I'm struggling to get out in the garage in the week because work has gone a bit mad - which is a nice problem to have in these odd times. However, Saturday mornings with Rad Mac & Huey are becoming a regular, and made some good progress today. First up was the new head temp sensor.
I could not test this at ambient temperature like the one Gus sent me, because it is a different connection type to the current loom. The reason for this is the 964 part is no longer made, and a 993 part replaces it. You therefore have to buy a new connector for the engine loom and swap it out to get everything working. Sensor first, the socket I modified worked perfectly
The rubber grommets went in really easily, despite some internet suggestions of them being a struggle. With it fed through into the engine bay, it needs to slide into the bracket - the new sensor having a clip which you push to allow it to sit where it needs to
The problem is that it would not slide far enough into the bracket, no matter what I did. It is designed to have a stop on it, but the stop was preventing it going far enough into the bracket, thus not allowing the retaining bracket to line up with the securing bolt
The only thing I could come up with, was to file the stop until I could get the sensor into the correct position. On the bench it would have taken about 30 seconds, but in the engine bay about half an hour ith the micro-files.
Until eventually I got it home and secured
So what should have been a 5 minute job took an hour. Then onto the connector - new and old
Peel back the rubber, and there was another beneath that. Despite having a proper set of terminal extractors, I could not get the old ones out, and did not want to pull too hard as they are tiny wires and could easily break, so I cut them off as long as I could
Then slid on the waterproof plugs (would have been easier to do this before stripping the wires as they were tight, but just managed by twisting them on. I decided to keep the old rubber boot as a 2nd line of defence, just as Porsche had done with the original. I just folded it right back on itself so I could complete the work
Then on with the connectors. The first was fine, the second I broke when clamping it up. Luckily, I had another in my parts bin from when I rewired the 914. It is a slightly different design, but still fits in the clip.
I had kept the old sensor, and checked the orientation of how it went in the car, and therefore which lead was live, which was earth (they may not be pole sensitive, but I did not want to cock it up at this stage!).
Then unto the new clip, at which point I had a doubt that the terminals might be vertical, rather than horizontal....so out with mirror and light but all is well and the correct orientation
All done
Before I reinstalled the fan, I started the car and it fired first time. Result
So then onto the fan, a job I wasn't much looking forward to. I went about it logically, repositioned the jubilee clips so the longest one was nearest the fan itself, which needed more wiggle room, and turned them around so I had better access to them to do them up. I also fitted the most difficult rubber seal first (onto the fan) and then slid the ducting tube into it, rather than trying to ease the rubber over the fan. This worked pretty exceptionally if I say so myself

and went together really nicely. I used a bit of wasing up liquid solution on the joints to provide a bit of slippage, and I did not bolt the fan in until after the ducts were all secured
Did it fix the HVAC, well, I don't know! I thought it did, because the fan works on all 4 speeds. But, thi is only on low temp settings (below 18 degrees). As soon as you turn the heat up, the blowers stop - this is the same from cold or with the engine fully warmed up and hot. So I am not sure yet what that means, I suppose it gives some demisting capability but not defrosting. It's a start I guess.
I also connected a new CCU under the dash, which is a little control module for the dash clocks and warning lights. They are prone to fail, so I bought a good used unit to try and fix the fan belt warning light issue, but alas it remains lit during running. I guess this must be the clock itself, therefore, so something to do when the gauges are refurbed.
For now at least, I have a running car again
