Bubbling gauges
Newbies Hospitality Director
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 18,084
Likes: 43
From: Winston-Salem, NC
I am guessing that the gauge faces are after market and applied over the stock faces. What is the red light on the cluster wall, between the 1 and 2? Radar detector indicator, maybe?
Poseur
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Santa Barbara, CA
IT looks like someone was inside your cluster. Am assuming you are not the first owner?
Perhaps an aftermarket device installer was asked to change the gauge face color to white and didn't do a stellar job aligning and flattening out the decal.
I've never seen anything like that on my Carrera S with the factory white gauge faces.
Perhaps an aftermarket device installer was asked to change the gauge face color to white and didn't do a stellar job aligning and flattening out the decal.
I've never seen anything like that on my Carrera S with the factory white gauge faces.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: SE PA
No, not the first owner, but it is a genuine Carrera S which came with white gauge faces, I think. Can someone out there confirm that a 2005 997.1S comes standard with white (not silver) gauge faces? At one point, I bought a replacement cluster on eBay from a 2006 Carrera S. Gauge faces were actually silver, not white (I returned the cluster because it had some dead pixels). If its as simple as peeling off some aftermarket overlay to reveal the stock gauge face, then that's an option, I guess.
And yes, the red light is the radar detector indicator, so cluster has been modified at least once.
And yes, the red light is the radar detector indicator, so cluster has been modified at least once.
Race Car
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,515
Likes: 164
From: Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Looks like the decal wasn't squeegeed well during application so the air bubble will expand with heat.
You don't necessarily have to replace them.
Although it involves removal, you may just have to "*****" with a pin and squeeze out the air.
Worth a try and cheaper than replacing the faces.
You don't necessarily have to replace them.
Although it involves removal, you may just have to "*****" with a pin and squeeze out the air.
Worth a try and cheaper than replacing the faces.
Pro
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 670
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio, TX
Silver was standard on the S I believe, although I am not sure on the 2005 as it was the first year of the 997 and they did a few things differently on 05s.
I had white faces, the vehicle came with them, option XFJ - Instrument dials in Carrera White. Mine definitely did not have a protective coating/film on them and no stickers/decals/overlays were used, but the digits and marks became blurred and looked like crap.
Anyone else have white faces, or are they all silver and as 997_rich suggests, mine just has the factory film still applied?
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,616
Likes: 74
From: North Carolina
The standard gauge faces were silver. White was an option, but you had to pay for it. Looks like someone went the cheap route and just applied a decal to the OEM silver gauges.
Instructor
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 147
Likes: 0
From: Cypress Texas
I have a similar issue, I wanted to buy a used cluster online and install it maybe a red or yellow, and the dealer told me they could NOT do it. That the cluster is married to the ECM. I found that strange...
The only want me to buy new. Imagine that!
The only want me to buy new. Imagine that!
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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: SE PA
PhilD, your letters and numbers look exactly like mine: blurred and/or displaced. Also, looks like you have a small bubble by the 100 (90 mph hash mark) on the speedo. What year was your car? Makes me think that this is how the Porsche factory offered white gauges, and is not the result of a poor aftermarket installation. Amazing what little attention (i.e., they cheaped out) Porsche paid to "cosmetics" like speedometers and sound systems, even in a car that stickers for almost $100k. I too have been looking for a replacement cluster on eBay but just haven't found one yet. There's one out there now, but the speedo is in kph. Frankly I never look at the analog speedo and rely solely on the digital readout which I understand is selectable between mph and kph. Maybe I'll opt for the Euro look . . .
Pro
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 670
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio, TX
What year was your car?
Makes me think that this is how the Porsche factory offered white gauges, and is not the result of a poor aftermarket installation.
I too have been looking for a replacement cluster on eBay but just haven't found one yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-911-...dd9bc6&vxp=mtr
Pro
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 670
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio, TX
Just had a quick search on ebay and found this black cluster;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-Carrera-9...390368&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-Carrera-9...390368&vxp=mtr
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: SE PA
Yep, any number of faces out there ranging in price from $139 to almost $800. Installation is the trick, although FVD advertises installation for $300 (http://www.fvd.us/us/en/Porsche-0/99...uge_Faces.html). Anyone out there know anything about these gauge faces: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-997-...1912646&rt=nc? Seem like a bargain (compared to almost $800 from FVD), and that makes me wonder.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,616
Likes: 74
From: North Carolina
PhilD, your letters and numbers look exactly like mine: blurred and/or displaced. Also, looks like you have a small bubble by the 100 (90 mph hash mark) on the speedo. What year was your car? Makes me think that this is how the Porsche factory offered white gauges, and is not the result of a poor aftermarket installation.
If that was the way Porsche had the gauges built, why wouldn't they just put a decal on a "blank" gauge, to give whatever color they wanted?
Last edited by GSIRM3; May 15, 2014 at 01:38 PM.
Race Car
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 4,072
Likes: 692
From: Austin, TX
That was show I discovered my car had Silver gauge faces rather than the white I had assumed they were.