996Outpost.com

The first times I took the pod out were very much related to the smoking cluster issue that cropped up after the going-to-Vegas incident last year.

When the drive shaft whacked the side marker, one of the conductors in the bulb socket was crushed down into the bottom of the socket where it shorted against another pin inside the socket. It was this short that caused smoke to emanate from the gauge cluster whenever the lights were on. That specific loop in that bulb socket does not appear to be fused; every time I turned on the headlights before finding the bent pin, smoke would emanate from the gauge pod. It wasn't until I had done some quality botching on the pod that I found the root cause and un-bent the pin in that side marker socket.

It still blows my mind that the car got hit that hard -- the pipe/drive shaft section went through two layers of tire, took a chunk out of the wheel lip on that side, and blew up the side marker -- but did no paint/sheet metal damage.

32wildbilly wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:21 pm I just gotta ask...was this when you were looking for the headlight wiring overheat/smoke issue or did the hi way pipe bounce up and knock out some dash lights, too? Regardless...nicely done.
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If you decide to get it fixed, I highly recommend getting in touch with ModuleMaster. While I didn't wind up needing their assistance to track down my short circuit issue/smoking gauge cluster, this email I received REALLY makes me want to do business with them.

My apologies for the delay in responding. The tech who works on the Porsche clusters is Gavin, the owner and genius behind this company. His schedule has been pretty erratic over the last few months and the Porsche cluster rebuild service has been on hold. However, he said he would gladly take a look at your cluster for you. It is possible that you will need the full rebuild, but it's also possible that it needs minor work which would cost considerably less.

He would be glad to have a conversation with you if you provide your telephone number.

KoB wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 3:51 pm

32wildbilly wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:08 pm Wow! Nicely done and documented. Thanx.

Agreed. By far the best DIY I’ve seen on this.

I’m fighting a non-illuminated odometer that doesn’t seem to be a dead bulb, so my gauge pod has been in and out a couple times. I’m probably going to have to send it out for repair over the winter unless I spot something obvious.