[Chris Vais]

I've owned my 1994 968 since june of 1996. Every other year I have taken in for it's smog check. Car always passes, never a problem. So this year, take the car in and the Tech says your check engine light isn't working. To which I replied it doesn't have a check engine light, just the big red annunciator with the exclamation mark. So I look in the owners manual and it shows a "Check engine light" but in the entire time I have owned the car this light has never come on.

Took the car to my mechanic and ask about it and he asks me where I bought the car and I told him California, but the car was registered in AZ when I purchased it. It seems that in 1994, California reguired a "Check Engine Light", but evidently none of the other 49 States did. So we pull the instrument cluster and sure enough the there is no bulb installed for the check engine light and the light socket itself is not wired to anything. So the mechanic wires the bulb socket and puts in a bulb and we have a check engine light. The cost was 2 hours worth of labor.

So how much money do you suppose Porsche saved by not installing the @#%&* bulb and the @#$%&* wire on California cars, 10 DM maybe?

My mechanics response is that times Porsche can be very literal when it comes to compliance issues. They provide everything you need and nothing you don't, the cost of the wire and bulb and labor to connect it probably never even entered the conversation.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

this is the first time anything like this has come up - i tend to think your mechanic is misinformed - all US cars i have ever seen, regardless of state, have that light - ROW cars don't - that is why we can do the "blink test" and ROW cars can't

if it was missing, then i think somebody removed it

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

I bought the car with 21,000 miles on the clock. I got all of the service records and there were no issues with the car, all of the work having been done under warrenty. When we looked at the backside of the instrument cluster, yesterday, it was clear that it was never connected. There were no fault codes stored either when the car was connected to the "Hammer". The engine has run flawlessly for all these years and never failed an emissions test. I would have thought that the lack of a "Check Engine Light" would have been noticed when I registered the car in CA for the first time. Other than the cost of setting it right and the need to go back to the smog test guy to have him do the test, it is mostly a curiosity at this point.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

very likely merely looked at the big red light, thinking that was the "check engine" light

not sure why yours was not connected, unless perhaps it was originally a canadian destination car

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

Chris, isn't your car also the one we looked at in Gilroy which had the mysterious small triangle icon ( lighted ) on the instrument panel when the key was in the on position, yet none of our other cars had this ? Or was that another member's car I'm thinking of ?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=75888:date=Jul 21 2009, 04:06 PM:name=ds968)-->QUOTE (ds968 @ Jul 21 2009, 04:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Chris, isn't your car also the one we looked at in Gilroy which had the mysterious small triangle icon ( lighted ) on the instrument panel when the key was in the on position, yet none of our other cars had this ? Or was that another member's car I'm thinking of ?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

It was my car. Turns out that the red triangle symbol is not used on any North American Car, but nobody knows what it is for. There were no fault codes to attribute to it, so it has been disconnected. What is interesting is that when you look at that gauge cluster from behind you see were the are numerous blank light slots for things that are not used in North American Cars but are on ROW cars. I though perhaps the red triangle light should have been the Check Engine Light, but there weren't any fault codes.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

is your car canadian?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Darryl]

Sounds to me like its a ROW instrument cluster but then it wouldn't be in MPH but rather KPH, no? I've seen numerous clusters and they all appear to be molded from the same templates but don't get certain bulbs installed or whatever, so sorry I can't be of more help...just an observation.

- Darryl

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=75892:date=Jul 21 2009, 04:32 PM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Jul 21 2009, 04:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->is your car canadian?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

The car was sold new in Scottsdale Arizona in 1994, so I have always assumed it was a USA 49 State Car. I'll check the constructors plate and the VIN.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

Well I now know what the mystery red triangle light was for. Porsche offered a towing package on European delivery 968s. The car is evidently capable of towing a small tent trailer of the type popular in Europe. When the red triangle is illuminated it means that your trailers brakes are working. No idea why it would be active on a North American Car since the towing package was not offered in the US. And no idea why it decided to illuminate either, maybe just aging wiring.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[xrad]

someone put a lightbulb in the wrong socket....well, I guess even the Germans make mistakes sometimes...

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

could have been the 1 in 50 that they take apart and put back together for quality control

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=75961:date=Jul 22 2009, 05:42 PM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Jul 22 2009, 05:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->could have been the 1 in 50 that they take apart and put back together for quality control<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Let's just hope that the one instrument cluster is the only thing the quality control guys checked on my car!!!!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[jaap]

<!--quoteo(post=75862:date=Jul 21 2009, 07:44 PM:name=Chris Vais)-->QUOTE (Chris Vais @ Jul 21 2009, 07:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->So we pull the instrument cluster and sure enough the there is no bulb installed for the check engine light and the light socket itself is not wired to anything. So the mechanic wires the bulb socket and puts in a bulb and we have a check engine light. The cost was 2 hours worth of labor.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Does this mean it would be possible to have a check engine light on a ROW car. Would be nice to have the blink test feature. How/where did your mechanic wire the socket?

Jaap

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=75979:date=Jul 22 2009, 11:47 PM:name=jaap)-->QUOTE (jaap @ Jul 22 2009, 11:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Does this mean it would be possible to have a check engine light on a ROW car. Would be nice to have the blink test feature. How/where did your mechanic wire the socket?

Jaap<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Good question, I'll ask. From my casual inspection of the gauge when the cluster was out of the dash it appears that this particular gauge is universal and the factory would only need to connect and install the warning lights appropriate to the destination of the car.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=76007:date=Jul 23 2009, 11:14 AM:name=Chris Vais)-->QUOTE (Chris Vais @ Jul 23 2009, 11:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Good question, I'll ask. From my casual inspection of the gauge when the cluster was out of the dash it appears that this particular gauge is universal and the factory would only need to connect and install the warning lights appropriate to the destination of the car.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

And here is the answer. You will need to have the factory wiring schematic to understand this.

After removing the instrument cluster you will need determine whether or not there is a green wire connected pin C-11. If there isn't, you will need to locate Terminal T-1 located somewhere up under the dash on the passengers side of the car. Run a green wire from Pin-11 on T-1 to the pin on C-11. Power comes from pin C-5. The PC board on the back of the instrument cluster is two boards thick and you need to get to the inside board and connect to the power lead that is common to the oil pressure gauge and the ammeter. While I did not witness this being done, I am told that it is a delicate operation best performed by someone with the technical skills not to damage the PC boards on the back of the instrument cluster.

I don't know how helpful this is and I wouldn't attempt to do this myself unless I was well skilled with automotive electronics and pc board modification.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[jaap]

Chris, thanks for the information. Next time I need to remove the cluster I wil have a look.
Jaap

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[xrad]

I also had a power issue with my cluster. Turned out to be a fault in the pwer supply boads inside the plastic housing (two boards pin connected)

See:

http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtop...el+guage+repair

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.