Carpokes Porsche Forum

Hey Folks,

Car is an 87 944 S but placing the topic here as it would apply to any 85.5+ NON airbag car. I just installed a brand new turn signal/wiper/cruise control unit. There is a bent copper piece that makes contact with the steering wheel, keeping an electrical connection that allows the horn to work.

I also have a 968 CS steering wheel on the car. Here's the issue. There is no "stop" when installing the new unit on the steering column shaft. Therefore, there is a little trial and error to properly place it where A) there is good contact to the copper strip and B) that there isn't a big gap so it is seen. I have it so there is no (or extremely minimal) gap between the turn signal unit and the contact ring on the back of the steering wheel. However, there is a nasty scraping sound every time I turn the wheel. Any ideas on how to rectify? I doubt dialectric grease would lube it up enough to prevent the noise, but if you all think it will work I will give it a try.

Have you tried a less extremely minimal gap yet? I can't help but believe a nasty scraping sound doesn't indicate excessive wear happening.

944er wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:35 pm Have you tried a less extremely minimal gap yet? I can't help but believe a nasty scraping sound doesn't indicate excessive wear happening.

That’s what I ended up doing and the scraping sound went away. However the gap is noticeable. I wonder if the 968 CS had a different signal stalk cover so the gap isn’t seen.

NCGermerican wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 1:43 pm

944er wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:35 pm Have you tried a less extremely minimal gap yet? I can't help but believe a nasty scraping sound doesn't indicate excessive wear happening.

That’s what I ended up doing and the scraping sound went away. However the gap is noticeable. I wonder if the 968 CS had a different signal stalk cover so the gap isn’t seen.

I have a 968CS-style wheel (aftermarket) and never noticed the gap being excessive. Can you post a picture?

Tom wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 2:15 pm

NCGermerican wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 1:43 pm

944er wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:35 pm Have you tried a less extremely minimal gap yet? I can't help but believe a nasty scraping sound doesn't indicate excessive wear happening.

That’s what I ended up doing and the scraping sound went away. However the gap is noticeable. I wonder if the 968 CS had a different signal stalk cover so the gap isn’t seen.

I have a 968CS-style wheel (aftermarket) and never noticed the gap being excessive. Can you post a picture?

Here you go. This is the closest I could go without getting the scraping sound and still allowing the horn to work.

Looks pretty much like mine. I think it's pretty normal, no? When mine started making a scraping noise, I 'polished' both pieces with fine sandpaper, then new electrical grease, and that quieted things down. Here's mine:

Tom wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 11:27 am Looks pretty much like mine. I think it's pretty normal, no? When mine started making a scraping noise, I 'polished' both pieces with fine sandpaper, then new electrical grease, and that quieted things down.

That makes me feel much better and exactly why I posted the question on Carpokes! I didn't sand the contacting surfaces, but I did use some dialetric grease to see if that would help.

I have the exact same issue. My turn signal was not canceling, so I readjusted to move everything closer together and it started canceling both ways (as it should), but then I had this annoying scraping sound. I tried the dielectric grease, but will try polishing both sides...

FWIW, I have the 968 CS wheel on both my '89 944 Turbo and '90 944 S2. Both of these cars originally had airbags. The CS wheel fits perfectly with the stock airbag clockspring cover. Maybe this cover and rubber bellows could be retrofitted to the non-airbag cars? But that might require a different signal/wiper/cruise switch since the newer ones have tapped holes for the four screws in the plastic cover, and I think the earlier version has the two top corners clipped.

Here's the best picture I have handy of mine installed.

Latitude48 wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2024 6:27 pm FWIW, I have the 968 CS wheel on both my '89 944 Turbo and '90 944 S2. Both of these cars originally had airbags. The CS wheel fits perfectly with the stock airbag clockspring cover. Maybe this cover and rubber bellows could be retrofitted to the non-airbag cars? But that might require a different signal/wiper/cruise switch since the newer ones have tapped holes for the four screws in the plastic cover, and I think the earlier version has the two top corners clipped.

Here's the best picture I have handy of mine installed.

I bet you just solved the mystery. I didn't even think about how the clockspring covers different than the non-airbag cars. I know that the screw holes are in different locations when comparing my 87 S (non airbag) and 87 turbo (airbag).