What is this lever?

[DaddyGlenn]

I am sure this is not a new question .... '78 SC (RoW)..on one side of the parking brake are the two heater levers but on the other side I have a single lever with a small black knob. It doesn't seem to do anything.

[jeffgrant]

Isn't that the choke?

EDIT: Was thinking "hand throttle", as mentioned by lisa_spyder, but it came out "choke". *sigh* Note to self: no more coffee and posting at 4am.

[lisa_spyder]

It's a hand throttle Daddyglenn. Odd though, as I don't recall SC's having those.

[jeffgrant]

Hmm... maybe it was a used replacement, and the handle is just there as a filler... no cable attachments, etc.

[IROC]

Yes, very interesting to see a hand throttle on a '78. My '76 has one, but I thought they were phased out in the '76 model year.

Mike

[lisa_spyder]

Originally posted by jeffgrant
Isn't that the choke?

EDIT: Was thinking "hand throttle", as mentioned by lisa_spyder, but it came out "choke". *sigh* Note to self: no more coffee and posting at 4am.

Choke, hand throttle - same thing (well sort of...)

Anyway, it shouldn't be there on a '78 ROW SC. I agree that maybe a replacement handbrake assy has been fitted from an earlier model and the hand-throttle isn't hooked up as the provisions aren't there for that.

Your SC should have all the warm up gismos that presumably make a hand throttle obsolete. I say this because when those gismos get older and start to play up a hand throttle would be very handy!

Just my 0.02c worth...

[Hald]

Just a trivia tid-bit ...

The Euro owner's manual identifies that lever as a "Handgashebel".

When I saw that in the all-German booklet, I used an internet translator to try and figure out the meaning. The complete word would not translate. After some dissection, it turns out that "gasheb" translates to "gas-lift".

Too much time on my hands, I guess ...

[K-Jetronic]

Hi there,

Once asked the same question since I also have a model 78 sc, (my car left the factory in july 77 as number 147). It is not connected in my car, although I am pretty sure it is original. Looks like Porsche were cleaning out their stock on the early sc's. Don't know if the handthrottle was available and working on the 3.0 carrera's, that might explain something. What is your vin?

regards,

Gerko
1978sc

[wholberg]

Have you checked for machine guns behind the headlights (a la James Bond)?

[Jupiter]

The complete word would not translate. After some dissection, it turns out that "gasheb" translates to "gas-lift".
[/B]

Exact translation for Handgashebel is: hand throttle handle

[lisa_spyder]

3.0L Carreras did have hand throttles in '76 in Aus anyway. But they also had that God-awful heater set-up, with the dial as well as the levers. SC's here had those too; we had lots of problems with unaware owners pulling up the levers and therefore destroying the dial control. Hence, a lot of the dial units were deleted by repairers and only the heater levers were used. It was not a great idea by PAG to leave the levers with the dial control as this was bound to happen. If you don't have the dial control for the heaters (don't know if this set-up went to the States) then maybe that has been deleted and that's why you have an earlier style hand brake set up. Just a thought - I could be wrong .

77's did not have hand throttles here - they finished in '76. The dial control heater set-up was used from '76 on in 3.0L Carreras, SC's etc BUT not in 2.7's. 2.7's in '76 & '77 had the manual heater controls as per your pic, but all cars in '76 had a hand throttle - have I confused you enough yet??? I'm pretty sure all ROW cars complied with this...

[Mysterytrain]

Hand throttle..and if it is connected makes a wonderful cure for an ailing AAR.

[jpnovak]

HMM my 78 RoW targa donor had one, hooked up and functional.

[K-Jetronic]

To add to the confusion,

My original model 1978 sc + turbo sales brochure, shows a picture of an assembly with the hand throttle.

According to the PET, the handthrotlle was used until 7/1977.

So it could be early sc's were equipped like this.

Regards,

Gerko
1978sc

[bigchillcar]

very useful if it is indeed a hand throttle..i prefer them to the later-styled aar. if you remove the rubber grommet and carpet, you might find that it's simply out of adjustment..which could explain why it seems to do nothing. the hand throttle is not a 'choke', but literally a link to the accelerator cable that runs from the engine to the foot pedal. there should be a piece of plastic that attaches the hand throttle directly to the cable so that when you 'pull up' on the cable it translates to a 'pressing down' of the foot pedal..if you watch you can see it move the pedal..that's all it does..it holds a little throttle as if you are 'giving it a little gas' to allow warmup idle speed. adjusted correctly, in the 'full up' position, it should permit an idle speed of ~ 2500-3500 rpms. there is a small screw near the piece of plastic i've described that simply moves the position of the hand throttle to where it ties into the cable to adjust rpm's based upon lever position. pretty simple engineering..take a look and you'll see..it becomes clearer then..
ryan

[bigchillcar]

glenn,
i'll add something else..it could be that a previous owner has 'updated' to the later styled aux air regulator (or valve) i get the names confused at times. if this is the case, then they probably disconnected the hand throttle, which is simply a 'manual' way of doing what the aar did 'automatically'. how does your car idle when cold? if not very well, as in very low, it may be because the update wasn't done and your hand throttle is broken. given a choice, many prefer the hand trhottle because it allows you to 'manually' select an idle speed you want for condition during warmup. by the time the car is warm, say by 180 degrees, the hand throttle should be closed as it is no longer necessary..hope this helps..
ryan

[Hald]

Exact translation for Handgashebel is: hand throttle handle


__________________
Henk

Thanks, Henk!

[afterburn 549]

Its the cable to the lisence plate rotator on the back.....and if you have the up dates you get the smoke sceen too!

[bigchillcar]

come on, george...everyone knows that the 'smoke screen' is available on most older models at startup..
ryan

[DaddyGlenn]

Wow! Thanks to all for the tremendous, sometimes conflicting, response. I took a peak and there is a metal collar on the throttle linkage that the plastic part of the hand throttle should engage. On a cold start (or a cold Florida start) , the engine's idle is pretty smooth after the first 20 seconds or so. Before that it bounces a bit. This one was #274 off the production line but I don't know how to find out the production month.

Now that I know what it is, I can put "fix the hand throttle" at the bottom of my to-do list. ... I do like the machine gun idea though. May have to upgrade that option to high-energy particle beam.

Glenn