problem after problem after.....

tjrose12345 · 07-04-2005, 05:47 PM

Gotta love buying your first Porsche!!!
Took the guys word for it "absolutely no problems, no leaks etc. just needs paint" well, I'm chaulking this adventure up as a lesson learned (the hard way) He seemed to be very honest but obviously.........
Anyways, as the days go by and I keep finding problem after problem and keep spending and spending the latest problem I've found is when I turn on the headlights they come on.Great! The taillights and brakelights work. Great! Now, shut off the headlights and step on the brakes and the passenger side headlight turns on. Kind of dim, but it's still coming on.
Any ideas????
1979 911SC euro 3.0 with new paint!
T.J.

artplumber · 07-04-2005, 05:51 PM

Sometimes you have to even be careful about the quality of the PPI. I got one, and though the PPI was mechanically adequate, the rest of the car wasn't completely represented.

Any chance you can rescind the deal? Written evidence of fraud? You could take that to court.

poorsha · 07-04-2005, 05:53 PM

Check (and clean) all grounds.

tjrose12345 · 07-04-2005, 06:02 PM

Would love to have gotten my money back and started over with what I slightly know now.(learning the hard way) but that won't happen. First thing I did was get it painted and spent $3000. getting it certified so I can drive it. Also, I'm in Canada and drove 23hrs non-stop there and back to pick up the car in NH. So arguing over who is at fault is out of the question.
Will start checking all ground wires tomorrow.

Allenk · 07-04-2005, 06:12 PM

Start checking grounds as suggested. Also look for wires that have been over spayed as well as connections oversprayed.

mik · 07-04-2005, 07:20 PM

on my '78, i had a couple of little electrical gremlins like that. i opened up the steering column and cleaned all the contacts in the turn signal/wiper switches. that seemed to go pretty far.

in addition, i do not know what a) the weather has been like in hastings, ontario, or b) what kind of shape your windshield seal is in, but i had just enough moisture entering behind my dash (rainy fall and winter in seattle) to do some strange things. with a replacement w/s and seal, i was amazed how much better the electrical behaved.

Kevin Stewart · 07-04-2005, 08:38 PM

post his name

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

Check your fuses, clean connections at the fuse box. Clean your grounds at the rear harnesses then diagnose by disconnecting one bulb at a time. Pull one, hit the brakes and see if the problem goes away. If not, replace and move on to the next one. When you find your problem it'll go away when you disconnect.

I suspect you have a single filament bulb where a dual filament belongs

Good luck.

rjp

ianc · 07-04-2005, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Took the guys word for it "absolutely no problems, no leaks etc. just needs paint" well, I'm chaulking this adventure up as a lesson learned (the hard way) He seemed to be very honest but obviously.........

Tjrose,

I don't mean to be harsh, but this is an old car. Things can and do break regularly on old cars, and if all you have is a little electrical gremlin after your purchase, count yourself very lucky that you got a good deal.

You don't say how much you paid for the car, but if you have a strong motor, good trans, nice sheetmetal and you're still upset, you need to step back and think about what maintenance and repairs are going to be like in your ownership of it.

Things WILL continue to break and malfunction. That is just something you need to face up to when owning a car of this vintage. The car is extremely seductive, but if you can't do your own repairs, aren't willing to learn, or don't have money to pay someone else to do them for you, you're going to be disappointed in the long run I think... JMHO,

ianc

Eagledriver · 07-04-2005, 09:53 PM

This is a classic example of fixing a non-problem. If all the lights are working when you need them too why worry if one comes on dim when it's not supposed to? Just think of it as part of your cars personality.

-Andy

mik · 07-04-2005, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagledriver
This is a classic example of fixing a non-problem. If all the lights are working when you need them too why worry if one comes on dim when it's not supposed to? Just think of it as part of your cars personality.

-Andy

i am largely an optimist, but when my wipers activated when i flashed my high beams, i was skeptical that everything would be all right. i figured that if components on different fuse circuits were crossing over somehow, i could plan on something getting overloaded. and if it happened to be my fuel pump or headlights, depending on the timing, things could go south in a hurry. my .02 on chasing gremlins.

Dantilla · 07-04-2005, 10:07 PM

Did the former owner recently get married?

When a friend of mine got married, we hooked up the horn to the brake light switch on his 1966 Mustang convertable, so that while leaving on his honeymoon, the horn would go off every time he stepped on the brakes.

Gumba11 · 07-04-2005, 10:48 PM

Could be worse, My 77 930 had a 6K$ electrical fire 3 months after I purchased what the inspection report said was a perfect car. My point being, Dont lose hope. This is probably a simple ground issue. I dont blame the people that inspected my car. No one has a crystal ball that tells you of up coming events. Being in the business I wish we did. I'd be rich!!!

..............................................C

jevvy · 07-05-2005, 12:00 AM

"shut off the headlights and step on the brakes and the passenger side headlight turns on"

I had exactly this problem and posted about it a few weeks ago - first thing I tried was to swap the two tail light bulbs and it sorted the problem right away, I was on my way to checking all the grounds but a bulp swap sorted it.

ianc · 12:21 AM

Quote:

This is a classic example of fixing a non-problem. If all the lights are working when you need them too why worry if one comes on dim when it's not supposed to? Just think of it as part of your cars personality.

This all comes down to the owner's expectations. For myself, I would never tolerate something like that in my own car, and would be relentless in tracking down and repairing it. However, I would do that because I have the capability and desire to do it.

If you don't care, or do care but don't have the money to pay someone else to care, then you've got to deal with it.

The point is, when you buy a 26 year old car, having "absolutely no problems" is a moving target. Thinking back over the 9 years of ownership of my current car, I think there was a period of about 1 week that I would have been truthfully able to say that.

Think about the problems. Live the problems. Take great satisfaction in diagnosing and repairing the problems, because baby, with a 79SC, that's a good part of what it's all about...

ianc

livi · 07-05-2005, 12:31 AM

....and when you are done fixing whats broken - the you will start getting symptoms from the upgrade-virus. It´s a never ending story.

911mot · 911mot's Garage

Quote:

shut off the headlights and step on the brakes and the passenger side headlight turns on. Kind of dim, but it's still coming on.

You have an incorrect or incorrectly fitted stop lamp bulb, on passenger side.

DaveE · 07-05-2005, 03:33 AM

I bought my '78 SC in April and drove it home from Indiana to PA on a nice Saturday. The drive went very smoothly 'til it got dark. I was cruising on I80 behind a semi traveling about 80-85 mph, nice tow, didn't seem wise to pass him. As it got dark I turned on my lights and the darker it got the more I began to realize I had no headlights! Well, I did have high beams but just left them off until I had to use them when I got off at my exit and drove an hour to my house with my high beams on. The next day I cleaned the oxidation off all the fuses and everything works great.