Anyone else still discovering stuff on their car?

[garment]

I've had my '82SC Targa since 2012, it's been a blast, and always thrilling for me to learn new things about it. Which I did today...

I'm chasing an electrical issue on my car, and reading my Bentley diagrams today I see a reference to an "Ashtray Light". Hmm, my ashtray never lit up...

I go out to my car, pull the ashtray out of the dash, and son of a gun, there's a rubber-lined hole in the top of the void left in the dash by the now-removed ashtray. I reach under the dash and son of a gun, there's wires leading to the holes. I pull that out and there's a bullet shaped bulb in a socket, same as the ones that illuminate the gauges. This one looked burnt out, I had spares from when I replaced the dash gauges 9 years ago (from eSully for those who know), popped one in, turned on the lights, and what do you know, I've got an ashtray light!



Wondering if anyone else has a similar story?

Thanks, Pelicans!

[echecsqueen]

There is also a light above the glove box that I didn’t know about for years . Hidden unless you are laying on the floor looking up at the box.


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[Anjizkit]

Engine light for me. I read some where the engine light does not work. And I was like! The engine has a light? I went and checked and there it was

[Anjizkit]

Oh one more. I had the ignition on. And the door open while I was working on swapping out the stereo and I heard a strange buzzing noise as if some relay was messed up. When I drove the car the low pitch buzz went away but a couple of days ago I did the same thing. Car in ignition me in passenger seat and there it was again.

Later I was reading the manual and they said that the car warns if the key is in the ignition and you are exiting the car. I went out and checked expecting some ding ( wish I was sure it was not working for decades and one more thing to fix) and behold. The buzzer.

My millennial a$$ had forgotten how 80s didn’t have an electronic beeper for every thing and the beepers then were relays. And relays buzzed. 😂😂😂

[fanaudical]

I had mine all apart years ago and thought I found all there is to find. Now I find I'm remembering stuff that I had forgotten when I go back to do maintenance...

[smadsen]

Of course you all know the light above the glove box is a three way. ON, OFF, or only ON when the door is open. Great little factoid to re-remember when you're chasing a parasitic battery drain at hi-noon.

[stownsen914]

I discovered a pot pipe under the passenger seat in my first Porsche, a 914. Maybe a year or two after I bought it.

[PeteKz]

Originally Posted by smadsen

Of course you all know the light above the glove box is a three way. ON, OFF, or only ON when the door is open. Great little factoid to re-remember when you're chasing a parasitic battery drain at hi-noon.

That's also a good reason to replace all the courtesy lights (and engine bay light for those who have one) with LEDs. I replaced all mine with LEDs, and I left the frunk hood open for two weeks, and forgot the frunk light was on, but the battery still had plenty of charge in it to start the car.

And I'm with Fanaudical on forgetting stuff that I used to know about the car...

[Matt Monson]

Only thing I ever discovered in one of mine was an old Kennedy half dollar.

[angelny911]

1977 targa chasing wiring of all the ad on thru the 80’s cell,phone three different kill switches ,including a Clifford number keypad ,amps ,goose neck equalizer,another red key terminal battery shut off ,and the boy genius who seemed to only owe a rolll of green wire ,,,,LoL

[GH85Carrera]

One of the things most 911 owners never knew is the outside rear view mirrors have heaters to defrost the mirrors in gold weather. Really!

I think they were standard on Carrera models. Just pull the rear window defroster to activate the rear window defogger, the twist the knob to turn the mirror heat on. I have had my 911 for 27 years, and have used the rear view mirror heaters only twice. The fist time was in northern Vermont, when it was just at below freezing and the car was covered in frost in July.

[Otter74]

Like others, I had my car for about five years before I realized there was a light just above the glove box. I just happened to have my head down in the passenger footwell for some reason and looked up.

I had no idea any 911s had heated mirrors.

[berndtj]

I discovered the intermittent wipers like a month ago. I guess I just assumed it would be on the stalk.

I’m still figuring out the HVAC system

[airkewldfan]

One of the things most 911 owners never knew is the outside rear view mirrors have heaters to defrost the mirrors in gold weather. Really!

I think they were standard on Carrera models. Just pull the rear window defroster to activate the rear window defogger, the twist the knob to turn the mirror heat on. I have had my 911 for 27 years, and have used the rear view mirror heaters only twice. The fist time was in northern Vermont, when it was just at below freezing and the car was covered in frost in July.
__________________

Love this thread! I had no idea my car had heated mirrors.. hit the switch and sure enough they work great! Thank you!

[jrwilson]

Originally Posted by berndtj

I’m still figuring out the HVAC system

I found the key to understanding it is knowing there's no heat controls in the dash! All the heat is controlled from the seat levers. All the dash does is control where air goes and how fast.

[Otter74]

I have a Fiat Spider that I’ve had since 1990, and the ventilation controls perpetually baffled me. Then I bought my 911 in 2015 and the day I picked it up, the seller explained the ventilation controls to me. I understood it immediately. Then I realized that my Fiat’s controls worked basically the same way. What took me so long?!?

[Anjizkit]

Someone needs to explain the ventilation / heating/ cooling / defrosting system to me.. i am trying to still figure it out

[TxGerman]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of the things most 911 owners never knew is the outside rear view mirrors have heaters to defrost the mirrors in gold weather. Really!

I think they were standard on Carrera models. Just pull the rear window defroster to activate the rear window defogger, the twist the knob to turn the mirror heat on. I have had my 911 for 27 years, and have used the rear view mirror heaters only twice. The fist time was in northern Vermont, when it was just at below freezing and the car was covered in frost in July.

This^^

I had no idea.

Great tip! Thank you for sharing, that gets a gold star!!

[garment]

Lol, I think I have another electrical issue to chase now. I turned on my lights, pulled the defrost knob, turned the defrost knob to the right…and my gauge lights went out. Assume this is NOT normal behavior…😂

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of the things most 911 owners never knew is the outside rear view mirrors have heaters to defrost the mirrors in gold weather. Really!

I think they were standard on Carrera models. Just pull the rear window defroster to activate the rear window defogger, the twist the knob to turn the mirror heat on. I have had my 911 for 27 years, and have used the rear view mirror heaters only twice. The fist time was in northern Vermont, when it was just at below freezing and the car was covered in frost in July.

[David Inc.]

That my car had the alarm system. This was fun to discover at the end of a full respray and engine rebuild when I was finally ready to start the car and the horn started blaring like CRAZY. I had to learn the whole system from scratch only to find out that the body shop forgot to reconnect the door to alarm wire that was tucked behind the dash. Almost impossible to find without knowing where it would be.

Guys the alarm is so loud. I can't stress how loud it is compared to the normal horn. So loud.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of the things most 911 owners never knew is the outside rear view mirrors have heaters to defrost the mirrors in gold weather. Really!

I think they were standard on Carrera models. Just pull the rear window defroster to activate the rear window defogger, the twist the knob to turn the mirror heat on. I have had my 911 for 27 years, and have used the rear view mirror heaters only twice. The fist time was in northern Vermont, when it was just at below freezing and the car was covered in frost in July.

That's how you do it??! Now I'm worried. I pulled my mirrors apart for said build and noticed the mirror heat lines were disconnected. I thought everything was cool with them because I turned on the defrost and nothing exploded, but now I don't know....