Michelle, no need on the turbo, it sweeps past the shift point so fast the light might as well stay illuminated. On the NA it takes so long to get up to the shift point, I am pretty sure that is why the light stays on all the time
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

Hey that's what those hooks are for in the trunk of the coupe...?? I was always wondering about those.

The parking lights coming on with the turn signal (key off) baffled me for a while but I lived in Germany for a couple years and it makes sense. The roads are really narrow and when you park it's handy to put on the outboard driving lights as a visual. It works for either side (one side at a time...)

As far as the sunroof flying off is concerned, my microswitch died and I had to manually close the sunroof. If it wasn't latched by the rear guides it flapped open at about 70 (right about the speed when a C172 takes off making it a quasi airfoil ). When the switch worked it would engage the back latches as soon as the car was put into gear/started moving. I think it's kinda funny that the ASC folks who did the cab didn't child proof it as well (you can half open it and drive around all day (never try this at home... ).

 

For anyone that doesn't know how to remove the roof, you go to the first click on the key and open the roof. Then when you reinstall, you pray that it will latch again...

My 89 944 doesn't have a shift light.

If your alarm is draining your battery on the late cars you can disable the system by pulling the two pronged connnector on the alarm controller box by the DME.

There is a notch in the flywheel that appears in the open area at the bottom of the bellhousing to show when the number one cylinder is at TDC. This works as a quick check until you can get up top to check the cam sprocket and the line in the window in the bellhousing up top. This really helps when installing your flywheel lock that you all have, right?

 

I bet that was quite a bang.

I also have the shift light and it is always on, but gets brighter when you are supposed to shift.
Here is mine from today:
When you cut and buff your p-car it makes your neighbor use his leaf blower and cover your car with grit and contaminate your rubbing compound with bits of dirt and crap, because you left the lid off to go get a beer out of the fridge. HATE THAT GUY
Atleast the car looks good

 

The easiest way to adjust clutch pedal free play is to loosen the two screws in the fuse box and pull it staight up and to the left side of the car out of the way. then take the plastic cover off of the clutch rod and adjust it from on top. much easier than laying on your back in the floor board.

 

Awww man, that's cold. . .

The early n/a's also have the CASIS shift light - at least the early '85 does.

I finally figured out the "triangles" on the 85.5+ instrument cluster - they go with various annunciators. Anything that CAN illuminate the "!" light (brake fluid, brake pads, e-brake engaged, etc.) has a triangle associated with it that points to the description of what's causing the "!" light. Pretty cool. Took me forever to figure out why those triangles were there!

 

On the late cars with the electric hatch release, the key does not open the hatch, but rather triggers the electric hatch release. If your battery is dead, you cannot open the hatch. Unless you crawl back there, undo the clips, and manually move the release.

I've owned 3 late 944s....and still haven't figured out what the sliders on the climate control do. Maybe it's because none of them work...

 

Dmitry, I can open my hatch just fine with the battery out of the car (I have done it too many times to count). I have to say that one is a myth.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

Hmmm. both my 951S and my S2, you can't open the hatch. I was just swapping the battery between the two today, and couldn't open the hatches.

 

yeah matt, my battery died once and i couldn't open the hatch from the outside to get out the jumper cables.

and oh yes, to disable the factory alarm, you must not only remove the two wiring harnesses, but also jump the switched 12v ignition wire to the wire giving power to the dme from the alarm harness itself.

 

I have the hatch release mechanism, and the key still opens the hatch with now battery. The key turns an egg shaped piece which has pins sticking out of it, which are the ends of the latch rods going through.. the hatch release just pulls on the lower pin, rotating the egg shape just as you would with the key in the lock...

That's how it is in mine anyway, perhaps yours is put together wrong? Not sure how it woudl work, maybe more than one type?

 

i hate hte climate control sliders.. dont know what does with with the climate control.. when its off its on and when i want it on its off... blah!

but for the hatch, i can open my 85.5's hatch without the battery in it

 

Top slider controls flow to the top vents (the ones that blow on the windsheild). So if you want maximum defrosting or defogging power, set the top one to the right, bottom one to the left and close the center vent. The bottom slider is for the foot wells. So set the top slider to the left, bottom to the right and again, close the center vent.

 

Devon is correct in the description of the mechanism. My guess is that your mechanisms are broken. Never seen it any other way. Maybe they made a switch late in 88 or something. One thing is for sure, in my 87 with electric hatch release you can open it with the key.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

Most of the 88 and onward cars have an electric release that is activated by the key, but not physically turned by the key, necessitating the car to have the battery in it to open the hatch, even with the key. The motors are also slightly different for those late cars, so that the early motors do not swap into them (most of the difference is in the plugs/connectors, a wiring genious could probably update an older motor to work if need be).

So Dmitry is right, for the 88-onward cars. And Matt is right for the pre-88 cars.