924Board.org

[Smoothie]

The fun starts with a reasonably nice day and the opportunity to go out and fix a couple of little nagging problems - a squeek and the sound of something rattling back and forth in the dashboard with each turn.
So, first remove the steering wheel, column bezels, gauge cluster, disconnect speedo cable..
Give a good look around with a flashlight for something loose back there.. Disconnect both ends of the hvac duct hose that runs past the steering shaft to check it inside - find nothing. Finally give up looking and have hope that the problem will have fixed itself just from disassembling-reassembling everything.. Notice a double connector hanging in the area behind the fuel/temp gauge with only 3 of 4 connections present - look it up in the Haynes and find that's how it's supposed to be - a connection from the tach that goes nowhere - no problem. Ok, while we're in there, might as well check the gauge light bulbs. Get the Ohm-meter, remove each bulb one-by-one and check - all are good - ok, good to know. Button it all back up - reattach speedo cable, gauge cluster back in, signal switch assembly back in, bezels, steering wheel all back in... Go for a drive....excellent - the rattling on turns and the squeek are gone, yay! Need gas, so go for a fillup. On the way home I notice just a hint or two of crappei running...hmmm, write it off to the weather or my imagination. Later that night, take 'er for a ride down to the watering hole for exactly one beer (really, it did happen)(actually would have had exactly two, but wasn't feeling great, plus now that they've stopped smoking in bars here, there's nothing to mask the smell of the old place and it reeks just a bit of something between the bat cage and elephant exhibit at the Bronx Zoo). Ok, I leave there.. On the way to the car I notice a skunk smell - hmmm a skunk in almost downtown New Brunswick, NJ - wonder where...not likely to find out and not important, so on my way.. A half mile down the road toward downtown I make my right turn and have to steer around a squashed skunk in the road - "Oh, there 'e is". Continue on and notice more hints of crappei running.. so something's trying to get my attention here. I was going to drive over to let the dog out, but the running's shakey enough now that I'm loosing confidence in it - so swap cars and start thinking I got a tank full of bad gas when I filled-up earlier.
Next day - put the CIS tester on it - everything looks normal, no problems with the pressures, no signs of a relay or wiring problem as the pressures are steady - idle is pretty good...Take it for a drive around the block and it's still not right - and whatever it is is getting worse ever so slightly. Take it back and idle on the driveway. I notice a hint of perfume-de-skunk - hmm so just driving by a dead skunk the day before leaves your undercarriage smelling that way.. Throw in a bottle a fuel drier/antifreeze just for fun. At this point it's idling a bit rough and giving it gas causes it to sputter - look at the tach and find it's going to zero, then back up in irregular patterns. Ok, maybe it's that DITC connector - it was a rainy night and it would normally be a problem only in wet or humid weather - but then again I tightened-up the pins on that connector, so it shouldn't be a problem again - and hadn't been since I did that. I give it a wiggle anyway - it doesn't help. Ok, maybe something happened with that double connector for the tach when I was handling it, so off again with the steering wheel, bezels, gauge cluster etc. - Nothing wrong with that connector. So start 'er up to see if it's fixed itself. -No, now there's no starter. I try smacking the starter with a crowbar - still nothing.. What next - maybe the ignition switch..I take it out and take it apart - it's in pretty good shape, but gets a cleaning and a fresh dose of dielectric grease since it's apart. Put it back together, test it, it's good, reconnect it and give it a turn...ignition-on good, but still no starter. Then I finally think to look for the battery charge light when the ignition is switched on... No light! SOB! Pull out the gauge cluster and give that bulb holder a slight turn and there it was - light came on. -So there it is - how to waste a full days' worth of time over two days fixing a light bulb. -And it all started with a simple (and as it turned out un-necessary) check of the gauge bulbs.

What happened was the alternator stopped charging and the battery slowly went dead - and that happened because the alternator needs to see 12v+ at its' "D+" terminal to turn itself on and start charging - and that 12v+ comes through the battery/charge light in the dash. So - no bulb, burnt bulb, bad bulb connection or bad wiring to and from bulb to D+ (the "exciter circuit") leaves the alternator shut off and not charging.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."


'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

[Paul]

You need a few more beers....
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[augidog]

[Joes924Racer]

I agree with paul give your self a beer.. hmmm I dont like taking off
the guage cluster that many times.. though.. have been there done that..I really caught up with the story & your car & the skunk for awhile.. really.

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1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[JB 924]

Holy Crap. Can anyone take notes, summarize the thing, and PM them to me?

[dpw928]

Had the same thing happen when I changed the instrument panel circuit card on the 928. No light, no charge. Not sure about the Bosch alternator, but the Valeo aftermarket alternator on my 928 will self excite at 2800 rpms then continue to charge at lower rpms.

Dennis
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81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black

[Raceboy]

I struggled with the same problem about 6-7 years ago and also blamed it on the CIS.
I'm not really sure what caused me to replace alternator wires but after that suddenly "the CIS problems" were gone
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'83 924 2.6 16v Turbo, 470hp
'67 911 2.4S hotrod
'90 944 S2 Cabriolet
'78 924 Carrera GT replica
'84 928 S, sold
'91 944 S2, sold
'82 924S/931 "Gulf", sold
'84 924, turbocharged, sold.
http://www.facebook.com/vemsporsche

[morghen]

had that problem too. went to an electrician and fixed the bulb thing in 30mins. tho in my case the problem was more severe....the wiring could not handle 12V and it had to be overwired using a relay.
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Supercharger and EFI kits
https://www.the924.com

[Joes924Racer]

Got a new performance automotion cat. in yesterdays mail.
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1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[D Hook]

Many times just cleaning the grounds in the engine bay will give better performance overall.
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'80 924 n/a SOLD

[MGQ]

excellent, now I know why my battery isn't charging, even though the alternator tests good at AutoZone.

How do you get the gauges out of the car? pull the speedometer cable and the rest of the gauges come out the front in one unit I hope? I'm not sure what you mean about gauge bezels.
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Brown 78 924. 4 speed, AC, Sunroof

[Smoothie]

[Smoothie]

MGQ-
Aim your steering wheel straight ahead and lock it in that position.
Pull the horn pad straight back to remove it.
remove the large nut, then pull the steering wheel off.
The column bezels are the plastic trim pieces. remove the 2 small Phillips head screws from below to seperate the halves, then remove them.
Remove the screws that hold the turn signal/wipers switch on - should be 4 for your car. Unplug its' connectors and remove the signal/wipers switch. (All this is necessary for my car with the later 3-screw signal/wiper switch. It may not not be necessary for yours.)
Remove the 2 Phillips screws that go up through the top of the left and right side of the large 3-gauge cluster. Pull it out just a few inches (a little more on the right side) and reach in through the right side, find the speedo cable and unscrew it from the back of the speedo. Now the gauge cluster should come out and hang by the wiring harness on the left.

That large plastic part that holds the 3 gauges is sometimes called a bezel. The individual gauges come out of it by pushing them toward yourself from the back.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."


'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

[Ozzie]

The multiguage can just be pushed out from the rear of the cluster and unplugged without removing all the above in my car.
Change bulbs and refit.
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Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

[pocketscience]