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Here's an interesting update on one of the niggles. When we were evacuated from the CZU Lightning Complex fires last month I left the Vantage behind (yes, I know, bad bad). The thing is, since being back home I've noticed the driver's door window now drops when opening the door every time as expected. The only difference is that it's no longer connected to the trickle charger - the fire department turned off our power and backup generator when stopping our neighborhood from burning down, and I've been using the outlet for a backup fridge while we eradicate the smell from our primary one (don't ask).
The question is, has not using the CTEK trickle charger addressed some of the gremlins? I haven't completed a full scientific analysis of this by any means, but the correlation between the two is interesting.
Not on a Vantage, but I’ve noticed that on my computers they will sometimes act funky or lock up during use if it is being charged at the same time. When I unplug the charger all returns to normal.
In the spirit of tracking the process of getting my Vantage back to perfect shape, I thought I'd add another few updates.
The first good news was that the transmission issues detailed in another thread were indeed a broken shifter cable. With that fixed, it now shifts better and more precisely than at any point since I've owned it.
While it was in the shop, I also had the thermostat replaced. It had always been slow to get up to temperature, and this was a worthwhile proactive move. The tech also fixed the fuel filler door for me.
I also had another annoyance addressed - new wheels. Turns out they had a set of refurbished AM wheels - though in gloss black. I wasn't initially sure if would work, but I'm very happy with the result.
The last known issues are a crack at the top of the washer fluid tank (easy to avoid leaks), the PPF is showing its age, and the seat cushions could do with being replaced at some point.
Looking forward to putting more miles on it in 2021. Might even join AMOC if activities come back to life.
BTW - Robbie at Peninsula European is also pretty sure that the clutch has been replaced at some point 👍 He's going to help me try to get some more history on the car.
Last edited by SLVRon; Dec 29, 2020 at 10:24 AM.
Reason: typo
A number of original issues have now been resolved -
Doors open consistently after some fuse pulling and resets (no cost)
Fuel filler door opens as expected. I had this one fixed by Robbie at Peninsula European while it was in for another fix. I have a feeling that using the fuel filler cap holder when filling up probably knocks it out of alignment over time.
I just had the old front end PPF removed. Unfortunately this proved to be quite the ordeal, and needed ~20 hours of labor by my local expert. The good news is that the paint underneath is intact so I avoided a front end respray.
All door struts and broken/faded repeater lamps have been replaced.
All four wheels replaced.
Back in December I snapped a shifter cable ;( The good news is that closer inspection showed that the clutch had likely been replaced recently. After further detective work we discovered that a PPI before I bought it flagged a worn clutch, so the assumption is that it was replaced just before I bought it. The shifter cable likely snapped as it wasn't adjusted correctly when the clutch was installed.
Beyond that, no recent emissions system warnings or any other new issues. I still need to take care of the driver door rattle (likely a screw has worked its way loose), and get a replacement washer fluid reservoir. Much like the Porsches I owned before this, I feel like I'm getting to the end of taking care of deferred maintenance from previous owners, but in this case I'm not yet tempted to sell it, even if it's probably increased in value by ~50% since I picked it up last year.
* I got a quote to fix the timing cover leak (still a very small leak fortunately) - 20-25 hours labor plus ~$750 in parts. The idea is basically to replace the timing cover gasket with the more reliable 4.7 version, and replace any consumables while the front end of the car is in pieces.
* The washer fluid reservoir leak is at the bottom rather than the top ;( A replacement is 'indefinitely unavailable' via the nearest AM dealer, and I'm looking into other sources such as HWM in the UK
Aside from that, everything else is in great shape. Still got that annoying intermittent rattle from the driver's door, so I'll have to take the door card off at some point and get that one resolved.
