Tricky54 Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 I need to replace a broken plastic link which is attached to a plastic, bolted fitting towards the inner end of the left hand transverse control arm by a ball joint, and goes vertically upwards to another ball joint which is in the centre of the photo. This is attached to a short lever which goes to some sort of sensor behind the inner wheel arch. Ignore the hanging red brake calliper to the right. You can see the large inner end of the tca to the left. Can anyone identify what this assembly is for and what the broken plastic link is called so I can order one. The car has PSM fitted but I don't know if this is part of it or not. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanky Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 I think it’s for the lightronic headlights, is that what you fitted to the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edc Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Level sensor for litonics. You can Jerry up some random household plastics to make it all work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
map Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 The plastic link may be broken because the alloy connecting link has seized. Worth checking - if it has seized you’ll need another one of those too plus I’d recommend the relevant nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunks Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Does this Help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewey Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Had this go on my 986 18 months ago. It is for leveling the Litronics on mine. Went after the car suspension was released more than normal when it was jacked up. The ball joints seized on the part and couldn't move far enough and split the plastic. Order from OPC and it was a superseed part far superior to the orginal. Easy to fit just measure the distance between the ball joints on the old one, on the bench, to get the aprox distance for the old one so you can fit the new one with the same length. Worth getting the nuts as well, but I had no problem with mine undoing though not expensive. Worth checking the one on the back suspension as well to make sure it is not seized. Mine was ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfprorich Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 I had to do mine, few years ago now but I don't think they're that expensive either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky54 Posted January 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Thanks guys. I'm amazed by all your knowledge. I'm still a newbie on a steep learning curve. The car does have Litronic headlights so it all makes sense now. The link broke when we lowered the coffin arm and hub carrier to remove the strut and I heard a crack. I didn't find out till the following day what had happened! I'm not near the car currently. Is there a level sensor on both sides of the car or just the left side? Are these available from other suppliers or just OPC - any idea of cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewey Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 My sensors where front and rear on the near side. Can't rember the cost sub 40. rings a bell. They are avaiable from various scouces but check OPC. The new ones are all steel. Really does dazzle other cars when its gone though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
map Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Factory Litronics “fail safe” in as much as they default to aim down to avoid dazzling other road users. When you drive in the dark the difference between working and non-operational self levelling is self evident. Without both ride height sensors (986) working as they should you get very little illuminated distance - a matter of close to single digit meters in my experience. When factory Litronics are working you will see them lift and adjust when they’re switched on. If you use main beam then as well as the halogen bulbs lighting up you see the headlight pattern lift too. If you want to see this the best way is to park about 5m away from a wall - in the dark - and then switch on the front lights cycling from side - dipped - main. The self levelling and main beam activations can be clearly seen. If you have a Durametric or OPC diagnostics you can drive the individual Litronic units through a motor test cycle. It was possible to dealer fit Litronics but these did not have the washers and self levelling kit. That said some forum members have carried out a full retrofit of the complete Litronic system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
½cwt Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 19 minutes ago, Hewey said: My sensors where front and rear on the near side. Can't rember the cost sub 40. rings a bell. They are available from various scouces but check OPC. The new ones are all steel. Really does dazzle other cars when its gone though. Confirm, left side only front and rear. It secures on to the bottom arm with a plastic brackets and expanding rivet. My rivet broke so I replaced with an log M4 nut to secure it. @Tricky54 whole official Porsche parts catalogues are here it you are interested: https://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/classic/genuineparts/originalpartscatalogue/ Helps work out what's what and how it goes together most of the time. a log of hard won knowledge on here that I've mined quite extensively over the last 2 years or so since I got my 986 and save a lot of money as a result. No dumb questions, although you might get the odd answer suggesting that, but usually folks are very helpful but they do have a wicked or even warped sense of humour at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky54 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 7 hours ago, ½cwt said: Confirm, left side only front and rear. It secures on to the bottom arm with a plastic brackets and expanding rivet. My rivet broke so I replaced with an log M4 nut to secure it. @Tricky54 whole official Porsche parts catalogues are here it you are interested: https://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/classic/genuineparts/originalpartscatalogue/ Helps work out what's what and how it goes together most of the time. a log of hard won knowledge on here that I've mined quite extensively over the last 2 years or so since I got my 986 and save a lot of money as a result. No dumb questions, although you might get the odd answer suggesting that, but usually folks are very helpful but they do have a wicked or even warped sense of humour at times. Thanks for the link. I've had a look there before but I can only find a smallish list of Porsche Classic parts rather than the whole catalogue, unless I'm not looking at the correct 'buttons'. I've got the Katalog pdf dated 2004 but there isn't a contents or index page, and no search facility which is a pain when there are over 600 pages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
½cwt Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 2 hours ago, Tricky54 said: Thanks for the link. I've had a look there before but I can only find a smallish list of Porsche Classic parts rather than the whole catalogue, unless I'm not looking at the correct 'buttons'. I've got the Katalog pdf dated 2004 but there isn't a contents or index page, and no search facility which is a pain when there are over 600 pages! Under the heading Porsche Classic Originalteile Katalog Go to the Chose Catalogue section with drop downs for the models and model years and you can down load. Open the bookmarks and you will find the car is segregated into 9 main areas and each section is indexed down to the individual drawings and links to the pages directly and the search function works on the desk top version of Acrobat Reader DC. I have not tried to use it on other platforms except a laptop or desktop PC. It takes a bit of time to get familiar but very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menoporsche Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 14 hours ago, Hewey said: Order from OPC and it was a superseed part far superior to the orginal That's an interesting little detail. Worth considering for those Litronics owners working on their 986 suspension, to swap this out while in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
map Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 9 minutes ago, Menoporsche said: Order from OPC and it was a superseed part far superior to the orginal Latest part number for the rear suspension ride height link (or Strut in Porsche-speak) is: 996 331 375 02 OPC cost is circa £35+VAT and may be on back order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky54 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Thanks for all the advice and information. I've ordered one from my local OPC using my PCGB discount - £31.63 + VAT for the front link so just awaiting delivery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
map Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 22 minutes ago, Tricky54 said: Thanks for all the advice and information. I've ordered one from my local OPC using my PCGB discount - £31.63 + VAT for the front link so just awaiting delivery. Hi - the item code I quoted was for the latest metal strut (in response to Hewey's post - which has somehow been attributed to someone else....weird) having been back to your post to check and was reminded that it is a plastic bracket/part you are after. Hopefully in trying to assist I haven't sent you along the wrong path - apologies. Cheers map Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotcoles Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 I had these replaced on my 986 a couple of years ago. Coincidentally, mine is going into my local indy for some work over the weekend so dug out the receipt from when they did them. They have them listed as HBA (high beam assist iirc) rods front and rear, Cost me £42.61 plus VAT per rod, so it seems that OPC is cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siztenboots Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 item 20 , the connecting strut on mine, was seized and managed to break itself free and shear the suspension arm bracket. 996.341.371.03 is the bracket , I could probably fold some ally plate to replace it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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