Clocks

Guest · Sep 12, 2005

So, I got the clock working on my car yesterday. From what i've heard it seems that the clock is bust on most cars, so I thought I'd let people know how I fixed mine in case the problem I found is a common one.

Basically the clock had become slightly seized, so that the spring could not move the mechanism. By removing the back cover (3 small nuts) and the plate, which has the +ve terminal on it (3 more nuts), I was able to check that the electro-magnet still worked by wiring it to a 12v battery (you may need to lightly sand the contacts with 1200 grit paper). The unit should rattle back and forth like mad if it works. This magnet shifts a pawl along a ratchet wheel and then the long spring forces the wheel round and turns the clock. I moved the wheel by hand for a while to loosen up the mechanism and then shortened the spring by about 10mm to give it a bit more force. I can't see a problem oiling the pivots of the mechanism, but although they're not ruby they should not need oil. Replace the plate, being careful to engage the pawl on the ratchet, and it should all work. I ran mine overnight against another clock to check the adjustment of the speed adjuster on the back and it is keeping good time. You get a real feeling of how old the car is when it's got a ticking clock in it!

If anyone wants some annotated pictures let me know.

Alex

Helen Goff · Sep 12, 2005

the clock in my car seems to work fine when the cars in use but stops when you switch the car off [:-]

bones · Sep 13, 2005

Which car are you talking about Helen, whichever one it sounds like the clock is wired into the ignition circuit and not direct to the battery which it should be, (I'm talking about Classic Porsche here)

Helen Goff · Sep 13, 2005

ORIGINAL: bones

Which car are you talking about Helen, whichever one it sounds like the clock is wired into the ignition circuit and not direct to the battery which it should be, (I'm talking about Classic Porsche here)

thought where this thread is posted might give the game away as to which porsche i was talking about [

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think your right about the wireing though i think the whole car could do with a check over sometimes it appears to have a life all of its own (Herbie mark 2 [

])

bones · Sep 13, 2005

Sometimes I'm too lazy to upload the site and just read the email warning of a new post I recieve without seeing the 912 register link [:-] Make a list of the faults Helen and find out a good (word of mouth) Porsche auto-electrician. On cars of this age it's often down to bad grounds and the old wiring breaking down and shorting out. If it's a problem get it looked at because the next stage is a fire! Get an estimate for the work before passing the car over though.

Helen Goff · Sep 13, 2005

eek!!! now im worried[:-]

bones · Sep 13, 2005

Don't worry just remember to get the job done at some point soon, the main places to check are where the wiring harness from the front of the car meets the engine bay harness as the intense heat makes the wire brittle and prone to fraying and breakages, this is a difficult job so inspect it and if it's not too bad hang on until you have to remove the engine and then inspect the engine bay wiring harness and repair as needed, the same with the wires going to the starter and the gearbox. To help matters inspect all fuses and clean their holders, inspect every electrical connection you can see and clean the terminals, including inside lights etc.

Guest · Oct 8, 2005

Congratulations on getting the clock fixed! Have you found out what was in the glovebox yet, I'm dying to know!

Guest · Oct 11, 2005

Still no luck on the glove box! Does anyone know if the door key is supposed to open the glove box? maybe the car's had new door locks at some point.

The rust arround the rear torsion bar turned out to be pretty bad. The repair bill would have been huge, so I took a week off work to do it myself. I needed to sort out the lights in the end to get it through the MOT - no problem I just switched the reverse and indicator wires and put in yellow bulbs, and there are side light fittings already in the main light.

Now it's up and runnning well. I bought a syncrometer to adjust the carbs, replaced the plugs and changed the oil. If you thought it was running well before you should see it now! We're slowly replacing the worn vinyl so it matches the lovely new pockets. We're about to start sorting out the paintwork to. Hopefully it will be looking good for the classic car show at the NEC.

912UK · Oct 11, 2005

The clocks are funny things I have had them apart and I have had my Dad's top instrument guy look at them and he has fixed many I have sent his way. Well when your working on 17 million pound jet fighters what's a Porsche clock..

He and I found that their is a solder fuse in these and it is VERY no VERY low heat solder ..you just can't get this any more. So most cars had their clocks soldered up with normal solder.. trouble was that the solder was a fuse set to break at a set rate. Now it's been soldered with a 6" nail . the clock will just burn up. Also some of the 70's eira clocks had very cheap plastic gears and these were just pants and break.. there was alot to it. I have mine working now and it's a nice sound when it still ticks when the engine is off.

Helen you have just got the clock wired to a ingnition circuit rather than the 12V continuious supply Easy fix and just reroute it and put in a new fuse LOW rate in line and straight to the 12V supply..

Mark

Guest · Oct 13, 2005

I didn't see this fuse solder in mine. Surely you can replace it with suitable current fuse wire. There's no complicated electronics in there - just a coil of wire and a resistor, so the rating doesn't have to be exact. You could try measuring the current through the circuit and put in something a bit higher - this might be difficult though because the magnet is only on for a fraction of a second. Where does the 6" nail come in? Is this an ad-hoc soldering iron?

I suppose fighter jets have gone over to quartz mechanisms by now.

912UK · Oct 14, 2005

If you have the joint still togeather then lucky you leave it be. The solder is VERY low melt point and Trust me Hrs of research went in to finding a suitable replacement there is none.