, so that'll be fun.

 

Got the car back today. It sounds a little different, as it has a little bit of a "whistle." Maybe this is all of the new belts, rollers, etc needing to "wear in" together and the fact my AC compressor is mounted properly. Runs great but I've never heard anything like that before.

The new struts are amazing. Fresh oil change and the AC blows cold, so I'm happy. My wallet is not but that's the price we pay.

 

I would call my new belt noise a whine not a whistle. Also, they need to be retensioned after X number of miles. Hopefully somebody knows what X=?

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

 

Yeah, I think whine is more appropriate thinking about it now. I called them today because the belts were slipping a lot. Florida doesn't get that cold and I drove the car about 45 mins and they were still slipping when I would change gears occasionally.

I'm going to monitor for a few days and if it keeps slipping, they'll replace the belts.

 

I know on 944's, belts should be retensioned after 2K miles. However, I don't believe that applies to the 968 since they have the hydraulic tensioner.

 

You still need to retension the balance shaft belt.

 

What do you mean by "slipping?" Are you talking about the power steering and/or AC belt making noise? The cam and balance belts can't slip.

 

Well I noticed last night when I would turn on the A/C, the whine would go away. But only for a short period of time. It's definitely not the cam and balance belts but probably the accessory belt. I had a new compressor installed because mine was only bolted to the car with a single bolt and was held in place by the accessory belt. The compressor itself was warped from being torqued. So I'm guessing it's that. I'll drive it again this weekend and if it's still doing it, it's going back to the shop for them to take another look. It was not making this much noise when I took it in.

 

Willing to bet the "Vibration" you had been feeling was that the balance shaft belt had jumped out of time/proper alignment. (very common) The other thing thats common is when that balance shaft belt is out of alignment the vibration makes bolts fall out especially at the compressor. Have seen all the bolts out on cars that had their balance shafts out of alignment.