Removing clock to get at aerial

[cobalt911]

Hello all,

any tips on pulling the clock out? I have a sneaking suspicion that the aerial has come undone (no signal). I tentatively tried the "levering out with a rag covered screwdriver" method but I chickened out when it looked like I might damage the rubber surround (it is pretty tight!). Any suggestions will be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Pete B]

Try a squirt of WD40 using the straw type adaptor and aim at the joint between rubber seal and clock body. It should be possible to gently rotate the clock body out. Its also possible to access the rear of the clock thru the non-existent firewall from the front luggage compartment!
HTH

 

[barrysmith]

Try the other clocks if one is easy, place hand inside and push the clock from the rear.

 

[MarkG]

Find an old screwdriver or piece of flat bar and bend the end (about 1/2") to form a right angle.

Then pop out the 'clock time advance' button and feed this new tool inside so that it hooks behind the clock and
then carefully pull it forward, simples !!

 

[clyde]

Maybe a stupid question but why not just slide the radio out?

 

[plhorner]

ORIGINAL: clyde

Maybe a stupid question but why not just slide the radio out?

I think you'd need exceptionaly long, slender and flexible arms! The radio is in the centre of the dash, the clock is about as far right as you can get (unless you've got a left hooker).

I always go in there from the luggage compartment, there's then no risk of damage to the clocks.

Good luck

 

[cobalt911]

Great suggestions one and all (apart from the radio one ;-))

Managed to 'lever' the clock out in the end with a screwdriver and cloth and more courage. Rather annoyingly the aerial was connected fine so I am resigned to having no radio in the car but I prefer the sound the exhaust anyway!

Cheers again...

Mark

 

[Mark Elder]

So does that mean there is a break in the aerial inside the glass then?

On a connected note (no pun intended), I realised at the weekend how much interference my HID lights cause the radio. Was driving in an area with fairly poor radio reception, but it was working acceptably. Switched on the headlights and suddenly I had to give up with the radio and go across to the iPod. In good reception area I don't get any interference.

 

[clyde]

ORIGINAL: cobalt911

Great suggestions one and all (apart from the radio one ;-))

Mark

Hey, c'mon, when I hear that someone suspects that their car aerial isn't connected it seems reasonable to assume the first place they'd want to look is the back of the radio; it is rather a flimsy connection after all. Unfortunately I find my psychic powers don't work so good over distances in excess of a few miles so was unaware that you had already checked this and moved on to the connection with the wire in the screen or the signal booster. Please accept my heart felt apologies for causing you to waste 20 seconds of your life reading my response, I'll try not to let it happen again. []

For what it's worth Phil, I have a lefty

 

[Guards Red]

To be fair the booster receives it's power from an output on the radio. It's a wire that runs inside the outer sheath of the aerial wire, you need to check this wire receives a 12volt feed from the radio. Pull the radio, disconnect the aerial wire and check for the power lead which should be black. If it's not connected it'll kill the booster.

 

[jboult]

Mark,

FYI, I had the same interference problem (I live in a very poor reception area). I tried swapping the ballasts and shielding the HT feed - no joy. Eventually I got a separate DAB unit and now enjoy crystal clear reception and more channels...

Cheers/John

 

[cobalt911]

Sorry Clyde - I thought you meant go through the radio slot to get to the back of the clock ha ha.....not trying to be 'clever'!

I did have a look-see at the aerial connections into the radio and all seems solid so it could be one of those things....

This is my third replacement screen and it is a PORSCHE one (after the last 2 dud copies from autoglass) so I am now prepared to do without the radio and enjoy the lack of squeak and decent quality....if the radio connector the screen is duff, so be it ;-) will use Ipod only....

Thanks all again....

PS - interesting comment on the DAB radio - I thought you needed a really good aerial connection for one of those (or so it seems in my kitchen!)

 

[jboult]

The DAB radio I use has its own aerial that you stick to the inside of the windscreen - discrete and tidy enough that I don't mind. The only thing I had to do was try different routes for the cable back to the DAB unit as it seems to make a real difference to reception quality. I aslo have terrible DAB reception in the house, so I'm surprised myself that it works so well.

Cheers/John

 

[Mark Elder]

Hi John,

Interesting that you are finding DAB works ok in the car. I'd got the impression that the transmitters were still too few-and-far-between. What's it like on, say, a long motorway journey - does it maintain continuous signal?

Mark

 

[jboult]

Mark,

I can't claim to have driven all the UK motorways (!), but I've not had a problem on the M6/M1/M25/M40/M42/M3/M23/M27/M4 or M11. The only caveats I have are:

- on local roads, if you're in a very bad DAB reception area and drop into dips etc. you get the occasional drop out (my drive is a good example, which is handy because if I set the aerial so I get something there then I get excellent cover almost everywhere else).

- as you drive on long journeys you may need to retune the frequency the DAB unit broadcasts on to avoid having interference from local FM stations bleeding across. The unit I use is easy to do this on so not a big problem.

I wouldn't say it's the perfect solution, but having spent a good deal of time experimenting with the aerial cable routing I almost always get 90%+ signal quality, which gives excellent results. For me, this is far better than the unbearable interference from the HIDs and also means I actually get to listen to Radio 5 in stereo (along with all those DAB only stations we all secretly love...)!

Cheers/John

p.s. Ouch - pedant that I am I just noticed I used the wrong "discrete" in my previous post. Apologies to all those who find that jars as much as I do. I shall just claim fat fingers....

 

[tim993]

ORIGINAL: cobalt911

PS - interesting comment on the DAB radio - I thought you needed a really good aerial connection for one of those (or so it seems in my kitchen!)

FYI - i've had a DAB radio in my 993 for 2 years now and use one of those aerials that sticks on the outside of the glass which makes an inductive 'connection' through the glass to the signal wire. Therefore, no need to drill any holes. Thus far it seems to work very well - i even get radio reception in the garage, which surprised me with all the metalwork around it.

tim

 

[jmspear]

Hi Mark,

I just the screen replaced in my car, same problem. I popped out the radio and clock, remade all the connections (which all looked Ok and intact) and hey presto, perfect reception. Probably just a loose connection? I presume you have checked power from radio to the amplifier behind the clock?

On a seperate note, I have a DAB radio fitted to my Golf GTI (with replacement Blaupunkt DAB beesting aerial - fitted it myself, big job air bags out roof out, parts of dash out) reception on all BBC channels is great, anywhere, other (commercial) channels a bit hit and miss, depending on whether near big city or decent transmitter. But the quality is seriously awesome!

Hope that helps

John

 

[cobalt911]

Thanks John - great info!

Mark

 

[IndischRot]

ORIGINAL: tim993
FYI - i've had a DAB radio in my 993 for 2 years now and use one of those aerials that sticks on the outside of the glass which makes an inductive 'connection' through the glass to the signal wire. Therefore, no need to drill any holes. Thus far it seems to work very well - i even get radio reception in the garage, which surprised me with all the metalwork around it.

tim

Which aerial is that?

 

[jmspear]

quick update on my radio fix, well I get every station strongly in Cheltenham, as I go down the 417/419 dual carriageway to swindon, I lose all BBC channels except BBC radio Glos, get GWR (heart) strongly (and can't get R4 or R1 in Swindon), and then as I leave wilts on the M4 towards London pick up everything fine, from Hungerford all the way to Gatwick - weird?

I presume that I must have some type of loose connection of partial break which means I am only picking up strong transmitter signals? To recap, I had basically very littel signal following screen reaplcement, then checked and remade all connections and that seemed to have cured the problem (at least in Cheltenham) and now it depends on where I am in the country, so comes and goes on the move.

Reception was fine everywhere with the old screen. Only thing to change has been the screen and any connections distirbed when it was replaced.

Will start replacing the wire from the set to the amplifier, looks a simple replacement with some wire from radio shack