964 Clock and odd wiring

[Iddingtons]

Hi all,

I'm just trying to swap / check the clock over on my 964 as a few warning lights seem to have gone out i.e. seat belt warning light and a couple of others.

It's left me with a few questions though so hoping I can get some help from you all.

When the ignition is turned on, what warning lights should i get up initially? It's a 1991 coupe with no airbags if that helps.

When I pulled the clock out ready to check the bulbs / connections I noticed the wiring has been messed with on the car at some point. Instead of the connections below:



The smaller connection is a single wire with a female bullet style connector on the end i.e.



What I can't figure out is why this has been done and whether it should present any issues?

Id.

[boxsey]

When I took my clock out for the first time I was surprised to see what a ropey connection that single wire was. Therefore I guess that someone has tried to make it a better connection in your case? I believe the single wire is the earth connection for the clock.

[Iddingtons]

boxsey said:

When I took my clock out for the first time I was surprised to see what a ropey connection that single wire was. Therefore I guess that someone has tried to make it a better connection in your case? I believe the single wire is the earth connection for the clock.

Ah OK, that would make sense. I wonder if this connection is still a little poor as sometimes the battery warning light very faintly lights up (I've checked the battery though and it recieves a charge from the alternator as expected), so perhaps it is the earth on the circuit causing the issue and not a connection elsewhere on the board?

Forgive me, I am not too clear on how the battery check light circuit works so this may be complete rubbish!

Id.

[mr pg]

There are issues with tracks cracking on the 964 clocks, which throw up problems (can't recall what they are now, try a search on rennlist.com). May be that a previous owner has done this mod to get over this. Also try googling this problem.

[Iddingtons]

mr pg said:

There are issues with tracks cracking on the 964 clocks, which throw up problems (can't recall what they are now, try a search on rennlist.com). May be that a previous owner has done this mod to get over this. Also try googling this problem.

A great deal of the internet is concerned with an airbag warning light issue but I haven't found mention of the battery warning light being faintly lit.

I was hoping someone could also take a photo of which warning lights I should have on during start up (ignition on, engine off) so I can check which lights I may be missing. I tried google but failed to find an example picture.

Id.

[boxsey]

All the clock lights are listed here:

http://p-car.com/diy/clockrepair/

It's obvious from that list that not all cars will have all lights

On my manual C2 with ignition on the lights I get on the clock are: Spoiler, fan belt and battery. I don't get air bag because the car never came with one. I don't get seat belt because the bulb has been removed. The battery and fan belt go out as soon as the engine fires. The spoiler goes out as soon as I move off.

Remember that the alternator won't kick in until you rev past 3,000 rpm for the first time. So if the battery light is flickering just after start up and while idling. Give the throttle a quick stab so that it just goes past 3,000 and see if it stops flickering.

[Pesty]

I can check for you in fact Ill go out now but don;t they all come on with ignition?


Oh and one thing IIRC there is one bulb that is recomended to be taken out as its not used and often causes a battery drain

yeah yeah I know if its not used how can it cause a battery drain but I just took it out anyway


show how much attention I pay to things.

Edited by Pesty on Wednesday 15th August 13:53

[Iddingtons]

Excellent! Thanks for the information / links / pictures everyone. That confirms it is just the seat belt warning light I am missing so nothing critical and hopefully just a bulb as it doesn't light up at all at the minute.

I didn't realise the alternator didn't kick in straight away either so I'll re-check the behaviour of the battery light and also the earth connections on the circuit.

Id.

P.S. That is an interesting speedo orientation! I do like the blue dash too.

[davek_964]

Even without the alternator, the lights should go out before the alternator kicks in. When I had the "clock" problem, it was my diff / ABS lights (C4) that would stay on until 3k rpm. A new clock solved it (I didn't know about the clock solder issue back then).

[Pesty]

I think I took mine apart and touched up all the solder joints on mine.

Or that may have been another car or something else

[boxsey]

Iddingtons said:

I didn't realise the alternator didn't kick in straight away either so I'll re-check the behaviour of the battery light and also the earth connections on the circuit.

As Dave mentions above the battery light should go out straight away if everything is working perfectly. I mentioned the alternator/RPM relationship so that you ensure the car is at the point that the alternator is on line. Especially since you mentioned that the batter light is faintly lit. If the battery light is still faintly lit after you've prodded the revs past 3,000 it 'could' mean that you have a charging problem. With the car started and the alternator kicked in, you should read at least 13.4V across the battery terminals.

[Iddingtons]

OK, thanks for the tips. I will check it this evening as didn't have time last night. I did notice the side light bulb didn't light either on the way home so I will check the bulb on that too.

I've got hold of a multimeter now so will check the voltage across the battery again to confirm the reading once the alternator kicks in.

I will report back to close off the topic.

Id.

[Pope]

The removable bulb is the cab roof light (shine a torch through the holes to locate correctly) if the car is a coupe; reduces current draw by approx 20 milliamps (tsb from about 1991 iirc) there is a different mod to trim a connecting bridge too.

The single connector is clock adjust BTW......

Go over the solder joints as previously suggested to be sure........

[Iddingtons]

Well, in the end I fitted a replacement clock the supplying dealer sourced for me at no cost (Excellent service!). It had a couple of blown bulbs which I swapped out but otherwise all issues have been resolved.

I still haven't managed to give the original clock a thorough inspection but have bought the soldering kit etc. so I can give it a look over in the future. Certainly there is a crack visible in the solder of the single connection so there may be more on the other side of the board.

Thanks for all the help and photos. I am now happy that I have all the correct lights working so I'm really pleased.

Id.