944 T antilock brake warning light?

[Guest]

Hi,

I've been a member of the club (Region 18) for some years now but this is my first time on the forum, looks great.
Hope someone can help me.

After taking the car out of it's routine winter storage, I have reconnected the battery. And started the engine, fine.
Seems to be running ok. BUT the radio no longer works (no power) and the antilock brake warning light has appeared on the dash.
Is this coincidence that they both happen at the same time? Have I blown a fuse or is it something more serious?

Next question,
The air conditioning unit has always been temperamental. After recharging the gas and other simple checks, the climate control still remains to be stuck on scorching. Is this an easily replaceable part / board. Or something else?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Kind regards, Ben.

 

[Fen]

You've taken the car out of what?

Sorry, being facetious but why store it over the winter? Use it, you won't have all these post-storage niggles if you do.

In terms of the ABS light it could be a number of things. Often it is a bad connection or corroded sensor or something small like that but it can take a bit of tracking down. You aren't the only ABS light on after the winter.

No idea on the radio but I doubt it's linked directly to the ABS.

The heater problem could be a vacuum control but first I'd check the plastic clips that link the control rods together. They are accessed by removing the glove box liner (5 screws but careful not to short the light against the dash on the way out) and are on the right when you get in there. They are pennies to replace but if they go brittle and break the heater fails to hot.

 

[Diver944]

Welcome Ben (prepare yourself for a lot of time chewing the cud about all things 944 [] )

I bet Fen is 100% spot on about the plastic clip behind the glovebox, both of my cars have snapped this in the past few years. I hear that being Teutonically efficient all German cars are designed to fail on full hot.

I would check the simple things like fuses first for the ABS, maybe they went when reconnecting the battery. Have you considered just getting a battery conditioner to keep the car plugged into if your not using it [8|] There is a risk of insurance implications for leaving an alarmed car with its battery disconnected.

If it's not the fuses, there are small diamon shaped sensors behind each brake disk that can be cleaned, and after that its a case of getting the ECU checked by a Bosch agent

 

[berg944]

Remove glove box (RHD)

look to the right

Rod A should be in plastic clip B

Buy a new plastic clip (approx. £2) or it will come out again

Mike

 

[Guest]

First post....interesting forum (I'm in the US btw)

Anyways, after cleaning the sensors as Paul suggest you can test each with a digital VOM set to AC volts by unplugging the connection at the pigtail and rotating each raised wheel one at a time, each sensor should display 0-1-2VAC depending on how fast you can spin the wheel by hand.....Most failed ones (open) are due to the wire separating right where it enters the plastic connector near the strut.
If you find one not displaying a reading on the DVOM you can easily shave back the plastic and make a solder repair and save the $...

TT

 

[Fen]

Welcome TT. It's nice to have some of our US based fellow enthusiasts here and I'm liking the look of your engine bay from you avatar. What spec is your car running?

I take it your a Rennlister checking out the UK side of things?

 

[Guest]

Thanks Fen, TT, Paul and Mike for your amazingly quick responses and good info.[]

I shall check the bits at the weekend. I hope it is the plastic strut with regard to the heating problem, sounds nice and simple! Is the car still 'safe' to drive with the warning light on? ie. to the Bosch agent if thats the source?

ref: Fen. I wish I could drive it every day, just have two other cars to run. Work in an industrial estate with plenty of nails in the road which has been expensive in the past. And it's nice to keep the best things for the weekend, to fully enjoy them not stuck in 8am traffic. I hear what you're saying though.

 

[Chris Goodman]

On the radio - there will be an 'in-line' fuse in the power lead buried behind the dash and probably a low power internal fuse. Couple of thoughts - when you reconnected the battery did you perhaps boost or jump start the car? If so, might have blown the radio fuse if the radio was turned on. Radio problem may be related to the ABS problem as - don't know if it's the same on Porsche - on Mercs ABS is sensitive to incorrect voltage anywhere in the car system and can turn off (light comes on) if wrong bulb is fitted in a tail-light for instance or if battery isn't charging.

 

[Guest]

Welcome TT. It's nice to have some of our US based fellow enthusiasts here and I'm liking the look of your engine bay from you avatar. What spec is your car running?

Hey thanks for the welcome Fen (begging pardon from Booj for semi-hijacking)...
This car in my avitar, my personal street car, is a stock block 2.5L with ported intake/gasket matched cylinder head, Garret compressor/KKK #8 turbine (SFR), SFR MAF with ARC2, Tial 38mm wastegate with SFR adapter plates and manual boost controller, 55#hr. Siemens injectors, SFR intercooler pipes, cat-free exhaust and free flow muffler...
Counting two near complete parts cars (neither turbocharged), a 944S that I just gave my 17 yr. old son and my ongoing track car project I have 5 944 series cars currently...
Sad, I know...[]

I take it your a Rennlister checking out the UK side of things?

I guess you could say that....I'm registered there and visit every now and then and help whomever I can. Not to sound snooty but I have alot of experience with these cars, I've restored 3 cars totally from the ground up and built my first car (my son's current 944S) around 12-15 years ago, bought as a salvage with the engine in boxes......
The thing about Rennlist that bugs me is that every time you turn around each thread has a member on a membership crusade, you know the drill, "benefits you recieve from the site vs. small fee", etc.... I'd like to think I have some knowledge to contribute (like others) to the people who need palces like Rennlist to keep these great cars from meeting the scrap yard fate....

Somehow through the PCGB, a friend of mine from the UK from an F1 forum that I frequent helped me with some useful info about an aftermarket body panel supplier so I figured I'd have a look-see at what you guys are about....
Must remember wings=fenders, bonnet=hood....

Looks great, and again, thanks for the welcome....

TT

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Turbo T


Must remember wings=fenders, bonnet=hood....

TT

Fanny is not a bottom
Pants are what superman wore Outside his trousers
Pussy is a cat

And Colour is not spelt color.

[]

 

[Fen]

Easy Slim, I want to know more about this car...

Got any more pics TT? I'd be interested in why you went with the SFR stuff - I don't have personally experience with them but I know some on here have and were not overly complimentary about the service. I have always used Lindsey or Pelican for US parts in the past and had no problem with either. I'm pretty much done with buying bits now except for a turbo and I'm leaning toward Lindsey's Super 75.

What's the track project car like?

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: slim_boy_fat

Fanny is not a bottom
Pants are what superman wore Outside his trousers
Pussy is a cat

And Colour is not spelt color.

[]

Hiya, slim_boy, I recognize you from RL...

Don't you mean "spelled"......?

Re. Colour, humour, honour, etc., I get alot of that from the international F1 forum where I hang out alot. Check out aluminium vs. aluminum and see who's right on that one.....[]

TT

 

[Guest]

Hi Fen, thanks for the reply...

I built my car several years ago when people were mostly modifying the intake pipes to use the factory AFM. MAF's were just becoming popular. As a matter of fact I ended up sending the stainless adapter/elbow, etc. back to Tim to get the "new" hot wire MAF when they were coming out- the now defunct Huntley Racing probably being the first.

Anyways, to better answer your question as to "why SFR"...
Tim Richards is an excellent welder and his scratch fabrication of the parts I wanted couldn't be beat. Tim was tuning 951s and building go-fast products before many of the current vendors..
There's a certain intangible there too I guess I just hit it off with him.
I'm a self employed transmission repair shop and part time Porsche 944/951 technician/restorer and was at one time (I'd have to check my current status) authorized to resell SFR products but I have no real affiliation and quite honestly haven't spoken/written to Tim in a year or two...
I was once planning on tracking a car logo-ed in SFR colors and maybe that's where the ralashionship comes from...it's been a while and SFR has ventured off into many other makes/models...
Hey Tim, if you stumble on this thread, I'm still open to some sponsorship in parts.....

My real name is Terry (listed in my profile) and my friends over at the F1 forum coined the moniker 'Turbo-T' because I'm always talking about my 951 projects.
I can see now looking at my username here that you may have thought it stood for Turbo Tim....?

I had heard some of SFR customers reported slow shipping, slow contact, etc. but I'm pretty sure most of the problems were previous partner problems and last I heard (about the time the website changed) he was over that hurdle and had a reliable secure partner in Keith Ta these days.

I use Lindsey Racing too, bought quite a few items from Dave and Mike- they give 10% off GT-Racing fiberglass.... AAMOF, I'm pretty certain they've given me a "jobber" discount on a few items since I own a shop..

I've never bought anything from Pelican that I can remember. I usually get all of the non-high performance stuff from either my local dealer- Benson Porsche (formerly Crescent City Motors) in New Orleans or from Jason Burkett at Paragon Products... They're awesome people, quick to answer the phone and a joy to work with.
Not just suspension components, Jason will work on getting ANY Porsche part you require, really reliable guys, again not affiliated....[]

On the turbo-
Not to drum up business for either vendor, but opening the SFR site home page during this post I notice that SFR has the GT30R and GT35R dual bb turbos on special this month for $1295 USD vs. normal price of $1499 and $1599 respectively...
That being said, Lindsey is cranking out impressive power as well with their own recipes....

Looking at their refreshed 944 home page as of today makes me want to dig out that spare 3.0 block and crankshaft I have crated up.....(they offer Mahle low compression piston kit).
They've just finished a Rl'ers car with the 3.0L 8V buildup and this page-
http://www.lindseyracing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=LR
claims 461.4 bhp and 406 lbs.ft torque at 18 psi on pump gasoline (93 octane RON here/US)

The 968 blocks are much more stout as well being the cylinders are supported higher up the side by the factory casting let alone the piston oil squirting feature.

Nice stuff....

For the sake of not risking going on and on with an unreadably long post re. your last question...
Do you wish to know anything specific about my 951 track car project....?

TT

 

[Guest]

On the "more pics" request (1st time posting a pic) here's an aero splitter I've been working on based on the GT-Racing splitter then modified with Techart 996 type center and 993 RS Clubsport....

 

[Guest]

And my 17 year old son's (my ex) 1987 944S with M474 sports suspension option...

1995 Porsche 968 color-Coral Red Metallic and 2001 996 10 spoke wheels....

 

[Diver944]

Gorgeous looking cars Tim and your input is fully welcome over here. 5 944s to choose from and one given to your 17 yr old son, that is one lucky son. When I was 17 my dad let me drive his beat up 12 yr old Ford Cortina estate (station wagon), boy would I have liked a Porsche []

I bought a Tial wastegate from Tim as part of a Rennlist group buy that several of us PCGBers joined in. Excellent price, speedy delivery, the only problem we had is that ALL of us failed to double check how tight the bolts were that held on the adaptor plates as they shipped from Tim. Within a few weeks they loosened and as the seal started to blow it disintegrated the gaskets. Apart from that, its a well made product and now my bolts are fully tightened, I've had no problem in 18 months and 20k miles. I really fancy some of Tims intercooler pipes when I one day replace the standard air box.

Back to Bens ABS problem - the light is just an indication that the ABS may not be working. The brakes themselves will still work fine. Best find a quiet, wide, straight road and slam the anchors on at a slow speed - you'll soon know if the ABS is actually working

 

[Fen]

Thanks Terry (and don't mind Paul calling you Tim, I'm beginning to think he's genetically unable to get names right []). Your son's car is an unusual colour, at least over here. You having 5 944's beats what I think was our previous record of myself having owned 5 944's (never more than 2 at the same time though) over the past 9 years.

I'm just generally interested in your track car especialy if it's anywhere similar to mine because I still have a few options left on my car before all the harware is chosen. I suspect yours might me a non road legal car, possibly even used competitively on track in which case it's not like mine but if it's a trackday (driver's ed?) car then that's exactly what mine will be.

I did a bit more turbo research last night and I'm less decided than ever. My choices look like being a Vitesse stage III, Lindsey Super (75, 65?) and the GT30R looks like it would fill the gap under my inlet manifold pretty well too.

Lastly apologies to Ben for taking your post so far off topic that I'd forgotten it was off topic. In fact, are you sure it wasn't your first post that was off topic in a thread about Terry's cars? [][][]

 

[Guest]

Don't mind me,

It's nice to be in such intelligent company for a change, and seeing as it's all about porsches, I'm learning stuff too.
Anyway I think my question was answered; I just poke about under the glove box and bonnet (hood to our US friends).
Trial and error.

Cheers,

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: booj


It's nice to be in such intelligent company for a change,

Apart from me Bob

why oh why oh why can I not read names correctly [&o]

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Diver944

I bought a Tial wastegate from Tim as part of a Rennlist group buy that several of us PCGBers joined in. Excellent price, speedy delivery, the only problem we had is that ALL of us failed to double check how tight the bolts were that held on the adaptor plates as they shipped from Tim. Within a few weeks they loosened and as the seal started to blow it disintegrated the gaskets. Apart from that, its a well made product and now my bolts are fully tightened, I've had no problem in 18 months and 20k miles. I really fancy some of Tims intercooler pipes when I one day replace the standard air box.

I think I swapped Tim at SFR a left hand turbo 2.5L engine mount pedestal, a down pipe and the short coupling between the crossover pipe and the wastegate for my Tial.
He needed the parts for a conversion at the time and I had them lying around-so worked out pretty good for me....[]

BTW- No worries on the name confusion....
My real name is simply Terry and my friends from the UK at the F1 forum call me Terrence......

TT