Computamedic

The 964-340 reference is for a California specific model produced before the generic US model was released. Any car whose model is nominally produced as a narrow body but has been optioned with a wide body will show option 491 on the build label. AFAIK, the 964 Turbo body was not released until the arrival of the 3.3 964 Turbo in 1991 and I'm guessing it's pretty unlikely that the factory would have pre-empted that release by building a special. It's much more likely that the wide body panels have been fitted subsequently. Regards Dave

Interestingly, the bleed worked fine with a KTS500 so I guess the answer to my question is ....... yes, there is a problem. Dave

The crucial factor here is WHEN you check the oil with the dipstick. As I sure you appreciate, the 964 has a dry sump oil system which means that only the barest minimum of oil is in the engine at any one time, the main oil supply being in the tank. When the engine is started from cold the oil path is kept short to ciculate a relatively small amount of oil from the engine through the filter and back to the engine. Only when that oil is sufficiently heated to open the thermostat (in front of the right rear wheel) does the supply path open up to include the oil cooler in the front right wing and the supply tank. The dipstick and, indeed, the oil level gauge, reads the level of the oil in the return part of the tank and thus will not register the level until the thermostat is open and the engine is idling for a minute or so. The whole system capacity is around 11.5 litres but the dipstick will only register the last 1.5 litres (from bottom mark to full) and this is true of a correctly operating gauge as well. It is generally recommended to NOT fill the oil to the full mark since 11.5 litres of oil can expand quite considerably once it gets hot and any amount of enthusiastic driving (or sitting in a traffic jam) will likely cause the oil to expand over the full mark and start to cause other problems in the inlet tract. If the gauge is working correctly (and it's not unknown for the sender to go faulty) it would ideally sit in the red during normal driving and rise to roughly half way up the scale (or, perhaps a little higher) once the thermostat is open and the car has been idling for a while on level ground. Any higher is not a major problem but you should be wary of the oil expanding too much under those conditions mentioned above. If the gauge is pegged to the top of the scale with just the ignition on and the engine not running it would indicate a faulty dender or gauge. Rising to the top mark when idling is (just about) OK, but rising to much more than 1/3 to 1/2 while driving is a good sign that it's over filled. Regards Dave

My '89 C4 is currently in the shop for an ABS problem (i.e. it doesn't work) to be investigated. As part of the diagnostic work a full hydraulic bleed was undertaken but there seemed to be a problem in bleeding the hydraulic diff locks. The shop have (I beleive) a PST2 which acknowledges the PDAS system but the "Bleed" button remains greyed out preventing the necessary cycling of the locks. The bleed to the primary hydraulic system has improved the "pump time" from more than a minute and a half to less than 30 seconds. Is there a known issue with the PST2 and the '89 C4 or can anyone suggest why the PST2 would grey out the "Bleed" button. Could it be related to the non-operational ABS?? The PDAS system appears to work as expected - the light flashes when driving over some bumps and on enthusiastic cornering. I've installed the PDAS bulb in the oil gauge just to make sure I can notice it!! All suggestions appreciated. Regards Dave

Thank you Loren. On the basis that you have access to some official documentation to which you refer I am happy to accept your confirmation. Regards Dave

I believe you are wrong. The first three letters of the VIN identify the manufacturer and all others that I can easily identify are letters - not numbers. WBA = BMW WVW - Volkswagen WPO = Porsche WFO = Ford It's very easy to confuse the O and 0, particularly on the VIL label as it's printed quite small an indistinct. Regards Dave

This is a very common problem that so often is caused by nothing to do with any of the logical causes. The most common cause is high voltage feedback from HT leakage from the coils or the distributor caps and/or rotors. Check the state of these items before you waste time and money looking for problems that don't exist. Dave

10" wide rears ideally need something like ET47 to work on a narrow bodied car - so you'll need 18mm spacers. Spacers that wide will have their own studs so you won't have to change the existing studs, just bolt the spacers to the hub and bolt the wheel to the spacer. Use the standard (130NM) torque for both. Dave