Bjbpe

I am the owner of a 1987 928S4 purchased in Stutgart in January of '87 as a brand new car. Obviously, it is getting close to being an antique now. I had the car recently repainted and had the two front seats reupholstered and the car now looks pretty much showroom new.

Since it was off the road for quite a while I am starting to get reaquainted with some of it's quirks. I'll throw this one our but please expect there to be more as time goes by.

When starting the car up, the ABS system seems to be working. The ABS light is not on and I can feel the brake pulsating. Then, when I hit a bump of sufficient magnitude, the light will come on and there will be no further pulsation. Can anyone out there give me a hint as to where to look. Particularly, if there is an ABS "brain", where is it located.

Thanks for the help. I've got more but one thing at a time.

Barney Bisson
76 year old 928 lover

dprantl

Usually when the ABS light comes on after a bump or after turning sharp, an ABS sensor at one wheel (or more) is starting to fail. When an ABS brain fails, it usually fails permanently and does not get "reset" when the ignition is cycled.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

karl ruiter

Might be in the wiring also. On my car the connectors for the ABS wiring just crumbled to dust.

linderpat

Wow - first post and a member since 2005! Welcome in to the tank. Don't know the answer to this one, but I look forward to more of your questions.

Randy V

Incredible.

Welcome Barney - 6.5 years later!

Old dudes rule.

Bjbpe

You fellows have given me things to check and believe me, I appreciate it. From looking at your picture, (dprantl), my 928 looks exactly like yours except for the wheels.

Two questions to follow up on your suggestions:

1) Where are the sensors located on the wheels? I've changed break pads many times and don't recall seeing any electrical gizmos other than the wear sensors for the pads

2) Where is the brain hidden?

At 76 years of age it's a little harder to crawl under this low slung car but I still try to do some of my own work. We are in the Rocky mountains in southern Wyoming and, needless to say, there aren't many 928 experts around here.

Rob Edwards

ABS sensors, front- hidden under the medial side of the front calipers:



ABS sensor hole, rear (Unrelated picture but it shows where the sensor goes, on the top-front of the hub carrier, hidden by pretty much everything....)





ABS brain- In this pic it is actually the box hidden by the mirror memory control box (Your car may not have this piggyback box blocking the ABS brain). In the pic, you can see the arrow pointing at the 'bail' that holds the big multipin ABS connector to the brain. If you disconnect the battery, and rotate that bail 180o, you can undo the connector, then spray all the pins with DeOxit, or contact cleaner, just to make sure those connections are good (this process solved an ABS warning light that I had...)

Mike Frye

Barney,

I totally get you on the idea of getting under the car. I can't recommend a set of Porken's Liftbars enough. They make it easy to put the car up and get it stable in no time. If you've got a creeper and a level surface it's probably even more comfortable than working on a lift.

Good job getting the car out and letting it breathe again.

You said: I assume that means you are the original owner, although that's not exactly what it says. Either way, good luck with it and don't be a stranger!

Bjbpe

There appear to be a few folks who are intrigued by my ownership of the car.

Yes, I am the original owner of the car. My wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by flying to Stutgart in January, 1987 where we took possession of the car. We are skiers and went through quite a hassel getting a ski rack put on the car. We didn't order it in the states because, what the hell, it's just a ski rack. Little did we know that it had to be bolted to the car in special adapter nuts that become part of the body. After being awake for 36 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane) it was no fun staying awake for four more hours while they reworked the car.

Drove down to Austria and hit 130 mph on the autobahn (scared to go any faster but there was a lot of gas pedal left). Got to tour Neuschwanstein on a beautiful winter day with fresh snow and a horse drawn sled up to the castle. Skied for a week in Austria and then brought the car back to Stutgart. I picked up the car one month later at the dealership in Connecticut.

I've used the car as an every day commuter while I was employed as an aerospace engineer in Connecticut. I retired in 1997 and we moved to the Centennial Valley in Wyoming where we built a new log home (with our own hands). We don't use the car during the winter any more and winter extends from late October until mid May. Hence it has become more of a hobby car.

I'm still employed here in Wyoming as the county engineer; helps to pay for the mortgage on the log home. When we first came out here both my wife and myself were ski instructors at the local ski area, just five or ten minutes from the house. Subsequently we took over the entire ski school and that lasted for about five years. However, you can trick father time for only so long and now we just ski for pleasure. I was also a hockey coach in Laramie for quite a while but that too has gone by the boards.

Several years back I was tee-boned in the drivers side rear quarter panel; up to that point the car didn't have a scratch on it but I decided, as long as the other guy's insurance was covering it, I'd repaint the entire car and get the seats reupholstered. The car looks like new right now and will soon be going back into the garage for the winter when I hope to get some of the "quirks" attended to. You fellows have been a godsend of information and I appreciate your help. Hope you don't mind my continuous pleas for information. I do have the shop manuals but they leave a huge amount to the imagination.

I especially appreciate the great photographs. At 76 years of age, I find them to be very helpful for going from "A" on the picture to "B" on the car.

Barney Bisson

SMTCapeCod

Thank you for sharing your story of acquiring the car and touring that part of Europe- it's nice to read a personal account.
I'm having some nostalgic Gene-O flashes (this is a reference to one-time participant in 928 discourse, a mentor and deliverer of wisdom to the 928 community- and it is a compliment).

Chuck Schreiber

Great Story Barney, glad to have you here after 6 years away!!

depami

These threads .......

MainePorsche

Are Fine.

LEADASS

Okay, You gave us a decent backstory... but not enough! I want to know more! Tell me about the day you picked her up, the trip, where did you go, how did you feel? I think you do not appreciate your own experience. Please humor me and tell lots of stories. I can't even begin to ask about your aerospace bits and stories. I will say in the strongest way possible: the F-14 Tomcat is IT! Every other aircraft since is a compromise/sell-out. Your work with the LEM, and other Apollo programs means you are actually a National Treasure, Please can you tell a bunch of stories?

Bjbpe

I see that you are located in Bozeman, not that far from Wyoming. However, the part of Wyoming (Jackson) that you are close to, is not for "normal" people. In Jackson, the billioanaires are kicking the millionaires out. We live about 35 miles west of Laramie in a valley just below the Medicine Bow mountains. Do you have anybody up there who knows 928s? This area is a wasteland for 928 knowledge.

Barney Bisson