Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi everyone, i recently bought an early 944, its a 1985 B reg square dash Non turbo.

It has developed a fault with both taillights not working, and the intermittent wiper isnt working, no screen washers front and rear,and no headlap washers working. As well as this when i brake hard or use the indicator a very loud honk from the horn is heard, which has been happening when i sometimes use the windscreen wipers as well, ive changed fuses to no avail, could it be a cross connection somewhere? or bad relay? im new to diy mechanics but don't have a huge budget to spend on auto electricians. Somehow it got through an MOT and obviously seller claims everything was fine when he sold it me which is why he delivered it on a trailer? lol,

Also when ive put the fuseback in back a lot of clicking noises can be heard, coming from the the fusebox area,

any advice truly gratefull,

Mark

Right its unlikely but its free and easy. These old bullet fuses are sussceptable to corrosion. Take them all out and scotch bright the ends.

Mark, get underneath the fusebox area, remove the glovebox first which is a dozen screw, you will see wiring connecting to the bulkhead, this is usually brown, check they are tight, remove them and clean then refit.
Disconnect one of the battery leads beforehand.
You also have an earth connection on the bulkhead at the back of the engine, check out the connection from the battery to the body also.
Good luck keep us posted.

Thanks for the advice il get onto both jobs this afternoon, Il post any results, thanks guys,

Hey again, update here, weather has been grim so havnt spent much time out there wth the issues, ive replaced the headlight switch(needed doing anyhow) at a rip off price from d/valley, but this only served to ensure headlights pop up every time rather than randomly, which is a bit of a bonus,

Still no dash lights, no tail lights, its time to work through the tasks you assigned me in the morning, ive taken the glove box out so far and have located the brown connector, I have also lowered the fusebox ready to get at.

Any tips on how to get the plugs at the back of the fusebox undone as they are very well wedged in.

Mark

No luck im afraid, ive had to admit puzzledom and its going to the auto sparky this afternoon, will post what he finds for anyone with similar problems, thanks for the help anyhow guys it was worth doing as they needed a clean, judging by my wires it looks a few need new connections, even found a few cut wires which were probably where the P/O has cut out the alarm, hope he hasnt cut any of the wires im looking for

Mark,

SUCCESS!! auto sparky couldnt do work today so rebooked for saturday, However, After cleaning all the earths i could find up top (frenchy inspired) and cleaning all fuses and connections ( Thanks Broady ) with the wifes emery boards (sandpaper lolly sticks) i got the front side light working and 1 tail light working, spurred on by the success of that I was adamant the other isuue had to be a bulb? so i removed the back off the rear right cluster to expose the bulbs and after removing the bulb noticed the connection was dirty, so disconnected the plug, took the back plate into the kitchen undid the three plastic clips carefully and sanded every electrical point and bulb connection with the wifes emery cloth again, (none left now and she aint happy!) put the bulbs back in and EUREKA all lit up on the exterior!

Still no luck with the dash lights though, however the ashtray light now works, and the rear hatch light now works, as well as the map reading ight in the front, cigarette lighter works.

SADLY
still no intermittant wipers,
no windscreen washers,
Horn still beeps when i indicate,
no dash board lights,

noticed a drivers side floor wet.

Great news! It sounds like your car has suffered with water ingress at some stage leading to the corrosion. my cars don't suffer with damp but I keep disposable dehumidifiers in all may cars, they're £1 each from pound stretcher. Makes a big difference at this time of year. Im experimenting with reusable ones. But I may need two per car.

On the horn, on the aircooled vws the horn wiring colour was very similar to earth (brown with a faint light blue stripe). Often people would connect it as an earth accidently which resulted in the horn tooting with another operation. Press of the brakes flash of the indicators ECT. Im not sure if the wiring follows the same scheme.

Yes there was some spots of water in the casing for the right side cluster, I think I'll be heading to poundland for some of those dehumidifiers they sound like a good idea,

I believe it has stood for a while so im wondering if damps set in behind the dash as well as the lights there are dead, thursdays job me thinks. il have a look at the horn solution you suggested as well while the dash is apart,

Mark,

I use the rechargeable ones (2 in the car), more expensive to start with, not so messy, but they have 2-3mm (plastic?) balls inside which absorb the moisture & turn pinkish/white when full up. Recharge them with supplied mains lead and they turn Blue when fully dry ready to put back in the car.
do a google search on "rechargeable mini dehumidifiers" lots to chose from and reviews on amazon.
The ones I use are http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/coo ... dst05934i/
Clive

Took a look at coopers thru the link, order placed