Wiring for valved exhaust- Help

I have installed a Top Gear valved exhaust system (very similar, if not identical to the Soul Performance system) on my 987.1 - 2008 Cayman S . I sounds great with the valves open. I can't seem to find a key switched positive wire near the engine bay to tap into for the solenoid. I watched several videos and read lots of posts with no luck. I tested every plug I can find. Some have hot wires. None seem to be switched by the key. Soul Performance has an install PDF for a 987.2 that shows them tapping a wire in the engine bay. I can't tell which plug they are using. I don't know if they would be the same from .1 to .2 anyway. I could use some help from the bleachers.

RJD, If you're going to put the switch in the passenger compartment, don't you need to find a switched hot wire in there? Then run a single line from the switch to the engine bay to the solenoid. In that case, use a multimeter to find one in the fuse block (footwell on driver's side). Joe Henley

The switch is remote controlled. It is not a button. I could run a wire from the fuse box. I could use the same C6 fuse I used for the radio. But, I believe there is a better/cleaner route. Someone out there has the answer.

Try the Capristo install article on this site. There's a relay and fuse block behind the left rear wheel. There's a wire there to tap. Been to long. Don't recall much more.

Maybe I just don't know how to search the site well. I searched "Capristo" and can't seem to find the install thread.

https://www.planet-9.com/reviews/ca...s/cayman-performance-modifications/p136-capristo-full-exhaust-installation.html

Greywolf, Thanks for the link. There must be a different way of searching these forums than just the small search box in the upper right hand corner. They show tapping into a wire set in the rear cargo area. My hopes were to find a wire already in the engine bay. But, I think that may not be possible. Also, I wouldn't really know if some sensor was monitoring voltage/amperage along that feed. My adding a solenoid to it could confuse an electronically controlled system. I tapped into the fuse box in the driver's footwell. Same fuse I used for the radio. I ran the wire under the carpet and drilled a small hole through the fire wall. I used a small rubber grommet to cushion the wire from the steel. Works great now. It goes from race car to street car with the push of a button. My concern now is that the vacuum solenoid is naturally closed. This means when I start the car it is in the "LOUD" mode. I have to push the button to quiet the car. I can't seem to find a good quality naturally open air solenoid on eBay or Amazon to use in it's place. There is a very cheap one on eBay. It runs about $5. But, it doesn't look like it could handle the temp and humidity of the engine bay. Anybody have a suggestion or a source.

I don't know the components of your system but when I removed and refurbished my Cayman S Capristo valved exhaust recently I had a similar problem. When the Capristo controller wanted the exhaust valves to open, it sends +12V to the solenoid, which SHOULD have CLOSED the solenoid and prevented vacuum from flowing to the exhaust valve actuators, thereby opening the spring loaded valves on the exhaust pipes. However, perhaps a previous owner replaced the solenoid with the wrong one, because when my solenoid saw the +12V from the Capristo controller, it OPENED the solenoid which allowed vacuum to flow and closed the exhaust valve actuators. Basically, it was working backwards because the solenoid was normally closed without power rather than normally open. Pierburg makes the solenoids Capristo uses and I'm sure they make both normally open and closed, but I don't know how to decipher the part numbers and didn't feel like experimenting. So I wired in a relay I had laying around to basically reverse the voltage state from what the controller was outputting. It works fine now. When I start the car, the exhaust valves are normally open by spring tension, and after a couple seconds, the vacuum pulls them closed and it quiets down the exhaust. Also my system uses the wiring located in the left rear trunk and the wires to the solenoid (which is near the transmission) run easily through an opening in the left rear corner.

IIRC the Capristo supplied solenoid was a three way. When the exhaust valves were closed vacuum was applied. When open the exhaust valves are vented to atmosphere. If it was working backwards the vacuum hoses may have been reversed.