dshepp806

How do I even begin?

Having owned my car for several years now, I made a STARTLING discovery the other day,..and have felt bad ever since (hanf tight,..it's coming soon...).

It's bad enough to know that I went into this buy (years ago) without PPI,..3 months later to discover the serious issues (or expensive issues) associated with the 911 buy....and paying attention,..I was WAY beind the curve on this at the time (hell,..I didn't know what that cracked dash would cost for OEM replacement,..I didn't know about interior rework on driver's torn bolster,......and WORSE yet,..simply, to ask for PPI leakdown #s was parlayed with the previous mechanic's "blessing" over 9 years in conversation during purchase processes.......As many of you know, I encounetered (what was assumed to be) a crossthreaded #1 plug...I let her go for a several thousand miles but really was getting aggravated with "5-plug changeouts" (as I do this frequently......). So,...SNAP on the plug,..engine drop,...then "while you're IN THERE stuff (can't really blame the PO on this (I guess),..Anyone else would have removed 20 year old brake lines and flex fuel lines (Oh well) Learned my lesson,...this would have easily been discovered during PPI (NO?) H2O under bridge now....lesson learned.....

BACK TO POINT:

and still,... a bit of history: My brother-in-law (Toyota guy) was to assist with driver seat removal one day, as I wanted to remove my DME, crack the cover and have a look.....later on in the A.M., I checked in with him,..he had successfully stripped the Allen head on the seat bolt,...with no dremmel,..we were done......never had the chance to have this look.......figured I'd address it later........

NOW, FOR THE KICKER (and what an innattentive owner).....the other day, I'm gassing up and happened to notice the yellow sticker, mounted within my gas door's interior...(posted). The ineligable part (at bottom) is an A.P.E. #, seemingly to indicate that she's "chipped".......requiring a 93 octane min.....WTF???????????????????????????????????

I know nothing of this chip (rev limits, timing advances, fuel map alterations,..) OH SHEEIT... time to be "Wonged"...as I've had great conversation with him about a year ago,...I cannot believe that I didn't even know my ride was chipped.....(I would qualify by saying that I've not yet actually looked into the DME to verify what's loaded)...

....I was shocked.........

We'll see.......if someone knows of these APE chip evolutions, please advise,...

Best,

Doyle

dshepp806

forgot the pic:

dshepp806

Looks like maybe the yellow sticker covers a manufacturer's tag?

Doyle

ked

that covered-up sticker may be OEM: "Unleaded Fuel Only".
you haven't been putting leaded gas in there too, have you?
one of the pleasures of oddball cars is the thrill of discovery.

dshepp806

ALWAYS 93 Octane,..without question......since ownership (without ANY attention to the sticker (I might add) ).

Can't wait to get this DME out...so funny that I've helped a few Pelicanites with DME repairs 1.) -solder reflow on the ignition coil driver TO can......=SUCCESS!!!!!1 2.)driver replacements on the fuel injection circuitry...both worked like charms....SUCCESSS !!!!! instantly clearing up the problem (s) .....

Now, I'm faced with this "be=littling" discovery due to my "feet draggin'".....bummed.....

Performance-wise? No bummers there,..she runs like a raped-ape.... You guys know the drills on the chip elements...not knowing is NOT comforting,..so goes the questions,..and the quest......

I see the Dr. Wong in my future..................

Best to all,

Doyle

dshepp806

I do have such a sticker (Unleade Fuel Only) on the gas gauge intrumentation (gauge) inside....

Just an FYI...

Doyle

Ed Hughes

Live and learn, could be worse....

ked

Doyle, yes, me too - two, one on the gas gauge (removed by me, w/ glee), one inside the filler door where your octane warning is covering it up - maybe... mine's an '87. interesting the filler door latch is different on mine - maybe central locking mechanism, std on the Anniv Ed?

dshepp806

Understood,..now back to this (possibly-loaded) chip....the excitement is killing me...waitin' to hear Wong's specs on this chip???????????????????

Dammit,..I can't believe it....


Doyle

dshepp806

GTuess it's all "relative"......got cha', Ed.

Thanks,

Watchin' that rebuild of yours',.....good stuff.......


Best,

Doyle

rusnak

The original SC had an "Unleaded Fuel Only" sticker planted right on the left fender above the fuel filler. Who looks under the gas flap anyway? At least it's only 92 RON. I thought the car was designed for something like 97 or something like that. Come to think of it, I should check my gas door flap too.

dshepp806

It blew me away,..clearly indicating a chipped arrangement....(again,..1989-completely stock...)...sheeze....

Carlo_Carrera

I swapped out the chip in my '85 Carrera myself. It is a pretty common thing to do.

With the new chip and the Cat. Conv. removed my car puts out about 235hp and idles and runs great.

Don't worry so much.

whalebird

"Illusion is painfully shattered right where discovery starts"
I had a two different clients with 964 cars that bought them with chips already installed. They seemed to constantly chase drivability issues and we concluded that we should reinstall the stock chip to evaluate. Both customers never came back with the issues again, in fact, they said the car ran better with the stock chip. So, there is a lot of conjecture about the value of chips, and honestly I don't gravitate toward them as end-all/be-all performance improvers like some people do. I feel that there is strong evidence that they compliment other mods and can work wonderfully in concert with an overall performance objective. I will stay glued to this thread as it's sure to be a good installment in the chip/no chip debate - we have a heavy weight in the ring with shepp.

rusnak

Someone should send Doyle a stock chip, unless you already have it? It would be interesting to compare the two.