Why I'm starting to hate my Porsche

janz · 05-11-2008, 12:30 PM

OK now you've seen the pics of the dark cloud hanging over my head. Since high school I always wanted a Porche and then later decided I wanted a 911. BTW I graduated in "71". Found one I really liked the looks of and thought it had plenty of character. Well I found mice had eaten through a few wires, also some nit wit took out the stock radio and put in a Sony. Here are a few of my problems. Directional signal lights do not work (need them to pass safety inspection so not even bothering to reg. it yet) back up lights not working, parking and headlamps fine. When turning on the head lamps it turns the Sony radio off. There is no rust or dents or even dings on the car, looks unreal so I know in my heart that I am not wasting my time or money doing this. Have Bentleys also finished a tail light replacement and almost done with total cleanup after the mice, Carpets and interio are in very nice condition. Every time I take on a project on the car it seems to take 10 x's longer than it would on my GMC Suburban "99". Not to mention the cost of the parts, but I sort of expected the cost part but the time it takes to do it right is making me stupid. I really want to drive this baby. Everything I can find on it says its a "86". No turbo thank God.

billybek · billybek's Garage

It looks great!
Isn't amazing how some crap wiring by a "professional" (or not) stereo or alarm installer can ruin a bunch of weekends that you should be driving the car on?
A good meter and a lot of patience go a long way!
Good luck with your project...

Buckterrier · 05-11-2008, 12:49 PM

All I can do is offer words of encouragement. The car looks sweet. Hang in there. When you're driving down the road you'll know it was worth the hassle.

1982911SCTarga · 05-11-2008, 12:55 PM

Quote:

When turning on the head lamps it turns the Sony radio off.

This is probably a result of the Sony installer choosing poorly in terms of a hot power source (sounds like it's currently associated with a headlight relay circuit).

Beyond that, properly sorting a Porsche takes time, but you will be richly rewarded at the end. Stay with it and break your tasks into manageable chunks. You've identified the things you need to correct. Yes, parts can be expensive, but imagine tacking on what you would have to pay someone else to sort the car.

Just offering some inspiration. Keep going!

Brian

1982911SCTarga · 05-11-2008, 01:06 PM

While you're at things around the dash, spin that plastic ignition cover off and clean/buff/repaint or replace it. You're dash will look much nicer with a new-looking cover there. It drives me crazy to see overall nice 911s where the owners leave that cover to go to the beyond-patina gods.

Also, don't approach the car in anger. 911s don't respond well to that. Let your car know that you're there to make it better.

Brian

janz · 05-11-2008, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the support. I did order the new ignition key cover plate even though they charged me $15.75 for shipping for the $5.25 part. Long story short, that part came from another location and when I picked 2 day air on the big order they automatically listed that part as 2 day air. Filled out survey and told them that. Sure do wish my hands were a lot smaller working under the dash. Nice if I could remove dash easily to afford more room to inspect and work on stuff. Bentleys isn't to clear on that subject. Can't wait to start the struts, Is there a way of doing it without opening the brake lines?

MrJTP · 05-11-2008, 04:16 PM

Somehow obtain a wiring diagram of your car. Its complex. Study it for a while specifically in the areas you're having problems with. Then get in the car and find the correct wires in the problem circuits and trace them out and make sure they go where they should. Uh, disconnect the battery while doing this. If something else is connected where you think a particular wire should go, trace it back to its source and try to figure out why it is where it is and what that means in terms of the problem you're having. Label EVERY wire you disconnect. Have a xerox copy of the wiring diagram handy so you can use colored pencils to track your progress.

This could take some time! You may eventually, like a lot of other Porsche owners, learn to enjoy working on your car.

Monza_dh · Monza_dh's Garage

Is that a MA inspection sticker? Where are you located? I'm no electrical engineer but could stop by and offer some words of encouragement and a beer!!

janz · 05-11-2008, 04:41 PM

Holyoke, MA in the western end by Springfield. Have the Bentley book and trying to trace the wires by color but when they all go into a wrapped harness that gets bigger and bigger it gets tough. Found a few cut wires by the Sony expert and can only think they were for the optional radio package. I can figure out all the color codes but one, they go to the antenna amplifier and are listed as NCA what color would that be? Not only that the + wire going to the drivers door speaker is good (I get continuity through it) but the - or ground wire for that speaker has no continuity from any wire cut or attached from the sony radio. Probably need to take the door off to find that problem. I'm ready to just abandon all those wires and rewire the radio from the fuse panel in the trunk and then run new wires for each speaker. My problem would be if any of those wires that were cut are causing any malfunctions. Many are the same color combo (brown/red). There is a **** load of wires for such a small car.

dsmyth · 05-11-2008, 04:57 PM

Janz My previous owner or his mechanic also made a mess that reared its ugly head yesterday. I hate electrical work . I have a few wires that have no cover left on them to verify what they even were. If you come across any good wiring diagrams could you let me know and I will do the same thanks Doug

dsmyth · 05-11-2008, 05:03 PM

I forgot to mention this is after 10 hours of dissasembly and untaping all of the harness. Now to start the rebuild. A quick bottle of wine tonight might dull the pain. Its all worth it though.

janz · 05-11-2008, 05:07 PM

Not feeling so bad anymore, looks like you got your hands full there. Mine is at least 90% good but its searching through the good to ID the bad. The problem is that the schematic in Bentleys doesn't quite match the wires I have. Also don't know if the origonal on mine had the optional sound system (2 different wire diagrams for each one). Seems as though mine has just about every option offered except heated seats so it just adds more wires to the bundles. Wish I could find something more precise on taking the dash apart so I can see better. I found a plug type connector on the floor under the floor mat below the dash on passengers side and the wire looks to be worn right off, can't help thinking that the other end (hot?) is just swinging around somewhere under the dash. I'll post a picture of the plug/connector tomorrow.

herman maire · 05-11-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsmyth

Janz My previous owner or his mechanic also made a mess that reared its ugly head yesterday. I hate electrical work . I have a few wires that have no cover left on them to verify what they even were. If you come across any good wiring diagrams could you let me know and I will do the same thanks Doug

Just wondering.... since your in ottawa. Did you buy this car from a french guy in quebec?

rfloz · 05-11-2008, 05:36 PM

I feel you pain. My car came with about 80# of built-in boom box and a trunk filled with amplifiers. I had to use a sledge hammer to break up the boom box to remove it! I pulled still more wire out this afternoon along with a non-functional Sony CD/radio. It's still a rats nest under the passenger side dash.

You may well have a separate issue with your headlights and/or turn signals. The turn signal switch on the steering column can be the source of many such problems. There are threads here on how to repair/replace the switch. I need to get to this some day myself. My headlights would come on every time I used the turn signals and would turn off when I hit the high beams.

I finally pulled the headlight fuses. Luckily, I don't drive much at night and almost never with the Porsche.

Hang in there, it's worth the trouble.

peppy · 05-11-2008, 05:54 PM

Same here, my car had an alarm and a toggle switch under the dash that I never did figure out what it did. I pulled it all out and got lucky the car still ran.

Good luck, just be patient.

1982911SCTarga · 05-11-2008, 06:33 PM

janz, you probably already know this, but brown is pretty much always a ground wire in Porsche-dom.

Pelican has some online wiring diagrams here.

Brian

RSBob · RSBob's Garage

To give you a little comfort, I am not an electical engineer or even own a amp meter, but after carefully reviewing the electrical diagrams on this board (using I.E. 7.0 with its image enlarging ability - look at the lower right corner of your browser image for 100%) I have solved numerous electrical issues as well as done some subtle rewiring (i.e. turn my fogs on using the switch but not activating the headlights, installed an ignition kill switch, fixed brake lights, etc).

Time and practice and you will be able to trace the locations of all the wires to switches, gauges, fuses, and relays (and unscramble the mess made by the hack installer). You can do it.

Dai · 05-11-2008, 08:59 PM

Peppy, the toggle switch under dash is probably brake lights kill switch. I have one on my car and discovered that from PO. LOL.

9dreizig · 05-11-2008, 10:09 PM

Get someone to help you.. there's a ton of pelicans in your area. wiring is soooo much easier with two heads and 4 hands working on it ..

Dixie · Dixie's Garage

If it helps, you made me feel better.

Yesterday I decided to see why my front speakers stopped working, and what was clunking in my doors. I found whoever had installed the stereo had mangeled the spade ends on the fatory speaker wires. They fixed it by duct taping them to the crossovers. The prior installation of the big ol' crossovers had consisted of tossing them inside the doors where they could rattle around.