lihines

Hi, I recently bought my first Porsche, a 1990 Carrera 2. The car is in awesome shape. But, at the risk of sounding impious, I'd rather have a plain rear center reflector. Anyone know of a company that makes this kind of aftermarket part?

CrossT

Congrats

Most people here won't be too experienced with 964s. This particular forum is for 89 and earlier. There is a separate forum for the 964 which appears to have more traffic than this one.

I'm jealous. The 964 is a beautiful car.
good luck

Christer

lihines, I have not seen a clear rear reflector (I presume you mean the long one in the middle?), but I would be surprised if nobody made one. After all, we have clear side repeaters etc...

Maybe someone else will know?

Welcome by the way!

lihines

Thanks. It's really a great car. It had a few more problems than the seller said, but almost all are cosmetic and will be an easy fix. The big worries were that the rear spoiler wasn't moving, and that the indicator lights suggested that there was a problem with the ABS system. My very clever roommate was able to fix the spoiler, and the ABS light cleared itself once the car was warmed up. The seller swears the car is mechanically fine, except for the spoiler, which he knew about but "liked how it looked up, so I didn't fix it..."

Christer

so this is a C4?

How about some pictures...?

lihines

No, only a C2. I'll post some pictures once it's all cleaned up. Needs new tires, too...

Christer

excellent. the reason I asked whether it was a C4 is that the ABS warnign system is more common on a C4....

aaanyway, look forward to pics...which tyres are you going to use?

Dave R.

When the ABS light stays on after startup, does it go out after the motor reaches about 3,000 rpm for the first time? (And if the headlights are on, do they suddenly get a little brighter?)

I have this intermittent problem with my '90 C2, and based on similar experiences with other cars I suspect worn brushes on the voltage regulator pack of the alternator... sooner or later I'll just replace the voltage regulator (which comes with new brushes). Places like www.thepartsbin.com can be good sources for such parts.

If you or your roommate tackles this, make sure you've got the Porsche L-shaped wrench that fits into the pulley end of the alternator shaft!

lihines

I really haven't noticed exactly when the light goes out. Yesterday, it never came on at all.

Since you all are being so helpful, and I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the finer details of these cars, there's one other thing I've noticed, which is a strong smell of burning oil in the cabin when the engine is running. I know these cars are notorious for minor oil leaks. Just wondered if anyone else had this problem and did you fix it?

Getting Kumho tires for now, because I really can't afford more expensive ones just yet. I was told the Potenzas had about 10000 miles left on them, but when the car got here, it was obvious that was a huge exaggeration.

jimq

where abouts are you in central florida? I am in Altamonte Springs

Jim

Lon

I had the smell of oil in the cockpit of my car and it was leaking at the heads, and cylinders. It took a total reseal with 92 cylinders and was not cheap. If you are extremely lucky, it could just be leaking from the oil return tubes and dripping on to the heat exchangers. Good Luck

eddychan

Hi!

Don't get too uptight about oil leak. Most of us have oil leak, it is after all an oil cooled engine with the engine in the rear and the oil cooler in the front. Basically after 12/13 years you should have old gaskets and joints etc which needs to be replaced.
However, for engine from fall 1991, the 964 engine was upgraded to have cylinder head gaskets. So if you have a pre-fall 1991 964 and leaks oil from head area then you may have a problem. For definite, you should check your engine number against the list which you may find in www.porsche964.co.uk.
Other areas needs to becareful are valve cover and chain housing gaskets.

I have owned mine for two years and do not in particular find 964 difficult to maintain. The fun I have out of the Porsche will soon make you forget these minor problems.

Happy motoring and welcome to the 964 community.

Eddie
91 C-2

eddychan

Hi,

I forgot, you should get Adrian's book and Phil's 964 buying guide. They are well worthed the money.

Cheers!

Eddie

DaveK

Dave R,
I used to have a problem with my ABS / PDAS lights staying on until I hit 3K rpm as well. Obviously C4s and C2s are a bit different, but the mechanic I used at the time found it seemed to be due to the clock (i.e. the one that tells the time). If he wiggled the connector, the problem went away for a while. I changed the clock - and the problem has never happened since.

Don't ask me why - but it might be your problem.

Johnny G Pipe

Poor guy. One moment he has a new 964 in great shape. Next he needs a full engine rebuild!!

Yes the heat exchangers and exhaust are sitting directly under the big old flat six. Yes you will smell that synthetic oil smell from time to time.

If the car has a major oil leak, you should have been told about it - so its unlikely. Chances are its just a bit damp and oily under there. To be certain, you could take your engine undertray off, stand it upright on newspaper for a while, and see if its been holding some oil.

But don't forget to enjoy your new car, and don't listen to too many forum horror stories!