wwest

I live in Houston, Texas - and recently discovered that my 84 Targa's A/C is dead. I've heard that people have had good results with Rennaire's (www.rennaire.com) 134A conversion kit. I'm going to get it and install it myself. Yeah - the kit is about $1300, but people in Texas have seen vent temps of 32 F with 134. I have to try it, or else I can't drive my 911 for 5 months out of the year.

Many professional A/C shops will only charge you $100-$200 to convert.

I only paid $150 to have my '88 Carrera converted.

Hi. on my 2000 C2 Tip? I see the muffler pipe bypass in the DIY section but that's proly really loud.

How about a LOX tank with a simple solenoid that only ports the lox into the intake at WOT.

1989 Targa

I find my car smelling up the garage with a fuel odor. I don't see anything leaking. Is there an issue with this model and fuel lines?

I would like to garage it but not as it is!

Check that you have crush washers on both ends of the fuel filter.

Thank you for your reply and information--I am lookong into it now

It just cost me $150 to have my '88 Carrera serviced and converted to R134 and the cooling seems to be just as good as before.

Not that I would recommend it for the south, but.....

The primary short-coming seems to be on the side of condensing the refrigerant back into liquid form downstream of the compressor. So the operation, EFFICIENT operation, of the blower motor to force airflow over the front condensor is especially important. You should not only make sure this blower is working but that its air inlet is clear and the squirrel cage blower wheel vanes and surrounding plenum area is SUPER CLEAN.

If you happen to have a rear spoiler then adding a few 12 volt computer cooling fans below the spoiler to force airflow through the rear condensor would also be of great help.

I pulled the DRL relay as other members suggested and it does disabled all the DRL, however, the license plate lights do not turn on even I turned on the headlights. I've searched the forum and google and it doesn't seems to be able to find the solution on this one.

Anyone has any suggestion? Is it possible to connect the license plate lights to the rear lights (not the break lights, the one that will be turned on all the time and will not grow brighter when you step on the break)

Many thanks!

I think you're going to find it's worse than that, the high/low beams don't work.

Put it back.

Worse

You neglected to mention that the cruise control will not work if all of the rear brake light bulbs are converted to LEDs.

You will need to add a load resistor in that case. I used a small 12 volt relay with a 50w halogen bulb connected via the NC contacts, with the brakes light on the relay opens teh halogen bulb circuit.

Hello, I am about to get my 09 997.2 S and it doesn't have the interior and exterior self dimming option! Can I just get the mirror from Porsche and install it? does anyone have any instructions or info? Oddly enough it has some useless options like the voice control and parking sensors!!

Just use one, a spare, of the seat memory settings to move the outside rear view mirrors 5-10 degrees downward from the daytime position and dark window film on the rear window for the interior rear view mirror.

On my '78 the tach jumping, and then later the engine overspeed circuit latching up was the result of a failing alternator. Turn the key completely off long enough to remove the overspeed latchup and the car would restart and run for....unpredictable....

New alternator w/regulator built in and the rebuilt CDI ignition seems to have solved the problem.

The factory original CDI ignition and over-rev protection circuit both seem to be overly sensible to over-voltages. The tach signal comes from the CDI so when it starts misfiring(***) due to the over-voltage the tach jumps and eventually the rev limiter latches up.

With the battery all the way up in the front and the alternator/regulator clear in the back then both the battery feed + wiring and the ground return wiring front to back become EXTREMELY critical. Voltage spikes, UPWARD voltage spikes, due to intermittent internal short circuits within the alternator can destroy CDI system in very short order.

When I disassembled the factory original alternator I could not believe it had been operational, every winding showed signs of (frame) shorting and overheating.

*** With the supply voltage well above 12 volts the CDI's internal voltage DC-DC upconverter's output voltage goes well above the ~250 volt "standard" causing the 300 volt rated SCR to break down and "fire" spontaneously.

Used two 5 amp diodes to supply window electric motor power source to both left and right parking/market/tail lights. Diode "cathode" to the top of each L/R fuse #3 and 4 and anodes joined and jumpered to the top of fuse #21. Will be adding 3W LEDs as actual DRLs later.

in the SC there is a fan mounted to push air down and through the front a/c condenser. the fan is to the left of the washer pump. is there one of these in your carrerra? if not, I'd bet that's the wire. If yes, then it could be wiring for the optional headlight washer or for the fog lights.

Yes, that is the condensor cooling fan and it works well. I plan to take it out and clean the squirrel cage blower.

It now appears that the relay/wiring/connector is for the optional headlight washer.

At the moment my guess, resulting from going over the fuse load list, is that the relay/connector near the car jack is for the optional headlamp washer/washing.

1988 Carrera special edition, 100k plus miles.

Two stubbed off wires inside the blower evaporator "cubby", one brown and one red w/white strip.

Relay socket, no relay, directly above the windshield washer pump, brown and yellow Heavy duty wires that then go to a connector, no connection, tucked away near the end of the car jack.

No non-working functions that I can find, oil cooler fan, condensor cooling fan, fog lights, horn, all work.

Anyone know the purpose of either or both of these..??

Hi Guys

I have need to replace the alternator on my 1979 SC. The unit fitted has an external voltage regulator.Has anyone any experience

upgrading to the alternator you can get with the internal regulator.

Thanks

Yes, bought one off Ebay, installs as easy/tedious (not fun) as otherwise and works well so far.

Hi there how did you know/suspect that it wasn't working.. My C2 has a problem with misting up inside and wondered if the valve in my car was faulty..many thanks

The very best way to avoid "misting", assuming this means interior windshield/window condensation build up, is to disable the A/C ENTIRELY during the winter months. NEVER allow the A/C to operate EXCEPT for cabin cooling. Once the A/C has been used for dehumidification, even days ago, you are taking a chance on sudden windshield fogging. Sudden and seemingly spontaneous to the point of being a HARARD to life and limb.

My '01 C4 has a "toggle" switch mounted on the back inside wall of the center console storage glove box that opens the A/C clutch circuit.

I have been thinking of putting a spoiler on my C4S but I´m afraid that it will look too much of a Turbo "look alike". Does anyone here have any experince in this? Maybe some pictures?

Found this one on ebay;

http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item27b084a2b7

I would never own one without.

But not the Ebay style, the soutahc4s style for sure.

Assuming you have a high efficiency intercooler downstream of the SC using two head gaskets each side might lower the CR enough to have a more positive effect. Otherwise an intake camshaft regrind to get an Atkinson cycle effect might help.

Hi there any common things i can check on my 996 air con(climate), could just need topping up but worrried and hopping its not serious....many thanks

Also looking for some heater vents either side of the dash in black....complete units or just the fins.... many thanks

You can determine if the system is operating reasonably correctly by turning it to max cooling, recirculate, lowest blower speed, and verifying that the dash outflow air reaches <45F within 3-5 minutes.

hey wwest and 1999Porsche! you guys have much knowledge concerning the superchargers and appreciate your comments on my threads. as per PJA's question (keep in mind i have a 02 996 supercharged and running wonderfully!), i have yet to dyno her but will come march after i visit thunderhill. i would guesstimate 100 hp increase along with 80 lbs of torque. i can confidently tell you i eat stock 911 for breakfast and for dinner i enjoy stock turbos B)

tecra

Unless you have detuned the engine via >15% reduction in factrory compression ratio....

Anytime you wish to take on my factory stock 2001 911/996 C4 in a 24 hour endurance GT "race" just name the time and place. Both deposit $25,000 and winner takes all.

Thanks for your suggestions about the oscilloscope. Before I dust mine off, I want to exhaust all the simple causes first.

Today I got lucky, of sorts. The lights did not go on, to the immense amusement of the people at my work, and I popped out one of the lights to measure the voltage across connector pin outs 7 (gnd) and 8 (Lo beam): 5 Volts. WOW!

I popped out the other light: 14V (i.e., no load), popped the other one back in: 5V. That basically means that somewhere in the circuit I have a huge build up of resistance.

Back home, I retrieved the original Halogen lamp housings from the attic, removed the Xenons, popped one of them in: no light and 0.2 V at the other connector.

A back of the envelope computation indicates that I have a build up of an additional ~275Ohms in that circuit (i.e., from the battery through the switch to the lamp). Not good. Ground seems fine.

So like Loren originally suggested (of course), it's probably the headlight switch gone bad.

Before I order a replacement, one more question: Are there any relays or other components in this circuit that could be the culprit. I only have a 2000 circuit diagram (not a 2002) and I only see a fog light relay (why), but none for the low beams. So unless I have a fried wire, only the switch is left.

Thanks

I seem to remember that a number of years ago I accidently discovered that if one of my headlights was disconnected then the other one would not work. That could have been on my Canadian origin '99 w/DRLs or the '01 C4.

Work is..??

Our office is in Redmond.

I was watching a video from the Fabspeed website of a 911 S that they have added several performance enhancements. I noticed that when they are driving the car and apply the brakes, the brake lights seem to oscillate on and off. Can anyone tell me how that is done?

The guy from fabspeed posted that it is an artifact from the DSLR he was using to video the car runs. Maybe he did not want to admit to an illegal mod to the brake lights, but that is what he told us!

DV is captured at a higher framerate (60fps typical) than most eyes can parse. Traditional movie film, for example, runs at 24fps and unless your eyesight is "quick" you don't notice a stutter. LEDs oscillate. Most of us see a constant stream of light from them, but a video camera captures their "flicker."

If you stare at some of the newer LED Christmas lights you might start to see what the video is capturing. They certainly play tricks on my eyes.

I hope that few make the mistake of installing flicker on their brake lights--sounds dangerous and silly to me, since a constant red is the internationally-standard "I'm braking" notification.

Mark

"...LEDs oscillate..."

"Flicker", NOT oscillate, and then only in a 120VAC 60 hz light "string", not on a 12VDC automotive power supply. Unless we're talking about "oscillate" in the aspect of the molecular level.

The ones available at superbrightleds.com FLASH (1-2 seconds..??) when the brakes are initially applied and then go solid RED.

Thanks for all the suggestions (and some PMs).

I have had the problem demonstrate itself in several ways. The first time, only one light went on. After that it's been fairly consistent that nothing happens when I turn the lights on and I have to cycle the switch a bunch of times before it works. It's hard to tell whether the lights initially flicker or not, but my wife claim they do not.

PMs reported that they fixed their problems with either a new switch or a new ballast, which apparently is the same as those used on MBs (available on ebay for ~120US$).

After cleaning the contacts with the lamp housing, the problem seems to have gone away, at least for the moment. Perhaps the small amount of resistance that built up over time lowered the voltage sufficiently that it wont power the ignitors sufficiently.

At this point, I cannot trace this problem any further. I am however keeping a Volt meter in the trunk in case it goes out again so I can see measure the voltage at the contacts.

A voltmeter will be of no help.

You need a digital storage oscilloscope or logic analizer.

The ballast inrush current flow for initially igniting the HID arc lasts less than a 10th of a second, maybe even as little as 1/100th of a second, not enough time for most voltmeters to react.

Once the arc starts the current load on the wiring is even less than what you would have with halogens, 35 watts HID vs 55 watts Halogen

Kit from superbrightleds.com

Santa Claus was very good to me this year. I got a new alpine head unit, amp and focal speakers to go in my 03 996. I went with 5"1/4 speakers for the doors, tweeters are installed in the dash, and I mounted a set of three-way 6x9's in the quarter panels. I hid the crossovers behind the amp to make it look as clean as possible. The sound difference is AMAZING!! I highly recommend the focal speakers if you're looking to upgrade.

Did you discard the factory speaker sound enhancement enclosures inside the doors/body...? I don't see how they could be used with you new, larger speakers and if not I'm surprised at any speaker sound improvement you say you acheived.

When I was pricing the Nacs 300 and 400 series the sound was good and the reviews where so so ....and also missed to many features like in and outs for ext amp etc. The 700 series sounded absolutely wonderful but could not hook-up ipod etc, but the deal breaker was that they where considering dropping there car line of stereos so not knowing that I decided on a double din instead. It truly is a shame because the 700 model was pure heaven to listen to.

Even in a Lexus LS the only time one can truly appreciate the extended fidelity of ANY of these high end audio systems is while parked in a QUIET sub-basement garage, engine off (and HVAC blower) with the windows rolled up tightly. In a Lexus LS, okay, but in a Porsche..??

Most modern day OEM audio systems now have integral MOSFET DC-to-DC PWM switching upconverters to supply >100 volts to the speaker drive amplifiers. More than enough fidelity for an environment wherein the ambient noise, white noise, is typcally in the range of 70DB (LS400) or more (Porsche).

I purchased a set of small, DIP size, SPDT relays for doing this on my '01 C4. The relay is energized via parallel connection to the standard turn signal circuit. The NC contacts supply voltage to green LEDS (matches car color) as marker lights, the NO contacts supply power to amber LEDs. LEDs are mounted inside/behind the CLEAR maker lens and the relay with LED current limiting resistor mounted, epoxied, to the backside of the marker light assembly.

Oh, sorry, almost forgot, my street/parking/tail/marker light circuits are "bridged" into the DRL circuit such that they always come on with DRL voltage