Ricardo Vega II

Hey guys, Rookie The II here.......had a quick question concerning diagnostic tools for the 928 S4's and checking to see if you guys own any and if so what you guys recommend?
I'm still waiting to see what the issue is with my 928 S4 that doesn't start but been wondering if its a tool that would help try to figure out issues like why a car doesn't start and such? How useful are they for trying the DIY kinda of geek or in this case, rookie?
Thanks.

Ricardo Vega II
Black 1987 928 S4

the flyin' scotsman

IMHO the simplest diag tool you should be very familiar with is a good accurate Digital Multimeter.

I own 2 928s, one for over 10 years and do all my own work as well as other cars and by far other than all my hand tools for all the mechanical projects the DVM gets used much.

Randy V

All of them?

The 928 does not have an OBDII system, so there is no 'code reader' as are available for newer cars.

the flyin' scotsman

Posche develpoed the hammer which was further improved by John speake who produced the Spanner both of which are NLA.

Theos diag tester is a further development and is available. Depending on your budget you may want to consider sharing the cost with other owners.

There is also the Shark Tuners which are somewhat more complicated in operation and are also quite expensive to own unless the cost is shared.

GregBBRD

There isn't a tool, that you can "hook up" to the car, that will tell you why your car will not start.

However, you spent the best money you ever could, by becoming a Rennlist member.

Start telling the "List" what the symptoms are......ie: Cranks over fine, but won't start or Turn the key and nothing happens.

Before the day is up, you will have more ideas on what you need to check than you will know how to do.

worf928

For an '87 not even the factory's diagnostic tool will do you any good. However, on any '87 there are only a few tests that the diagnostic tool will do (if it could do them at all) that you cannot do with a multimeter. The link in my signature points to a document that contains step-by-step instructions and pictures on how to do several of the more-important diagnostic tests.

However, for your current no-start problem, Greg's post above, is the best advice.

pevi

This is a great tool with reasonable price, but unfortunately from year model 1988. 1987 requires new ECU SW, which obviously can be provided by Jenniskens.

http://jenniskens.livedsl.nl/

>>>Select Tech Object >>>> Diagnositics

rgs944

Right on the mark, a Rennlist membership is by far the best money you will ever spend on your car.

17prospective buyer

Yeah, unfortunately before OBD-I diagnostic tools for wiring/ECM/BCM/PCM's were very proprietary. Now it's moving away from needing actual electrical and mechanical knowledge to just plugging in a scan tool to find out which particular "sensor" is fudged.

Shark2626

..

worf928

Here:

http://members.rennlist.com/worf928/...Inspection.pdf

Turn on ‘show signatures’ in you user control panel: https://rennlist.com/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions

karl ruiter

I recently built myself a truck for hauling my boat around. I picked up a cheap Fort Sport Track with a blown motor for a few hundred bucks and built the motor. After I had the motor done I had to find and repair all the PO hacks that car had. It was really amazing working with the modern OBDII system. The system was able to tell me things like 'injector 4 is shorted', injector 2 is open', report the fuel pressure, etc. Getting all the little gremlins out of the system was pretty fast and easy. I love working on the 928, and it is pretty advanced in its own way, but nothing like that. Even if you had the software and tools it does not have the electronics to detect or measure these sorts of failures.

You will have to tell us more about your no-start. Did you buy the car that way? Did is just suddenly stop starting?
The compete strategy for a no start would be something like:
-Check the cam timing
-Check compression
-Check for spark
-Check fuel pressure
-Check injector firing (noid light)
But if it just suddenly came on, I, personally, would jump straight to the fuel pressure. My guess would be fuel pump or relay.

worf928

Karl, thread is from 2013.

karl ruiter

oops.