Interior

Dash Fire in '84 928s

#1
YES ITS TRUE, I HAD A DASH FIRE RIGHT UNDER MY INSTURMENT POD. AFTER EXTINGUISHING THE FLAMES OF SATAN, I TRACED THE CULPRIT TO BE A SHORTED OUT, FRIED, WASTED, INTERIOR LIGHT DIMMER INTENSITY DIAL. HAS THIS BEEN A COMMON PROBLEM AMONGST US OWNERS OF 928S? CAN I GO TO RADIO SHACK A BUY A REPLACMENT DEVICE IN CONFIDENCE? BY THE WAY. I REWIRED ALL MY CHARRED SHORTED WIRES WITH SUCESS AND NO FUTURE PROBLEMS YET. I ALMOST LOST MY EUROSPEC TIGER ROAR!

#2
I've removed both the dash light dimmer pot and the pot for the windshield wiper interval while working on my instruments. I noticed that the windshield wipe interval pot looked very good, while the light dimmer pot had considerable corrosion on the wiper arm and the resistance element. I cleaned the corrosion as best as I could, and reinstalled the pot. I found it curious that the light dimmer was corroded, but nothing else in the pod area showed any signs of corrosion. So maybe this is a common problem with the dimmer switch.

#3
Sorry to hear about the fire. This is not as uncommon in older models as one would like to believe. I replaced the dimmer in my 78 to avoid such a problem. My instrument light was, and at times still is, intermittent. I got a factory replacement for, I think, $15. I would not use a Radio Shack replacement over a factory issued dimmer. I am without a doubt the least mechanical on this list and was still able to replace it myself. It fixed the problem for a few weeks. Now when the light does not come on, if I tilt the wheel back and forth a couple of times the light comes on and stays on. Must have a short caused by a pinched wire. Sounds like a fire hazard to me. To that end, I'll be taking the car into Kahler's to have this fixed next week.