MY 84 CARRERA What Do I Have?

[THECARREAPER]

hello, i now have a 1984 Carrera that was sold new in Germany. i am putting this in the "TECH 911 " area for a reason, so please bear with me. the car is euro with the trans cooler, USA spec headlights, and taillights. i have the following questions:

1) my car has an o2 sensor. it had a cat on it and now has a bypass pipe with the 02 sensor hooked up. the wire is broken to the sensor, and when the car warms up, the idle goes up and down between 800 and 1200 in a cyclic manner. friend says its the computer sensing the car is warmed up and its trying to set the mixture with the lack of 02 sensor signal. if the car was sold as a euro with no cat, why would the computer know to look for the signal? i am going to fix the wire and then replace the sensor, but the car did not do this until a few days ago, and now the wire is broken.... thoughts?

2) my car is said to be a special order, special wishes car. what the heck does that mean exactly , and how do i know? the Moss Green and the green dark green / black interior are special order. i have the complete tool kit, the manuals( in German with the dealer / service stamps) and the English manual. the car has a emergency triangle in the box and a complete, unopened medical kit in a plastic "PORSCHE" bag. are these items correct for a Euro car? do they help with resale? why the heck is there a huge medical kit!!!


3) next: i am of course posting pics, who is the guy whose name is on the metal plaque?
the car has DOT EPA placcards on it, a added VIN to the left side of the windshield, and i have a clear title. anything special about this car???? i did get it cheap!!!

4) any help on the 02 issue would be great. the idle is erratic when its warm, and i dont think its DME or head temp sensor related. i am just wondering why a German spec Carrera would have the ECU looking for a 02 signal, unless the car was ordered that way for the tax credit.

[THECARREAPER]

more pics

[unclenick]

I also have an 84 RoW Carrera, the decal under the hood is on mine but my epa/dot plate is very different from yours. I am guessing they vary from importer to importer. I also have the VIN glued to the drivers windshield pillar.

I am very curious to find out that is a "special wish car"

I love the color of your car, very nice

[stormmaster]

sounds like a federalized grey market car...special wishes means the color and/or interior were special request...as far as the 02 in concerned...not sure...but I would imagine during the federalization process in order to meet federal emission laws a US computer had to be installed thus causing it to search for the sensor.

[rrpjr]

The name on the DOT/EPA tag, as indicated, is the private importer who took responsibility for federalization. I have a similar tag. I'm guessing they vary state to state as to style and placement.

Your color code is Moss Green Metallic. There were only five standard colors in 1984. "Special wishes car"? I don't know, but I would think all Porsches are.

Lovely color, and also the matching Fuchs.

[stlrj]

when the car warms up, the idle goes up and down between 800 and 1200 in a cyclic manner.

That's an easy fix. Just lower your idle speed at your throttle valve.

The 02 sensor has no effect when cold and can take up to 3 mins. or more to heat up.

Cheers,

Joe

[THECARREAPER]

Originally posted by stormmaster
sounds like a federalized grey market car...special wishes means the color and/or interior were special request...as far as the 02 in concerned...not sure...but I would imagine during the federalization process in order to meet federal emission laws a US computer had to be installed thus causing it to search for the sensor.

i didnt think about the computer bieng changed too ! great point. thank you !

[THECARREAPER]

Originally posted by stlrj
That's an easy fix. Just lower your idle speed at your throttle valve.

The 02 sensor has no effect when cold and can take up to 3 mins. or more to heat up.

Cheers,

Joe

Joe, thank you for the reply, and while i agree with your logic, i have had the car for several weeks and it has driven flawlessly until sunday. i finally had time to poke around and i found the wire broken. i think it would be unwise to mess with any mechanical setting that was fine until a few days ago. the idle goes up and down and in a rapid on / off motion . like the computer is doing it. Pelican parts shows a "02 SENSOR RELAY" but i have yet to find one on my car.

i am going to fix the wire and use the part number on the sensor itself to get another one. its a one wire sensor, should be a pretty common part.
compared to old Lamborghini parts prices and tight spaces, these P cars are cheap and a pleasure to work on!

as far as the car bieng "special" i think its just a green 911 that found me.... its better than the ugly purple 911sc i posted about , along time ago on here !

Michael

[THECARREAPER]

by the way... i really REALLY dislike the headlights.... i am saving pennies for a set of H4's. shame there arent any used ones!!!

[jpahemi]

Go for H1's. Maybe change the Turbo tail for a Carrera one.
j.p.

[LeeH]

I thought Special Wishes had it's own option code. Here's how your options decode:

Code Option Description
261 Passenger side mirror - electric - plain
441 Fader, antenna booster, 4 speakers
441 Radio speakers and antenna amplifier
468 Graduated tint windshield, green side glass
474 Sport shock absorbers (Bilsteins)
533 Alarm system
559 Air conditioner (with front & rear condenser)
650 Sunroof

[ThePointman]

Try cleaning your idle control valve with a little wd40 or whatever is close to that it you still have the problem it is the ICV or a vacuum leak. Most likely the ICV give us more info on when it runs for a bit or is warm.

[stlrj]

i think it would be unwise to mess with any mechanical setting that was fine until a few days ago

True, however, you would be able to compensate for a vacuum leak that must have just happened a few days ago and eliminate the fast idle hunt right now with a simple turn of a screw.

Meanwhile, you could always take your time to hunt down that vacuum leak.

Joe

[84porsche]

Originally posted by THECARREAPER
by the way... i really REALLY dislike the headlights.... i am saving pennies for a set of H4's. shame there arent any used ones!!!

Why? I'm kinda of partial to mine. They have grown on me and now compared with many other cars the old school lights make your car more nostalgic.

[THECARREAPER]

Originally posted by LeeH
I thought Special Wishes had it's own option code. Here's how your options decode:

Code Option Description
261 Passenger side mirror - electric - plain
441 Fader, antenna booster, 4 speakers
441 Radio speakers and antenna amplifier
468 Graduated tint windshield, green side glass
474 Sport shock absorbers (Bilsteins)
533 Alarm system
559 Air conditioner (with front & rear condenser)
650 Sunroof

me too! i have searched, but i cannot find any definate answer. seems the color coding is a bit odd for it to be a standard color scheme. car has never been painted.

[THECARREAPER]

Originally posted by stlrj
True, however, you would be able to compensate for a vacuum leak that must have just happened a few days ago and eliminate the fast idle hunt right now with a simple turn of a screw.

Meanwhile, you could always take your time to hunt down that vacuum leak.

Joe

i agree. i should have added that i had the whole top of the engine off and replaced all the intake gaskets, rubber hoses and vaccum lines. car only "hunts" at idle when warmed up to the first oil temp mark. idle air valve may be the culprit, going to fix the 02 line today and drive it. i had several small intake leaks before, now the top end seems very tight as there are no changes when sprayed with intake cleaner around the various seals. car drove fine on reassembly until it warmed up. then i noticed the 02 wire was broken.

perhaps its something i did while i was in there !!!

thank you for all the replies.

[THECARREAPER]

added.... idle changes from 800 to 1500 every 2.5 seconds in a pattern, up down , up down. this is very rapid. got to be one of the sensors !

[stlrj]

got to be one of the sensors !

There is no sensor that would cause that, only a vacuum leak or a base idle set too high.

Been down that road too many times on my 86 3.2. I can recreate that same senario every time by adjusting my idle up too high.

Cheers,

Joe

[THECARREAPER]

Originally posted by stlrj
There is no sensor that would cause that, only a vacuum leak or a base idle set too high.

Been down that road too many times on my 86 3.2. I can recreate that same senario every time by adjusting my idle up too high.

Cheers,

Joe

thank you Joe, when i have time to drive the car again i will see what i can accomplish with the idle setting. perhaps the car had the vaccum leaks for some time. now that they are fixed (?) the idle is hunting for a happy spot!

[LeeH]

I had a hunting idle on my '84. Turned out to be the throttle microswitch.

It's very easy to test. This thread has info:
'84 3.2 eratic idle