At my wits end.......
 

Hi All,

This is my first post as my many searches over the past few months have come up short. First, let me say thank you to all of you who provide insight and knowledge, as rookies like me couldnt enjoy this hobby as much as we do without you. I know I genuinely appreciate it and I am sure others do as well, even if they dont say it. With that said here are some questions I desperately need help with related to my 1978 924 (completely stock):

1. I have two dash lights out, the ones above the hvac controls and I cant seem to get them to come on. Same goes for the under hood light, glove box light, and rear cargo light. No dice. All fuses are new and in working order, new bulbs, etc. I have tested the rear cargo light and glovebox light with a volmeter and I think I have power, but still nothing. I havent tested the others since they are bayonet fittings and I dont know how to test them. Any ideas?

2. Heat......ugh, the heat is on all the time. The AC doesnt work in this car (gonna get it fixed next spring). I have lubed and checked the boudin cable, i have a new heater valve on order, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something basic. I have read the material on Clarks garage but it is really 944 centric and not all that helpful on a 924. The flaps moving from floor to defrost work, blower works, flap from outside air works, etc. Not sure about the lower outside air vacuum lines, the ones that operate the lower outside air flap on the 924, as I dont know how to properly test it and I cant see that influencing the amount of heat coming in the cabin.

Any and all help is appreciated!!!!

for the lights, are you sure the respective switches are good?
the hood switch is by the brake booster.

the heater isn't really controlled by flaps in the early cars/924s, its an on-off valve slide control. if your heat is always on then your valve is open.

heat on all the time - isn't that a thing? off the top of my head, aren't those plastic clip things what solve that problem?.. Pelican has them - there's some rods and gears under the dash that rotate/move when you operate the temperature knob - check under there - ...sorry it was a long time ago for me...

UPDATE: this part?

944.572.314.00

UPDATE: bah, 924 - sorry. TL;DR

Clovis?? I lived in Clovis in the mid-70's. Anyhow, did the heat come on suddenly or gradually (over time)? If it came on suddenly, I'd lay money on the little plastic clip on the driver's side of the A/C unit. It's the one that a little rod slides through. This is a common failure. I checked my A/C shutoff valve by putting a vacuum line on the bellows and sucking on it. You could see the works of the valve moving and the tube was holding suction so I knew that was ok. Start with the plastic clip. If it's bad, replace both of them on that side. There's also a small metal spring clip that fits over the top of the plastic clip after it's inserted into the hole and the rod is passing between the tangs. It holds the tangs in place. Porsche has them both and they're cheap.

The OP has a 1978 924.
The plastic clips and other items are for the 85.5 944 and aren't in the 924.


Bealhm, from what I remember, the HVAC controls are cable operated.
The heater control valve (for hot coolant) is also mechanically controlled. No vacuum is applied to it.

I would suggest that you have someone operate the heater control on the console and you watch to see if the lever moves on the heater control valve. If it does, then replacing it may be the next step. If it doesn't move, then you should check the console control lever and cable.

Let us know what you find.

Here's a link that may help you get started:

944 Foot To The Floor: How to repair heater control valve on a Porsche 944 (Square Dash Model)

:eek:I didn't know that. Learn something new every day.

At least you learned enough to move away from Clovis...