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Cruise Control Retrofitting

944Fripp

PCGB Member
Hello all,

I took the plunge and without any prior consideration for my long term sanity, any form of financial planning or overall concern for the reliability of my car purchased a kit of second hand parts for cruise control from an 89 turbo to fit to my S2! Stupid? Maybe, but I'm game!

Is there anyone relatively local to Yorkshire out there that has cruise control fitted already on a 944 that I can come and have a poke around to understand where all the bits all go?!

Thanks in anticipation.

 
I have it on my '87 Turbo .. Does your car have a blanked off 7 pin plug on the right side in front of the scuttle ? If it does then thats the plug for the actuator.. The ECU for the system is located in the LH footwell .. near the bonnet pull. You will need to fit the cliutch switch.. My car is LHD but id say the location should all be the same...

If the cruise loom is already in the car then its just a matter of hooking all the stuff up.. ! If its not its a bit more complicated ! If you look in the engine bay diagram for your car its called Tempostat

Its not that complicated - Let us know how you get on ! .. If you run into bother I will photograph any part of my car that you need clarified...[;)]

I am in Galway .. If you fancy a trip over[:D]

 
Cheers Donal.

I could do with a lot of info!

The car does indeed have the blanked-off 7-pin connector in front of the scuttle..that was the easy bit! I'm planning on having a good delve around the passenger foot well and assume the plug looks the same on the interior.

I figured that all the bits need plugging up but not sure how. The first snag I have hit is that the clutch master cylinder hydraulic fluid pot sits roughly where the bracket for the actuator sits. I'm not sure if the RHD cars have a different bracket. I found a picture of a RHD car with the actuator and the clutch master cylinder hydraulic fluid pot sitting in situ but it's such poor quality I can't make out the bracket orientation.

Secondly this may be a daft question but where do the cables go to and from?! Presumably the accelerator pedal cable stays where it is, but where does the actuator one go to?!

Pics of the leads, how they attach and the drivers foot well arrangement (bits that attach to the pedals etc) would be brilliant, I hope you and your camera are flexible!! [:D]

I'll post pictures as bits go on the car!
 
OK so I've been doing some digging and I've come to the conclusion that this is do-able....not easy but achievable.

I've had a good poke around the car today and I can now see where nearly all the bits fit and how it all bolts together. So...here's what I've discovered:

These are all the parts I was sent!:

AllParts.jpg
[/IMG]

ECU

I went searching for a 7 pin connector, apparently mounted above the bonnet release lever. It looks like this and is DIRECTLY above and tucked under the dash:

7PinConnector.jpg


The studs attach the ECU (which I offered up) in firmly.

Actuator

This was the bit that got me stumped!

ActuatorPosition.jpg


As you can see, it and the bracket won't fit around the clutch master cylinder fluid pot. However, I noticed the bracket had a slot which didn't seem to attach to anything so with some lateral thinking I offered it up to the clutch master cylinder fluid pot bracket and it sits about right to hold the bracket:

OfferingUpBracket2.jpg


So, my thinking is that I remove the clutch master cylinder fluid pot bracket, rotate through 90 degrees and attach to the side of the actuator bracket.

Cable

The cable attaches to the top of the accelerator pedal and onto a sort of swinging arm that itself attaches to the interior of the car. I've concluded (and it has been confirmed by the parts catalogue form Porsche) that there is a different cable for LHD and RHD cars. It was pretty clear when I saw this:

BackofEngineBay.jpg


It clearly shows the throttle cable (red cap) going through the bulkhead and there is a blanking plate for the cruise control cable (which incidentally has a green cap). The one I have is far too long and is the wrong shape to achieve this so it must be a different part. Guess I'll have to pop to my local Porsche garage for that one or "adapt" the current one I have!

You can see the top of the accelerator cable highlighted here. The cruise control cable should enter the cabin next to it and connect to the top of the throttle pedal.

DriversFootwell2.jpg


Sorry about picture quality, difficult to get under there!

So, I've narrowed all the parts down to these:

CorrectParts.jpg


Centre top is the accelerator pedal lever and the little bracket that the cable attaches to....this bit will be all kinds of trouble fitting I just know it! [:D]

However I still need to buy the correct cable, and also a micro switch for the clutch pedal as according to the 944 catalogue it is different for RHD and LHD and as this kit is from the states it's not the right part.

I'll call my local Porsche centre and see if I can get the parts, I think I'll go ahead and fit the ECU and actuator without actually connecting anything up yet.

More to come.....
 
It looks to me that you have all the bits ready to go... That clutch reservoir will be a right PITA ... The kit you got must be from a LHD !

In fairness I never seen a 944 RHD with cruise fitted... ! I was at the car today and of course no bloody camera ! [:(]

What you say is correct for if you look at an earlier underbonnet shot I took years ago the cruise cable enters the bulkhead and connects to the pedal... When you disengage the cruise control the pedal shoots back [:D].

Id say that the cable will be a shorter affair... ! Id say you will have to fabricate a few bits for it....!
6045270799_5c15864f17_z.jpg


Just a notion but can the cruise actuator be mounted on the left side of the car ?

Once you get the cable and actuator mounted the rest will be fairly easy.... !






 
There's no blanking plate in the left hand side, only one on the right just behind the clutch reservoir. The reservoir itself looks a doddle as the bracket that holds it in position unbolts and reattaches to the bracket. As the theory goes.

Just out of interest, where is the clutch reservoir on LHD cars?

As far as the bracket itself is concerned there is only one bracket for LHD and RHD cars according to the 944 catalogue so it must be correct.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Oli! [;)] Sounds like you know others who has tried and failed?

As long as I can get the correct switch and cable it all seems pretty straight forward to me.

Famous last words if ever I wrote them though!!

 
I have a kit to fit at some point, so watching this with interest.

LHD cars share the brake master cylinder with the clutch mastercylinder - no separate reservoir.

I did suceed on a previous (early dash) car in fitting the tempostat on the inner wing and overcoming the clutch master cylinder problems, and it is a short cable, I seem to recall the same on both lhd and rhd cars... I bulked at the braketry needed (welded) under the dash, and the car was written off for me before I progressed it further.

Cruise control is great for sticking to 30mph speed limits btw! Shame there aren't a whole series of presets.
 

ORIGINAL: 944Fripp

Thanks for the vote of confidence Oli! [;)] Sounds like you know others who has tried and failed?
Not at all! Just that it seemed to me to be brave to buy a bunch of bits, with no idea how they should fit together, and equally no idea how much would would be needed to make them work on your own car. Bravo for going with it, and all the best with making it work!

Keep us posted.


Oli.
 
Hi Tom
Ive just bosched Dr.Porsches Tempostat Diagram to make it a bit clearer... Its a very simple system..
6049140083_d862108cf2_b.jpg


As far as I remember there were 2 8pin plugs on the ECU.... Did you find the other one...? If you can get over the mechanical part the electrics will be no problem....[;)]

Still no camera [:mad:]

 
That makes a lot of sense and thanks for your ongoing help! Glad I'm not doing this totally alone!

As far as I remember there were 2 8pin plugs on the ECU.... Did you find the other one...? If you can get over the mechanical part the electrics will be no problem....

The Cruise control ECU does indeed have 2 connectors, I was looking for just the one but seeing as it has one, it must have the other under there somewhere! I'll go hunting again this weekend!

I popped down to my local Porsche garage this afternoon and for the princely sum of £60 have ordered the RHD cruise control cable and clutch pedal micro switch which should be here on Friday. I've also found a bracket near the clutch pedal (image to follow when I get in there with my camera) to attach the micro switch to and your diagram should help me track down the correct cable to attach it to.

Interestingly enough they were all scratching their heads at the thought of a RHD 944 with cruise control!! [:D]

Still, found out about a local garage that knows a lot about 944's in the process so if the whole exercise fails that's one thing to take away from it!

More to come...



 
Mine is RHD and has cruise, if you need any photos of anything let me know. I'm away from the car for 10 days so might take a little while.
 
ORIGINAL: 944Fripp
The Cruise control ECU does indeed have 2 connectors, I was looking for just the one but seeing as it has one, it must have the other under there somewhere! I'll go hunting again this weekend!

It might be a good enough plan to take back a wee bit of the outside insulation on the plug you found and take note of what wire colours you find... This will tell you if it is the loom for the actuator or the loom for the various switches
As far as I can see the actuator has solid colours and the control part has tracers...

I forgot to add the actuator loom colours which all seem to be solids..
Pin 1 Green
Pin 2 White
Pin 3 NC
Pin 4 Brown
Pin 5 Black
Pin 6 Blue
Pin 7 Red
Pin 8 Yellow
 
As far as I can see the actuator has solid colours and the control part has tracers...

So, I'm looking for tracers or no tracers and that should tell me which one is which right?! Seems simple enough!

Mine is RHD and has cruise, if you need any photos of anything let me know. I'm away from the car for 10 days so might take a little while.

Thanks Homesea, hopefully going to have a first stab at connecting this all up on Sunday so if I need any pics when it all fails I know where to ask! [:D]

The way I see it the only thing on the surface I am altering in the existing car which may affect it's overall working is the stalks. My concern is that if I connect everything up and the CC system does not work for whatever small reason, what about the stalk cluster affecting the indicators, will they still work? My assumption is yes as they seem to be on a completely different circuit to the CC.

Donal, is there any chance you could unplug your Cruise ECU (both connectors) and then test the indicators just so I can be sure?! After all, this car is my daily driver!
 
Hi Tom
No the cruise control will not affect the indicators or wipers ... There should be a socket in by the wiper switch when you take off the column shroud itself .. !

Before hooking up the ECU you can check the clutch switch, brake light switch, cruise stalk and speed inputs using the above diagram !... It is fairly handy with a multimeter...

Or you could just hook it all up and go for broke......[:D] ..
 
Errrr

Why???..................

..................not in a sarcastic sense but in a questioning sense?

Drive it like you stole it I say when out for a blat.
 
Errrr

Why???..................

..................not in a sarcastic sense but in a questioning sense?

Drive it like you stole it I say when out for a blat.

Sadly I don't have the luxury of using the car for a blat at all times. Mine's a daily driver and I use it to too and frow. I'm self employed so I trudge the motorways of the UK on a fairly regular basis and got used to cruise control in my last car. Granted, if I wanted sensible I'd get a diesel like my last car (even though it was about as much fun as you get in a diesel car IMO) but that really would be far too boring for me now! A second car is also an option but I'm under 30 (just!) so get properly stung on insurance, even for a run about.

I guess I want performance, character, reliability and luxury hence I went for a Porsche...all be it an older one! Also, got the kit cheap, have been told it may be tricky to do and I do like a challenge! [:D]

However, when out for a blat, it is unlikely the CC will be used...I promise! There! Happy now?! [:'(] [:)]

Or you could just hook it all up and go for broke...... ..

Love it, a much more "me" plan!!! [:D]
 
OT but
I am in the middle of fitting Cruise Control to my daily driver a '03 V40 Volvo 1.9D.. I have all the bits in but it needs a software upgrade ! The bits I had to fit were an indicator stalk and brake light switch.. It already has fly-by-wire throttle.... The local dealer reckons that hes never done it before and it may not work.. The software itself is €220 and its 2 hrs labour at €95 + VAT per hour .. And still it may not work [:mad:].. You are totally at the mercy of the dealer - who is no expert either...

Give me the 944 to work on any day.. None of this modern car jiggery pokery...
 

ORIGINAL: 944Fripp
Sadly I don't have the luxury of using the car for a blat at all times. Mine's a daily driver and I use it to too and frow. I'm self employed so I trudge the motorways of the UK on a fairly regular basis
Exactly the same situation as I am in; self-employed, S2 as an only car, using it to much the miles.

Good to find someone else in the same situation!

(But still can't help with the CC - sorry!)


Oli.
 
So I had a good day fettling around in various parts of the car yesterday and managed to get quite a lot done.

InstalledActuator.jpg
[/IMG]

As you can see the actuator and cable are both installed. The cable is simply a shorter version with as steel L section in it at the end before it goes into the bulkhead. The fluid reservoir was straight forward and it all works fine except for the cable end in the foot-well now hanging lose and knocking about! [:mad:]

I also tried installing the throttle pedal components only to find that they wouldn't fit. On closer inspection of the catalogue there is a different lever and bracket for RHD cars with CC (code name M454) so I guess that means another trip to my local Porsche garage. This is not a good thing as a rather tasty looking Cayman S has caught my eye over there and I really I should be doing everything I can to avoid the place as a result. My eye is ALWAYS bigger than my wallet! [:D]

So, whilst I was in the footwell I decided to have a look for a bracket to fit the clutch pedal master switch to. It Looks like this:

ClutchPedalMicroswitchBracket.jpg


The micro-switch looks like this:

ClutchPedalMicroswitch.jpg


The two holes are 3mm so I'll need to get a couple of M3 bolts to put through them and hold them in place on the bracket. I tested the switch with a multimeter to see how it was wired and found that it's depressed position is on. When you let go it turns off. This makes sense as the bracket holds it tight to the clutch pedal thus enabling the CC system to engage at any time and disengage when you put your foot on the clutch. I also found the two unconnected cables that lead to it; one brown and the other brown with a white stripe (this is correct according to the circuit diagram above - thanks once again Donal!). Just got to figure out which one goes onto which connector now! I suppose it doesn't really matter though seeing as it's simply going to ground and it brakes the circuit whichever way it is connected.

The next thing I decided to do was see if I could find the second ECU connector in the passenger foot-well. Safe to say this was where the vast majority of my day was spent as this is no easy task if you don't know where you're looking....which I didn't!

For anyone else looking to do this you will need to take the glove box out of the dash (six screws on the front, just behind the lid, 3 on the lid hinge at the bottom and one by the glove box light will have it out). Be careful of the connectors for the light as you remove, they're pretty delicate! Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing! [:D]
It's also a good idea to loosen off the trim directly above the glove box so that when you put it all back together again you can get the rubber strip in-between the glove box and trim in properly.

In behind the glove box you'll find a black box with the front cut out with LOADS of wires! My connector was in here....:

FoundtheConnector.jpg


....right at the back! I sliced the cable tie holding the loom and by dislocating my lower arm and hand in several places managed to untangle it out. Incidentally you cannot get the wrong connectors onto the ECU, one has 7 pins, the other 8 and there is a blanking plate on the 7 stopping you putting it on the wrong one.

The other reason for removing the glove box is that you'l need to access the area at the back of the glove box to secure the ECU. There are about 4 studs coming down vertically from the metal work above and it can go on to any 2 of these. A good tip is to use flanged nuts (M5) for the far stud at least; access it impossible so I placed a flanged nut into the correctly sized socket on the end of a socket screwdriver and kind of felt my way up there. You've got no chance any other way!

BothConnecotrsTiedUpandECUIn.jpg

This shows the ECU (not connected yet!) in position and the two connectors which I have tied up for now. You can also see the studs securing it in place.

It was getting late by that time and I hadn't broken anything yet so I decided to quit whilst ahead and call it a day before anything went wrong! So I put the bits I'd taken off the car back together leaving the unconnected parts in for another day.

I decided to do a little maintenance whilst putting it back together. The glove box light has never worked so whilst it was off I had a quick look....

GloveboxLight.jpg


Turns out the copper connector which also acts like a spring (the curved one) wasn't actually making contact as it springs back so a little bending with pliers and it's all working a treat now.

Not sure when I'm going to get a chance to order the other parts and get them all fitted now (was hoping to have it done for next weekend but sadly not).

One question which I would like to know for those of you that have CC already installed: when the engine is off and the throttle pedal is resting is the lever on the actuator to the left or right...what does the arrow on the actuator signify? Ta...

Exactly the same situation as I am in; self-employed, S2 as an only car, using it to much the miles.

Good to find someone else in the same situation!

(But still can't help with the CC - sorry!)


Oli

It's a good situation to be in I reckon! Don't know about you but it makes an impression on clients, is often a talking point and is the best compromise of running cost/fun/character/performance out there!

More to come.....

 

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