IchBautAuto

I mentioned a few months ago about a chassis system warning. I purchased an iCarSoft POR V3 scanner, with the express intention of interrogating the PDCC, which it says is not fitted. Hmmmm. Checked all the fuses, confirmed that the PASM and transfer box functions are all correct.
The car drives well, the occasional red alert doesn't appear to register as a fault anywhere, etc. Prior to the fault I drove a twisty mountain road 1800 Mtrs up of some 300Km at a brisk pace. No handling problems noted and this was before the first chassis warning appeared.
There are a few knocks that seem to be rear based that only appeared after the drive so I have been focussing on the rear end.
Well..... Just happened to park the vehicle at the top of a slope today and when walking back up to it there was something hanging below the vwhicle.

Missing sway bar end bolt!!
The hawk eyed will notice that the sway bar is no longer aligned. So what could have been a really easy repair by inserting a new correct bolt has now become a serious question of "how do I get this aligned again??"
I would think this is possibly one of the few non electronic causes of a PDCC chassis warning and at this moment I'm stumped as to how to align the sway bar. The only good news is it wasn't something I forgot to torque up. Haven't touched this since getting the car.
Does anyone have any experience with the PDCC sway bars and any suggestions on how to restore the alignment.
The othe side is fine.


It's still there

IchBautAuto

A bit late to try a theory right now but maybe if I go to off road mode then the sway bar will be disconnected and it can be re-positioned. Thoughts?

garrett376

Just jack up the car on one side (which lowers the suspension members while keeping the other side compressed) and then push up the sway bar end - without the engine running, you can move it independent of the other side.

I'd be most worried that someone has been re-using the bolts to save a few bucks, and it has sheared and you have to remove the stuck fragment that is still remaining in the sway bar.

IchBautAuto

OK, will try that. I'll measure the depth of the thread but I did stick a piece of wire in to test just that possibility and it went in about 3cm. As hard as it is to think, it looks like the bolt unscrewed during that twisty drive. No damage to inner sidewall or marks on the rim so somehow it seems to have come out without marking anything. Can't say I'm happy with that scenerio but thats what is staring me in the face. Now to get new bolts. Wonder how long I'll get bent over for these.

IchBautAuto

Fixed. With my car, if no one elses, the sway bar end wouldn't move with the car not running. Some reading of PDCC repairs in general said that there was residual pressure up to 165 Bar present in the sytem with the car stopped.
Anyway, at full rise with engine running, low range and CDL applied, it moved quite easily. The internal thread was fine, the old bolt hadn't sheared off and the new bolt went in easily. Torque to 81.5 Ft/Lb which is the best I could come up with. Very difficult to get 957 torque list, even the manual I have doesn't have the front suspension torque for PDCC equipped cars.

Now for a test drive.

garrett376

On a 958, which uses the same PDCC sway bar arrangement and that same N 106 121 02 bolt, the torque for that bolt is 67 ft lb + 90°

IchBautAuto

Thanks, much appreciated.

IchBautAuto

OK, vigorous test drive didn't initiate and fault. Feels good and tight. So to add to the list of Chassis system warning causes is the possibility that it is purely mechanical.