Articles: Technical

This page is where Technical tips, hints and suggestions on modifying your RS America from many and various sources will be posted. These may vary from the trials and tribulations of supercharging an RS America to how to upgrade to “big red” Turbo brakes or maybe the maximum width tires you can fit under the bodywork and the size of spacer you will need to use to do so.

Upgrading your original factory H5 headlights.

by: Don T of CA

When a headlight bulb blows there is a little known simple upgrade which results in
significantly brighter lights and less load on the electrical system.

How difficult can it be to change a headlight bulb?

The premise is very simple. Undo a couple of screws, remove a trim ring, remove a few more screws, pull the light unit out of the car, whip out the old bulb, in with the new and then do everything in reverse. Simple .... right?

We're all adults here, we don't need no stinking instructions. That is, not until we discover that we just might have undone the wrong screw and now need some original factory assembly tooling and the aid of the Lord if there is to be even the slightest chance of ever getting our headlight to shine somewhere near our side of the road at night. Don T of CA leads us through the 12 step program .......... more.

Front hood release cable failure.

by: Keith V of CA

What to do when you pull the front hood release handle and the cable breaks.

We take it for granted that pulling the front hood release handle will disengage the hood latch and thereby give access to the front luggage compartment. Unfortunately, as our cars get to be 13 or more years old, the likelihood increases that one day when you pull the handle the release cable might jam or break entirely. So NOW what do you do? .................... more.

Rear deck lid release cable failure.

by: Keith V of CA

What to do when you pull the front hood release handle and the cable breaks.

Would you know what to do when the rear deck lid release cable breaks and you can't get to your RSA's engine? ..................... more.

Fitting your RS America with a Distributor Ventilation Kit.

adapted from an original article by John Miles of

www.porsche964.co.uk

Why is it necessary to Ventilate the distributor?

A design deficiency on 964 engines up to August 1993 that you MUST address as soon as possible (if you haven't already done so), is to install a distributor ventilation kit to prevent ozone perishing the distributor drive belt. If this occurs and the distributor belt fails your second distributor would stop turning and the spark from the rotor would continuously discharge on one spot. This continuously arcing spark is an engineering phenomenon known as "welding". It is possible that the cylinder head could start to melt locally and the local hotspot, metal relocation and localized thermal expansion could very likely cause the engine to seize................... more

Feedback: The following message regarding the above tech article comes from David N of VA.

“Keith, I just wanted to thank you for the technical article you posted on “Distributor Ventilation Kit” installation. I had intended to do this mod this winter but when I read the article I thought, gee, that looks easy. I bought the kit from my local Porsche dealer and completed the job in less than an hour. Technical articles such as this serve registry members really well, especially those of us who do their own maintenance. So again, thanks very much. Dave N of VA.”

Fitting your RSA with an Emergency ABS override switch

by: Steve Grosekemper

The level of sophistication that our cars have achieved over the last several years is nothing short of miraculous. We now have cars that will shift exactly when they should, put power down to the wheel that needs it and stops the wheel that has the best traction!

These are all truly wonderful features of our new “smarter vehicles”. However there are times when the driver needs the car to do something that may be contrary to the “intelligence” our vehicles now possess. One such instance is going to be our topic today .................. more