Dip stick?

I am a new owner of a '72 911E. I have owned a few Porsches in my time (914, 2 944's, 928) but I am very new to the 911 game. The following few questions may seem down right silly but I can use all the help I can get with this new animal.
1. Where in the heck is the darn dip stick on this thing so that I can check the motor oil?
2. My head lights won't come on. Checked fuses. Is there something I should know?
3. Are the rear seats able to stay in the up-right position by themselves or are they always laying down untill there is a passanger?
4. Should the 'oil light' be blinking upon start up and then go away when the engine warms up?
Your replys would be greatly appr.
-Pierre

'72 911E
'74 914-4
'84 944

Dipstick is under the filler cap, sorry can't help much on the headlights but if you have a voltage meter start tracing backwards from the lights, seats stay up with a strap and snaps if these are missing check the recent thread regarding their installation, and finally I beleive it is pretty common for the light to come on for a few seconds at startup. Enjoy the car.

------------------
Rob Fix
'78 SC Targa

[This message has been edited by robfix (edited 11-21-2000).]

I'm pretty sure the oil light on my 71 flashes while the parking brake is applied.

Pierre,

Does your headlamp flasher work? Pull straight back on turn signal control whether lights are on or not and your headlamps should come on as long as you hold the control back!

The headlamp relay and control stalk switch are the most likely cause of your headlamp problem, as there are four separate fuses ... but remove all four, just in case, and check for corrosion. Clean the ends of ther fuses with an abrasive ink eraser, and likewise on the fuse block connector/receptacle. A bit of Vaseline or Dow Corning 111 silicone grease on the ends of the fuses will prevent corrosion in the future! If your horn is working, you can try substituting the horn relay for the headlamp relay. Just pulling the relay out and replacing it a few times might help with breaking through any oxidation of the relay pins ... they are silver-plated brass, and the silver can oxidize badly due to acid fumes from the battery in the trunk! Same cleaning method and Vaseline or Dow Corning treatment on the relay pins can help!

If none of the above helps, it is the main light switch or the contacts in the conrol stalk (turn signal, headlamp flasher and dimmer control) ... removal of steering wheel and plastic covers will be needed to get at control contacts. Wet-or-dry sandpaper, 320 grit, cut into 1/2" strips, folded, and dipped in isopropyl alcohol can be used to clean all of the contacts. Use care, not brute force!

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[This message has been edited by Early_S_Man (edited 11-21-2000).]

I had a 72"E" and it is a great car. The neat thing about the 72, is that the oil filler and dipstick are behind the passenger door, with the release in the passenger doorjam. The flap looks exactly like the one on the drivers side used for the gas filler. You should, upon pushing the little black button in the passenger doorjam, should see the dipstick in the filler neck.

With the headlights, trace it back from the fusebox out and see if juice is getting to it. It is possible that the switch died. Did they ever work? It might not be the fuse, but it could be the fuse block (this happened to me on my 72"E") having a small crack. Have you checked the bulbs/headlights themselves. Are you running Euro headlights (H1, H4, H5) or are they the stock setup?

With regard to the flashing light... do you have the "S" instrumentation package or is it the stock setup. If you are looking into the "S" instruments, the oil guage has two lights incorporated into the guage. The lower one is for the alternator/generator and the upper one is for the handbrake.

Hope this helps and enjoy your car. Feel free to contact me.

Thanks for the info everyone! I just looked again under the filler cap and it seems that it has been replaced with an after market cap. I am going to the Porsche dealership this afternoon to order one in. No luck thus far with the headlights though. I will use your suggestions. Thanks!
-Pierre

One final thing to check about the headlights ... the three-prong connector at the headlamp bulb (sealed beam) or lamp assembly (H1, H4, or H5) ... there may be corrosion at those connectors, too, particularly if higher Wattage bulbs are in use. Same cleaning procedure and precautions as before.

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Just a hint:
Oil & gas tank filler caps may not be "Porsche" stamped parts.
My old ones came from VW (being the same as for the 914). The new ones, coming in original Porsche card box from the Porsche dealer are coming from a company "Blau".

Jens
'76 CIS with '73 body conversion

------------------

Some 'maybe so obvious they're easy to miss' points:

1. The dipsticks often fall into the tank. It normally fits into the tube that's inside the filler neck, with the curly part at the top sticking out so you can grab it. If, on opening the cap, you don't see it sitting there in the filler neck tube, then it isn't there, and you're probably not going to get it back (without a clothes hangar, a magnet, and/or a great deal of luck).

2. The headlights only work (on my car, at least) when the engine is running -- when the key is in the all-the-way-to-the-right position. I've always assumed this is a battery-saving precaution. When I turn the car off, the running lights stay on, but the headlights go off.

3. The rear seats are usually held up by a strap that attaches to a snap on the rear window shelf. Here's a link to a thread with a picture of the back seat straps of Chris Campbell (although on mine, the snap is right behind the seatbacks, not as far back as in Chris's car).

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/Forum3/HTML/003950.html

4. As mentioned by someone else, the oil light and the parking brake warning light might be one and the same. (I won't make any judgments about the soundness of this idea from a design or engineering point of view.)

One other thing maybe worth mentioning, on the odd chance that a new owner is reading this who hasn't owned Porsches in the past: to check the oil on an even surface, running, at idle, with the engine already warmed up to 180 degrees or so. This is unlike virtually every other car ever made in human history, so it's worth repeating. Too often, new owners overfill these cars because they rely on the (mostly) useless dash oil level gauge, or check the oil with the engine turned off, or turned on but not warmed up.

And heck, since I've typed this much already, here's a link to a list of good maintenance tips for a 69-73 911 that Warren wrote up:

http://members.rennlist.com/jackolsen/Maintenance.html

Welcome to the 911 club. You've already found (here on this list) one of the best places to learn about taking care of these amazing (and sometimes frustrating) cars.

------------------
Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 11-22-2000).]

Jack is totally right, esp. about checking the oil level!
Just reading the manual confirms it:
"Let the engine idle until warmed up. Check the oil using the dipstick with the engine idling at correct idle speed."

They know why, so do some of us

Jens