[968 GUY]

I would avoid bums in the road at all costs. They make a very loud noise, and a mess!

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[Anchorman]

As you go about starting to address the things you've been living with, don't forget that no good deed goes unpunished!

For example - when I finally repaired the driver's side door handle mechanism, I decided that it would be a good time to make sure everything was tight on the passenger side. So, I tightened the handle retaining bolt on the passenger door...and now the passenger door handle works worse than ever. Probably today I'll untighten it a bit and see if that cures the (new) problem. Sign...

With the temporary warm weather, I decided to pull the instrument cluster with the hope that refastening the three connectors behind the cluster will cure the various little ills that I've been living with. So, in the course of doing the dismantling, one of the nubs on the plastic vent surround broke - so now it's time to find the crazy glue and hope that does it. Regrettably, there's no way of knowing if I've cured my instrument problems without reinstalling everything (which means the steering wheel, which I have to remove to pull the cluster). What do I do then if everything's not right? LIVE WITH IT!!! (Which would also mean rigging up an external tach in some way for track days - any ideas?)

I really do love my 968 (except when I don't!).

Oh, almost forgot. For the last two years, I've been living with heated mirrors that don't heat. Sigh...

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[flash]

lol - all that means is that the things behind you are foggy - i've gotten used to that being an ever increasing reality already myself

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[Anchorman]

Ah, I just love the feeling of satisfaction when you undertake something you really didn't want to do and it comes out fine.

Regrettably, that's not the feeling I have right now.

The instrument panel is reinstalled, the car back together, so then comes the test. Turn the key - and the temperature gauge pegs high. Not what I wanted. Start the car, and the blasted airbag light is on. Not what I wanted. (And, yes, I disconnected the battery waited three hours!, and then disconnected the airbag. So much for that procedure.)

Whether anything else is better or worse, I haven't found out yet. I don't have the courage.

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[Gotter]

LOL yeah. bumPs.


To follow up: All noises are a free fix.


The wobble from 50-60MPH, however.... "Whole steering rack is about to take a dump. $2600 installed"



s***. Does this sound right for diagnosis and price?

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[Anchorman]

I've had my rack replaced...I think I had it done at RSBarn, don't remember for sure. I'll see if I can find my receipts.

Shifting to my stuff...the airbag light is now out (am I ever glad that I purchased that circuit board and software when it was being offered) so that gave me a little reason to smile - although that was an extra, since the problem shouldn't have occurred in the first place. (Oh, wait a minute, this is the 968 - there are always new problems.)

I also was able to see that the instrument cluster light that's not worked for two years is now working. So, hopefully, I've gained more than I lost. I'll know tomorrow, when I'll take the car on the first leg of a 200-mile journey.

Oh, yes, my heated mirror problem is not a fuse - darn it. Why can't something - just one thing - be simple?

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[Gotter]

Thanks, A-man. I'd appreciate it.

Anyone wanna vouch for a mechanic in the Virginia Beach area? I'll be in that area from Jan. 2 - Feb 28 next year, wanna have a name in my back pocket *just* in case. Can't be too careful.

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[flash]

there are a number of things that can trigger the airbag light - did you reconnect reconnect the battery before everything was put back together?

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[Anchorman]

Everything was reassembled before the battery was reconnected. Nevertheless, I was able to use my gizmo to turn the light off, and so far it's staying off.

AND I'M SMILING!!!

I used the car for a little errand, and (i) the instrument lights (which are still stock) was so bright that I had to turn them down - I felt like Flash! I'm guessing the cleaning all of the electrical contacts before reassembling had something to do with this; (ii) it looks like the tach and speedo are back to operating normally; (iii) the temp gauge did not peg again.

It's a little soon, but I'm tempted to declare this a SUCCESS and to undertake another task. Anyone know how to get the exterior temp readout permanently into the F mode?

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[Gotter]

Anchorman, what were your symptoms before having the rack replaced?

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[flash]

back to things i'm living with (at least for now):

the fact that porsche engineers are morons and put the radio section of the center console at exactly the wrong angle in the cab so that no matter what stereo you install you can't see it clearly with the top down due to the reflection from the sun

it's almost as bad as where they put the switches - why the mirror selector switch is on the console and the adjuster is on the door just baffled me - why the window switches required contortionist maneuvers to operate them did as well - same with why the fog light switch was hiding behind the steering wheel - i fixed all of that though

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[Anchorman]

As I recall, my rack symptom was pathetically easy to diagnose - a fluid leak. As I think more about it, I think we actually went through three racks before finally having the leaks cured. Max (at RS Barn) got to know that part of my car all too well. And I got to drive to RS Barn enough times that the car knew the way. They were all rebuilt units.

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[Cloud9...68]

Anchorman-

Congrats! What you're going through is something I'm sure we can all relate to (except maybe the success part, for some of us, I would bet).

I almost forgot another thing to add to my list of broken things on my car: the cruise control near as I can tell, has never worked. No big deal, as I never take it on long trips, so this one is definitely on the bottom of the priority list.

Now for some more scorn and ridicule to be heaped upon me: I went ahead and ordered the cheapest rebuilt starter I could find. Has he taken complete leave of his senses, you rightly ask? Well, here's my reasoning: The starter ($120 from Rockauto) has a 12-month warrantee, and I'm going on the skakey assumption that lightning isn't going to strike twice, and I'm going to get many years of life out of it. By then, Flash will have come up with a nifty adaptor for an aftermarket starter that's more rugged than the stock one, yet weighs 50% less, and costs 1/3 what a new one from your friendly neighborhood Porsche dealer runs. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

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[Chris Vais]

Things I'm living with:

1. Rear hatch glass is slowly and noisily debonding itself from the frame.

2. The out side temperature gauge goes blank when the headlights are on and if I have the temperature set on fahrenheit, it changes to celsius if you use the headlights.

3. Passenger side door lock mechanism doesn't function when central locking is used. I have the part to fix it, just haven't found the time.

4. Rear window defroster doesn't. Fuses are good, switches are good, power present, and no breaks in the copper grid. Go figure.

5. Door gaskets all need to be replaced. Lately I have found the wind noise to be fatiguing on a long trip.

6. The mechanical dog has developed a weak stream, but then doen't we all, as we get older.

7. On the plus side, no mechanical issues although I have 120K on the clutch and about 60K on the front brakes.

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[Cloud9...68]

Amazing! A couple of things on somebody else's list that my car isn't afflicted with! Thanks for lifting my spirits! Rear defroster works fine, and my door gaskets are OK. But that outside temperature display sure seems to be a very common theme on there cars...

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[Anchorman]

So - to dim my smile a bit, today - after a pleasurable ride of about 100 miles, I stopped and turned the car off. A couple of hours later, I restarted and got the middle ! light - but with no other warning messages or lights. I'm going to assume that it's the airbag and try a reset - but to get the ! light with nothing else is puzzling, to say the least.

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[madridcab]

Living with oil on the garage floor, believed to be oilpan gasket, but could also be upper balance shaft seals, probably waiting another couple of years for next belt change before fixing it, it's just not leaking enough to really worry about.
Apart from that, I actually believe that right now, everything else is working fine..

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[flash]

leaks can be very disruptive - oil of any kind will contaminate and destroy bushings - if it is getting on your suspension, prepare to be changing those bushings

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[ds968]

1 what flash said re the stereo angle and the switches placement - idiotic design, but learned to live with that

2 occasional noise coming from the sunroof, which stops the moment I spray the stripping with silicone, but that lasts no more than a couple of days .. I just gave up so I learned to live with that also

otherwise, not many other gripes really ( well, except they should have built this car with a timing CHAIN, not a belt [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img] , and another 75 hp [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img] )

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[Kim]

The ! light on without anything else on may mean a burned out warning light in the dash. try turning on the key and see what actually lights up for a check. The owners manual will tell you what should come on and then off an what should stay on. I think that only the low washer fluid light does not come on in this check.

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