The Dirty 911: The Project Begins...

Following with interest.

Woody is that a York compressor you removed? Looks just like the one I'm trying to get out in my mercedes. The one in my car is really in there.

I'll have to look, I'm not sure.

Looks like a york - there's a bolt-in kit to switch to a sanden compressor - about 1/2 the size and lighter than the york

The original air conditioning compressor on a 911SC is a plunger-type pump. Noisy, rattly, inefficient and not reliable. The cool upgrade is to a "normal" compressor that is about a third the weight, more efficient, and saps less power.

David

It was also an R12 system and there was no pressure whatsoever in there when disconnected the compressor and the condenser.

The AC man basically told me the york compressors are throw away, especially with the cost of R12. I've only thought about wanting AC once, that was driving my pickup through Bakersfield at 105F, with the rear window open it was like getting cooked by convection.

Good luck with the targa!

When I last left off, I had gone through the ignition system and I had good spark and compression. The car wanted to fire, but wouldn't unless I gave it a quick shot of starting fluid (DO NOT try this if you don't have a Pop Off Valve!).

I suspected a fuel problem, which could have been old fuel in the tank, a bad fuel pump or relay or a clogged filter. I had also been told by a the previous owner that the car had "a broken throttle cable". Hmmm...

I wasn't looking forward to the throttle cable issue, because I couldn't see it anywhere and figured that it was buried deep within the car's center tunnel. I also couldn't find a replacement in any of the catalogs, or any mention of it in the shop manual. Hmmm...

I decided to go after the fuel pump first. It was obvious that someone else had been thinking about the same thing, because the stone guard that covers it had been removed. I was also not crazy about this job, for a couple of reasons. First, I was afraid to spill mass quantities of fuel on my new driveway and second because one of my books estimated the DIY cost of changing the fuel pump at $450. Fortunately, I spent some time with the part numbers and the Googles and I was able to find a compatible replacement online for $79 with free shipping. But I waited to place the order until I could trace the circuit and test the old pump. As it turns out, I wouldn't need one.

The first order of business was to check out the relay in the front fuse box. Porsches use European style ceramic fuses and the box looks as if it came out of the 19th century. Sharp eyes will also note that the red fuel pump relay is in the wrong position.

I noticed that there was a lot of corrosion on the relay and the fuse contacts so I got out some wire brushes and my Dremel tool and cleaned all of the contacts, relays and the tips of the fuses.

After the cleanup, I ran my diagnostics and everything seemed to be working as it should. When I turned the key to "On", I saw all of the gauges blink to life, warning lights, the A/C fan and the radio all came on for the first time. It was pretty obvious that the system was having a tough time moving electrons through the dirty contacts. It was also good to see that the fuel gauge was working but reading empty, so I added a couple of gallons of fresh fuel. I pulled the fuel pump relay again and the control unit plugs and cranked the engine to build up some oil pressure, then reinstalled them and the car fired right up!

Note to self: Immediately clean the fuse box contacts of any used car that I buy in the future. It's free and it makes good things happen.

With the car running, my attention turned to the "throttle cable" issue. Since I couldn't see it or find any reference to it, I posted a question on the Pelican 911 Tech Forum. A short time later, I had a few helpful explanations and a photo showing that there is no throttle cable, just a linkage with a few joints in it. This was outstanding news.

Tomorrow, I will get the car up in the air and clean the linkage pivots up with the Dremel. This, combined with the already planned project of sandblasting, painting and re-bushing the pedal cluster should have me in good shape in relatively short order.

Unfortunately, not my engine, but you get the idea:

Nice! Standard practice for me with any new o me car is to go through the fuse box to check that all the appropriate fuses are in place, not blown and of the correct value. It always amazes me what I find and fix when I do that, even on dealer-sold cars like the Wife's CPO Volvo XC90 that was missing the fuse for one of the seat heaters among other things.

Now I REALLY hate you.

I should have added that so far I have spent about $75 on parts: $50 for the door handle, $12 for spark plugs and $13 for the pedal bushing.

I will second the cleaning and inspection of the fuse box as a first to do thing. I solved most of the issues the AMC had when I did that.

In reply to Woody:

PM me for detailing questions. Depending on where you are in CT, hell--I'll make the drive.

I just started following and now it sounds like there's not much left to do!

gamby wrote: In reply to Woody: PM me for detailing questions. Depending on where you are in CT, hell--I'll make the drive.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm a lot closer to New York than RI. Besides, this car is way beyond the point of detailing. In fact, I may not even wash it.

Thanks For the info on this Woody. Makes possibly picking up and old 911 to play with not so daunting. I have an idea on what to look for now, and where to look.

Hey Woody,

The throttle linkage may also have become disconnected from the plate on the back of the motor. If you follow where your arrow is up the linkage there is a plate on the motor where it attaches. The linkages are all tied together with those little ball cup attachments. A friend had a 3.0 that he couldn't get gas to and it turned out the linkage was disconnected at the plate. With all that said I don't know if you can get to it with the motor in the car.

I wish you were closer I'd come give you a hand. But this thread has reminded me that there are little things on my car that I need to fix first.

In reply to octavious:

Thanks, but it's stuck at WOT, so I know that it didn't become disconnected. I disconnected the short linkage at the engine, so I can run the engine without blowing it up. Now I need to get under the car and get it all apart so I can clean and lube everything.

Today was a good day.

As you may recall, when I bought this car, the seller told me that it needed a new "throttle cable" and that it was a big job to replace. I bought the car anyway.

I stressed out about the "big job" for a week and a half, researched it for an afternoon and spent about an hour today solving the problem.

Since I couldn't find any reference to a throttle cable online or in any of the manuals, I posted a question about it over on the Pelican forum. Within an hour, I had an explanation and a photo of where to look. There is no throttle cable, just linkage, and it tends to bind up at a low pivot near the transmission. Here's the culprit, solidly locked up (As you can see, 911s tend to undercoat themselves over the years):

After a good soaking with PB Blaster and some serious leverage, I was able to get it almost all the way off (it was blocked by the suspension arm). I cleaned the shaft up with a wire brush on the Dremel. After an exhaustive survey of all the greases and lubes on the shelf in my garage, I finally chose Valvoline Heavy Duty Disc Brake Wheel Bearing Grease, primarily due to the fact that there was already a brush in the can. With everything cleaned, greased and reassembled, the entire linkage moved smoothly.

The "big job" that was probably the reason that the previous owner decided to sell the car, took an hour's worth of my labor and 15 cents for a new cotter pin.

Special thanks to my friends on Pelican for the info.

Pelican rawks.

David

It does not get any better than that, very cool.

Returned to fine running condition through $75 and a few hours of research and elbow grease?

looks like that line (oil, fuel?) is rubbing on the linkage, might be a good idea to tie that up and away from it to prevent firey death.

That's the parking brake cable. It broke free of its retainer. I've already taken care of it.

Times like these are when you are glad to buy someone else's problem.

I remember reading about someone that bought a Jeep that the PO said "needed a transmission". He got up under it and all the bolts were backed out. Tightened them up, filled 'er up with fluid, and it shifts like a champ.

Good show.