paalw

i have noticed that my engine cross brace is bent in two places, it looks stock so i never thought about it until now. now that i check, i see mine is the only bent one..

the bends are in line with the outer sides of the intake on the pic.

Do i need a new one? Will i feel any difference? Car feels fine as it is..

JHowell37

If you want one that is straight, you will need a new one. As flimsy and lightweight as they appear, you would think they don't make a difference, but they can actually make a big improvement. That was the case on my car at least.

Mrmerlin

the bar your picturing has a bend that wont keep the front end from flexing, it needs to be straight.
If you have any doubts about the rod and what it does simply jack up the car and release one side of the bars bolts, you should see the end of the bar move in relation to the unibody.
Refit the new bar with the car on the ground.
You also need a hot post cover, get one from a 1988 S4 it fits perfectly and will keep your hot post connection from corroding and causing the famous no start after I washed it.
And it looks like you also need some new hood shocks , if your hatch shocks are worn then just buy a new set of hatch shocks, the worn hatch shocks can then be transferred to the hood ( warning if its difficult to close the hood or it bows then you will need to get the weaker hood shocks)

paalw

thanks mrmerlin! Hood shocks are already replaced and i guess cross brace is next. what is a hot post cover? where is it located? is my car missing it?

ColinB

Definitely replace the cross brace. The "hot post" live terminal coveris a thin plastic shield that fits over the electrickery on the left of your picture. It's retained by the blue nut. I bought one from 928 Intl for pennies.

Colin. 89GT.

paalw

okay i see. does anyone have a part no on the hot post cover? searched 928intl but could not find it.

Vilhuer

928 612 871 02

http://www.mailordercentral.com/928i...612%20871%2002

paalw

thanks!! both parts ordered

also, i noticed another thing. The big plastic hole in front of the engine, between the air intakes. What is that, and is it supposed to be a plastic cover over it?

Vilhuer

Its air pump filter housing. There should be filter in it and plastic cover on top. If pump is deleted theres no need for filter either.

paalw

Okay! lots of new stuff for me here.

what is the air pump for(other than obviously pumping air somewhere)? How do i check if it is deleted, and is it not needed? the housing is empty, so there is no filter.

i did some searching and i see lot of people deleted it. And a lot of talk about if they have removed their cats also. what is the connection air pump/cats? My cats are gone btw.

paalw

ok, found what it does.

"It adds more air (read O2) to the mixture ahead of the cats. This helps the cats to do their burning thing more efficiently, means more of the bad stuff gets rendered less harmful." thanks SteveG.