Cruise Control Computer

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

OK, I'm trying to yank out my cruise control computer / brain for some solder point checks and / or possible replacement. On the early cars (like mine) I was told it's behind the center console behind the stereo. I took a look under there and found what I think is it - a silver box maybe 1-1/2" thick and maybe 5" square with a harness plugging in from the driver's side. Is this it? If so, how exactly do I get it out? There isn't much room in there with the stereo, the carpet pieces that fit on the sides of the center console, the wiring, etc.

Thanks!

tab tanner · 03-14-2004, 08:59 PM

That it, pull the radio out and force a small child to get there hands in there and loosen the plug and pull it out. LOL I was just kiding about the child. You may have to loosen the center console and slide it back so you can get in there it's really tight to work in that area

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

OK, so no crazy stealth screws holding it in or anything, just release the wiring harness and tug it out, right?

tab tanner · 03-15-2004, 11:27 AM

I think that is the case.

RichMason · RichMason's Garage

Send the brain to Beckman Technologies in Durham, NC and they will rebuild it for $165 ($40 test fee included). By the time you work on it for a few hours you will have that much in it anyway!

Lawrence Coppari · 03-16-2004, 10:17 AM

Mine was truoblesome. I looked and looked at the solder joints. Couldn't find anything bad looking even using a magnifying glass. So I resoldered every one of them and it has been working ever since.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Cool, how long is the turnaround there?

Lawrence Coppari · 03-17-2004, 03:35 AM

Why don't you try the resolder first? It won't cost anything if you have a pencil-type soldering iron. Pencil-type soldering irons are inexpensive.

With me there is a degree of personal satisfaction involved in doing it myself. Plus, I derive great pleasure in "beating the system".

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

I was going to do that first to see if it is an obvious fix; It's just good to know what other options there are. If I spend more than an hour on it, forget it, I'm just going to send it out. Isn't worth more of my time than that.

RichMason · RichMason's Garage

They turned mine around in a few hours (I live in Durham). Call first and have them check the part number on the box to make sure they can do it. I believe that all 85.5 and later are the same. I agree with the do-it-yourself approach for most things. Its just that there are other parts of the board that can fail besides the soldering. I tried to fix mine myself and it didn't work plus my mechanic used a non-functioning box to test the system. Three hundred dollars in labor later it would have been better just to know that the box was the culprit. They charge $40 to test the box (included in the total repair fee). You may have a bad clutch switch, brake switch, cruise switch, cruise servo...of course if it worked and then just stopped, I believe the box is the likely problem. Good luck.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Well I got the box out - no big deal really. . . when I opened it it had kind of a heavy acrid "burned electronics" smell, but I could see no obviously fried circuitry. I checked all the solder connections - they looked okay so I just cleaned everything and reinstalled it. Whenever my new tires / rims show up and I can drive my car again I'll test it and let you know if it works or not. I'm guessing maybe (hopefully) dirty contacts.