Hello, New Porsche Owner Here

[szyzygy]

I bought a 1977 Porsche 911s a month ago. I know next to nothing about cars but am willing to learn. Had a belt break on me last week and I fixed it (thanks to this site) at little cost. Those shims I bought from this site did the trick.

I have several small electrical issues with the car:
sunroof - doesn't work. I hesitate to try to fix because what if it gets stuck on open?
stereo - front speakers don't work. Tapes won't play. I plan on replacing with something for my Droid.
headlights - when I use the turn signal, the highbeams come on.
Sure wish I had an electrical diagram of the car so I could plan my attack on fixing this stuff

There is a constant fan sort of noise coming from under the bonnet when the key it turned to the "on" position

Brake light is on.

Why can't someone just post a .pdf of the owners manual to my car? I'd love to learn what everything does in my car. Why is it such a big secret?

Car has 166K miles on it. Burns oil like crazy. I put in a quart every 2-4 weeks or so. I'd like to fix this. Plus it makes the car smell bad (from the outside only. Inside is fine while driving)

It was actually pretty lucky that the stereo doesn't work and I've been driving it to hear the performance. Maybe I wouldn't have heard that belt break with loud music.

gears are hard to get into on the shifter. Rarely does it glide right in. Sometimes I pop a gear when coming out, maybe due to my experience driving a 5-speed manual Mazda 626 for 10 years with much easier play on the clutch and stick. Is my issue a sign of a problem?

[NOLAsc]

Hey... Welcome.

Is the car leaking oil or burning it? What's the ground look like under it -- oil spots?

For the turn-signal, headlight thing, check out this thread" turn signal switch quick fix pictures.

Good looking car.

Have fun!

[1976 TN Porsche]

Welcome. Have fun here. This is one GREAT forum.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by 1976 TN Porsche

Welcome. Have fun here. This is one GREAT forum.

Thanks! I like what I see so far. Looking forward to mastering my vehicle.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by NOLAsc

Hey... Welcome.

Is the car leaking oil or burning it? What's the ground look like under it -- oil spots?

For the turn-signal, headlight thing, check out this thread" turn signal switch quick fix pictures.

Good looking car.

Have fun!

I assume it burns it based on the smell, and I know it leaks it because I see it on the ground. A mechanic has told me that it has an oil issue that needs to be addressed.

Thanks! I love this car and don't mind dropping some dough on it. I'd love to do whatever I can myself. I'm a fast learner and not afraid of some hard work.

[redstrosekNic]

Welcome!!! Good looking car. The fan noise you hear could be the heater blower motor. Are your heater controls (the ones between the seats) pulled up into the "on" position? This forum has helped me immensely during the past few projects for my cars. When in doubt, use the excellent search function first.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

Welcome!!! Good looking car. The fan noise you hear could be the heater blower motor. Are your heater controls (the ones between the seats) pulled up into the "on" position? This forum has helped me immensely during the past few projects for my cars. When in doubt, use the excellent search function first.

I think they are.....but when I move them it does nothing. Do they have red rubber things on them? God, I need the owners manual for my car.

I have 25K posts on my actuarial forum....I am familiar with the search thing....just need to know what to search for. I am a total noob. I'm sure I will get better with experience.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by szyzygy

I think they are.....but when I move them it does nothing. Do they have red rubber things on them? God, I need the owners manual for my car.

I have 25K posts on my actuarial forum....I am familiar with the search thing....just need to know what to search for. I am a total noob. I'm sure I will get better with experience.

I apologize of I offended you about the search thing, it's just that a lot of people don't use it, they just post a new topic.
Yeah, the red knobs are the heater controls, or more specifically, the defroster controls. The knob closer to you controls the driver side, while the other controls the passenger side. Your car doesn't have the hand throttle, does it? I'm pretty sure your year didn't have it anymore. Along with an owners manual, definitely get the book sold by our host, 101 projects for your 911. It is very helpful in learning some basic maintenance such as changing oil, adjusting valves, as well as some more in depth stuff.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

I apologize of I offended you about the search thing, it's just that a lot of people don't use it, they just post a new topic.
Yeah, the red knobs are the heater controls, or more specifically, the defroster controls. The knob closer to you controls the driver side, while the other controls the passenger side. Your car doesn't have the hand throttle, does it? I'm pretty sure your year didn't have it anymore. Along with an owners manual, definitely get the book sold by our host, 101 projects for your 911. It is very helpful in learning some basic maintenance such as changing oil, adjusting valves, as well as some more in depth stuff.

Not offended, I say the same thing to noobs on my site.

Both levers are down - they're not really knobs but rather levers. There is a spot on my dash for some stuff that appears to be air related. But nothing works there. You can move all the levers and nothing happens. I live in southern california so I don't really care about heat or AC, I just want the noise to stop

[szyzygy]

I plan on getting that book tomorrow. Along with a replacement belt and some more shims in case I break down coming back from Vegas in a couple of weeks.

[timmy2]

Buy the manuals and repair books for your car. They pay for themselves after the first 3-4 hours of saved shop time!
Here is where I bought the factory manual for my car when I couldn't find it on flea bay...

Automotion dot com has them. (I put a link up but it didn't work.)

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by timmy2

Buy the manuals and repair books for your car. They pay for themselves with about 3-4 hours of saved shop time!
Here is where I bought the factory manual for my car when I couldn't find it on flea bay...

http://www.***************/genuine-porsche-owner-s-manual-1960-2002.html

thanks, but that link is broken. Is there another source?

Why doesn't Porsche just have the manuals online for free?

[timmy2]

Noticed link is broken, named the site in my edit. $50 for a manual isn't too bad, I've paid more for other cars I've restored.
Porsche & Free are not synonomous words.....

[E Sully]

Try this link. Also, PM sent.
CIS Primer for the Porsche 911

[Oh Haha]

The link doesn't work because that company is a direct competitor to Pelican.

The onwer's manual can be purchased on EBAY, which is where I got mine.

For the fan noise--on the dash controls, move the top levers all the way to the left and see if it stops. To me, it sounds like your fresh air blower is making the noise.

Welcome to Pelican. You will find everything you need to know here.

>>>>Question on 80's Carrera heat controls

[Laneco]

For wonky shifting, the first thing to look at are the bushings and adjustment. If the shifter seems sloppy, buy the shift linkage bushing kit. It's like $25 or something on this site. There's three areas. One directly under neath the shifter. The shifter ends in a ball and the bushing is a cup that it pops into. Inside of the tunnel is a long rod that goes toward the rear of the car. That rod has a bushing that it passes through - sort of a little circle thing. Near the rear seats is an access panel on the tunnel, it's under the carpet. Couple of screws will get that off and underneath is the coupler that joins the long shift rod to the transmission. There are two bushings inside of that. If you replace these bushings and adjust that coupler (mark where it was - worst case put it back in the same place) you might pick up a great deal of shift improvement.

There are probably numerous manuals out for your car. If they make a manual for that year called "Bentley" that is the one to buy. They aren't cheap, but they will save you so much money on DIY repair that it's just crazy! I haven't seen one for a 77, the ones I have are for 78-83 and 84-88. If that's not available for your year, a workshop manual, etc. Bear in mind, you might drop $200 on this, but at worst case, you can re-sell the manual and recoup that.

The cool thing is that there are MANY things on your car that are DIY friendly, there is a huge parts interchange for them, and dang near everything on or in the car has been broken, repaired, or modified by people on this site. The trick is finding the thread.

Welcome!

angela

[Oh Haha]

+10000 on getting the Bentley manual. I went without it for a few years and finally broke down and bought it. Well worth the 80$ I paid at a swap meet.

[livi]

Welcome!

[Brett San diego]

The bad smell is oil leaking onto the heat exchangers (exhaust manifolds) and burning. If the oil isn't all disappearing by leaking, then there could be significant oil burning in the cylinders. At that point, you're looking at a top end job at least. If it's the original magnesium-cased 2.7 L engine that hasn't had any work done on it, a top-end job could (and probably should) turn into a full rebuild with all the case machining updates performed on the magnesium case. That will get expensive very fast, so steel yourself for some potentially costly repairs in the not too distant future.

The 915 transmission is notoriously notchy, but that's because most of them are simply worn by now. Good shifter bushings can go a long way (already mentioned). But, there's nothing you can do externally about worn synchros inside. I'm not sure what you mean by "pop a gear when coming out." Is the transmission popping out of gear on its own upon acceleration? That's a sign that you need a rebuild. Worn dog teeth, I think, is the cause of popping out of gear. If the rest of the internals are OK, replacing just synchros is a reasonable thing to do, but if there are other issues the whole transmission should be refreshed.

Good luck with the 911. The mid-year models, 1974-1977, tend to be the least desirable because of the magnesium case issues and expensive rebuild costs associated with it, but once that is taken care of, they can be wonderful cars. Some of this extra maintenance expense is usually built into the typically lower prices for the middle 911's. Some people cite the lightness of the 74-77 911's relative to the later SC model as a real advantage.

Brett

[timmy2]

Tons of info here:
The Ultimate Porshe 911 Technical Forum "Ultimate Thread" and "How to" Thread
As per the competitors link I posted yesterday, OOPS!