New Newbie 3 questions

Guest · Sep 13, 2006

Hi,
After 9 months of searching for a Silver 993 Targa, I gave up and got a Silver 993 C4.
I'm glad I did, that extra bit grip is a comfort to an inexperienced Porsche driver like myself.
Three questions:
Is the door meant to make two loud clunking noises as it closes? - both sides
Which independent is recommended for servicing in the South East? - I'm in Brighton
and
Has anyone found a satisfactory all-in-one Sat Nav and Speedcamera detector that doesn't look out of place
or clutter up the dashboard?
Thank In Advance

JoeM
993C4

968er · Sep 13, 2006

Joe,

Sounds like both of the door stays have failed and that will cost about £400 a side if you go to an OPC.

Sat Nav that I have is a Sony rebadged Becker i DIN model, as to speed cameras, I use a Road Angel.

Sundeep · Sep 13, 2006

try the search function, has been covered

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=102263

fergusond · Sep 14, 2006

Joe you can repair the door stays for nothing!, take the door lining off (five minute job) remove the stay catch/rollers via the two 10mm bolts, also remove the pin connecting the arm to the inner wing, take the catch to bits, clean it, lubricate it, try it to see if it glides OK, trim a bit off the rubbers if required. refit, thirty minutes a side, saves an expensive wing repair. See P-Car.com for better explantion.

get use to these types of repairs on 993's

good luck David

Guest · Sep 15, 2006

Thanks for all the tips. I tried the P-car repair but the inner wing fixing on the drivers side has come loose.
I was quote £400 to cut a chunk out of the pillar and do the job properly or £20 to run a bead of weld
along the top and bottom. No contest really, I'll try the cheepo solution first and see how long it holds.
I heard that Porsche used to fix these under warranty. Any truth in that? The car is only 9 years old.
On the bright side, the passenger door was ok, only the bolts holding the door stay in had come loose,
two ticks with a spanner and all is well. Though I will do the P-car trim on it and get a bead of weld on while
it is in the garage.

fergusond · Sep 16, 2006

Hallo Maurice,
yes you are right if things are left to get this bad as to need £400 welding repairs, but I think people need to be be more aware of preventive maintainance and the simple task of taking out cleaning and lubricating the catch device inside the door that causes this expensive repair. Over the years this problem keeps reappearing yet no one says look, check or replace the door catch to stop this problem! It should be a regular maintainance task identified at OPC's and Specialists
just my ½ pennies worth

regards David.

Shane Hodges · Sep 24, 2006

Joe, just thought I would respond re the Sat Nav and Speed Camera question. I have the Alpine INA N333RS (1-Din) DVD system which is excellent. Given that it is only a 4 digit postcode search (although I don't have the very latest disk and am not sure if that has changed), it sometimes struggles with addresses that don't have a number (eg Country Houses.) I am keeping the car as original as possible and did not want to change the look of the interior to any great extent. I personally don't think it looks out of place but Sundeep thought differently and went the Becker route.

Re the Speed Camera issue, I did not want a large gadget sat in the middle of my dashboard. I therefore went for a Micro Road Pilot. This fits perfectly in the corner of the dash and attaches to the windscreen. It merges perfectly with the cowle over the instruments and the wiring is lost down the same hole as the aeriel wiring so you have virtually no wire showing. I now use it as the speedo as it is far easier to read than the gauge. Once a week or so I take it off the mount, plug it into the computer and get the latest update - it is a fantastic device which I am very happy with. I have also got the laser detector mounted under the front number plate .... had a few false alarms and might have to take it off it they change the law, but it's staying for now.

I'll take some pictures when I am in the car tomorrow and upload them.

fergusond · Sep 26, 2006

Hallo Maurice,
I'm interested to know what your own soultion will be to the dreaded clicking, take the catch out of the door and overhaul it, buy a new one and fit it, or wait till it locks onto the arm and pushes the weld off the back door hinge support jab (or what ever its called).
Or will you try a warrenty claim from OPC?

regards David

Shane Hodges · Sep 29, 2006

Joe, pictures (at last) as promised. GPS receivers are hidden under front PU so no silly black squares visible anywhere. If this works, this will be the Road Pilot ... next message is Sat Nav.

Shane Hodges · Sep 29, 2006

That seemed to work Joe. Last picture was Micro Road Pilot and this should be the Sat Nav.

Mark Elder · Sep 30, 2006

Shane, How tough was it to get the cabling through to the front PU? Or did your supplier fit them that way?

Shane Hodges · Oct 1, 2006

Mark, to give you a fuller picture, I wanted to upgrade the whole Hi-Fi system and incorporate Sat Nav at the same time. I looked at an enormous number of options over about 6 months and then dicussed them with various installers over another 3 or so months.

What I went for is the Alpine INA N333RS linked to a CD/MP3 changer positioned in the spare wheel (hence no loss of luggage space.) The DVD for the Sat Nav is in the head unit so there is no separate box. The front speakers are JL Audio XR's run through a Genesis amp situated under the front passenger seat. The rears are Boston Accoustics run off the head unit. I also had the Micro Road Pilot (+ radar) and a Parrot Blue tooth handsfree car kit installed at the same time - the car kit is run through the head unit and just the rear speakers so it mutes the hi-fi when in use.

I was particularly fussy about everything (eg original look to car, no wires showing, no loss of luggage space, no "black squares" from GPS receivers etc etc) and ended up using a man called Ben at The Sound Gallery - he had worked on 993's before and was the only person to suggest using the grommet for the aeriel to loose all the Micro Road Pilot wiring. They also had a Lambo in when I first went up to see them!

... so to answer your question at last, there is an awful lot of wiring coming from inside the car that is finding itself through the front of the car (the battery, the front PU and the number plate) - the wiring is all neatly fastened under the fabric/carpet cover under the bonnet.. I therefore don't think it was very difficult to get the cabling to the front PU, but maybe more difficult to get the little black squares under the PU - the PU was not removed though. I must point out though that I did leave all the instal to Ben and his team.