Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

When I bought my 928 in August the aircon was working, but it lasted 3 weeks. Clearly regassed for sale then. I got a local guy out to it and he replaced the valves plus the drier and converted it to R134, at a cost of £130 plus the drier at £30. Everything was OK.....for 3 weeks.
I took it to a well regarded Porsche specialist last month and they tested it with dye and said it needed a new condenser. OK I said and £500 later it was working again....for 2 weeks.
The question is, what now? I'm a bit fed up with throwing money at it.

Unless by "well regarded Porsche specialist" you mean Richard Armstrong (I would be amazed if that were the case) then he is the man - only does 928 aircon as a sideline to his main industrial controls business. It is a quirky system compared with mainstream, hence value of Richard who is nice guy, 928 owner and latterly 928 racer to boot!

http://www.ritech-systems.com/928/Maint ... etail.html

He's in Wiltshire but he will do the job properly.

I'd take it back to the guy you just paid £500 to fix it and ask him to sort it free of charge.
He quoted for the job and clearly has not done it?
Sounds like its the same issue still?

Regards
Paul

Hi

I agree totally with Adrian, you need to go to see Richard Armstrong, he will not only make it work PERMANENTLY, he will also tell you what the other guys did to help you get your money back....

Richard A is a good guy who also arranges the annual 928 track day at Castle Coombe each year....

He lives near Paul Anderson, just outside of Stroud.

Here is his site....http://www.ritech-systems.com/

Click on 928 at the bottom...

All the best Brett

Another ABSOLUTE plug for Richard Armstrong. There IS no-one else to take a 928 aircon to. Get your money back from the guys who have over charged you for services not fit for purpose!

Cheers
Chris

I hate to say "I told you so" but remembered you asked about this early in ownership of your car Lightning. On 13th September I posted:



But you can ignore all my inadequate tips, and instead get the car seen by the only 928 aircon guy in the UK - Richard Armstrong in Devizes Wilts. Yes it's a long way but he is the man

http://www.ritech-systems.com/928/Maint ... oning.html

He's sorted out many cars for 928 owners. He is a regular on the 928.org.uk list so also if you join the list (free) you can search its archivews and follow current aircon threads. Richard is a very keen 928 owner and only does whatever work is necessary after expert diagnosis.

I had a look at it this morning and it seems that the air con IS working, but the heater is blowing warm air at the same time, even on the cold setting. I took the centre vent off the console and there is definately warm AND cold air coming out at the same time.
What is this wierd fault?

Sounds like problem with the setting motor which mixes cold air and air from heater matrix.

Things to check:

Is motor travelling between full hot and full cold positions?

Does the full cold override microswitch on dash control have any effect?

Is the setting motor getting correct resistance signal from temperature setting string comprising cabin sensor, external sensor, temp control lever on dash (if any component buggered the setting motor will go to full hot. Will also go full hot if either thermistor has gone out of spec high (my cabin sensor did this but perfect control now replaced)


For full details of troubleshoot procedures above see the workshop manual (full detail on hvac system) and/or Rennlist and Wally Plumley's notes on HVAC (google)

Adrian

If the aircon is blowing hot all the time it could be a sensor fault. I had a similar issue with mine but Richard sorted it out for me immediately.

Cheers
Chris

Thanks for all the advice. I would love to take the car to Ritec but it's so far away....it would be a full day just to deliver it and get the train home, then another full day to get it back. Also if there was any problem with the car, it would be another full day to get it back there, and another to pick it up. Being self employed I just cannot get that time off at the moment.

I'm pretty sure there has to be some way of arranging it. Honestly, there is only one person you can take a 928 to for aircon and then simply KNOW that it will work correctly from then on. That person.... is.... Richard.

Cheers
Chris

An update the aircon is still working! It seems a lottery on the 928 when you press that little button on the air distribution console if anything will happen, but it's still OK and that's over 3 months now since Loe Bank Motors did it.

The fault causing warm air all the time was the interior sensor, well the motor which was jammed due to my not refitting it correctly. Also a new non-return valve was needed as the HVAC system was very sluggish. So a bit of a plug for Loe Bank Motors in Rochdale....lets see how they get on with the noisy torque converter.

Sounds good Lightning. I only fixed my hot air problem after finding both the sensor was faulty (resistance way too high so always signalling for hot) and compounded by the fan motor which hardly turned! Had to buy both new parts but system now works really well. It's actually a very reliable and clever system, but many components prone to failure (especially vacuum parts) after 20 years or more whether a 928 or not.

By non-return valve do you mean the hot water valve? That would be sluggish if there was a slight leak in the vacuum actuator as it would take much longer for the arm to go to full travel when vacuum switched to it (in default position with no vacuum it allows hot water from block to heater matrix).

Loe Bank/Chris Sanderson has a fine reputation in 928 circles.

Whats the latest with the noise from underneath Lightning?

Noise from underneath, still waiting for specialist to get time to look at it. Car drives OK but knocking and vibration from area of torque converter.

Non-return valve I meant the little blue/black plastic one in the vacuum line under the air filter. Oh and I also fitted a new interior sensor.