High-Mounted Stop Light Safety Upgrade

A while back I added a special tail light LED bulb to my motorcycle that strobes for a few moments when I first use the brakes. It really grabs the attention of the drivers behind me when I touch the brakes adding to safety. 

The 993 has a roofline that falls below the window sill and hood line of many minivans, cross-overs and pickup trucks on the road today. For this reason, it can be nearly invisible to some inattentive drivers at night. For this reason, I purchased a LED conversion kit for the high-mounted stop light and added an inexpensive controller (eBay) to it resulting in the following result when I touch the brakes.
Here is a video of the results:

Here is the LED conversion: LED conversion kit
Here is the flash controller: Strobing LED Controller
I was even, with a slight modification to a rib in the base and one in the cover, was able to fit the controller inside the light bar housing so there was no need to go into the car to do the install.

It begs the question if a controller could be integrated into the light bar so it can also cause a split L/R chaser light function to denote directionality? This development I will leave to others.

Turn signal flashing too fast?

Turn Signal flashing too fast --  Have you just replaced a rear side lens housing or replaced the bulbs in one. Turns out that the housings’ pigtail plugs for the marker and turn lamp are identical in shape and if switched upon reinstallation you will see this problem. The fix is easy, just switch the pigtail connections back and all is well.

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Flashing too quickly

WARNING Avoiding an altercation when replacing an Alternator on a 993 or 964

A remanufactured alternator.

I just ran across this and although I think it is a rare happening when installing a remanufactured alternator. However, the severity of the resulting damage, I feel, warrants publishing it here as an FYI for 993/964 owners.
Picture credits go to J. Cochran & Boxster-PTE members from Rennlist.

Apparently, some aftermarket remanufactured (reman) alternators use an improper wire mounting block. It allows the heavy hot wire to short to ground when the heat-shrink insulation on its wire terminal wears through from coming in contact with the metal alternator body. If you ever replace your alternator be sure the reman unit has the correct wire mounting block and all the insulating shrink-wraps on the terminations are in good shape. If not here is the potentially catastrophic damage to the engine wiring harness that will result in a very expensive electrical harness replacement. 

Also, keep in mind the most durable reman alternator with the correct mounting block is most likely made from the alternator removed from service in your specific car and taken to a local motor/alternator rebuilder.  At the rebuilder's shop, you can discuss the rebuild with a knowledgeable counterman and come up with a list of what internal components should be refreshed.

Burned wiring harness

Here is where the connection to the improper mounting block resulted in grounding and caused catastrophic damage to the engine wiring harness:

Abraded shrink-wrap terminal insulation

Below is the improper mounting block that leaves the circled part of the alternators casting exposed and able to come in contact with the hot wire providing the path to ground and shorting out the electrical cable

Incorrect mounting block

Below is the correct mounting block that includes an insulated wire guard that protects the connection from grounding out to the alternator body. One should check and verify the reman alternator one will be installing  has this guard on it:

Correct mounting block

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Safety Upgrade - Getting rid of the failure prone wheel nut locks.

The Original Keyed factory anti-theft wheel nuts - Now is the time to get rid of them. 

The original anti-theft nuts are prone to failure potentially leaving you stranded at the side of the road with a flat tire. New standard nuts are readily available from any Porsche distributor. Removing a broken anti-theft nut involves the use of a hole saw in a diameter that just fits over the bare stud and drilling the nut off. One has to use care to not damage the wheel at the base of the stud when drilling off the nut. Replacing the old with newer-style security nuts will not stop a thief who really wants your wheels as the adapter socket tool is widely available. But let's face it, who is steeling wheels off a 993 these days?