164 AT & other Questions

["Doug Gould" <dgould@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is my $0.02 on the two recent postings.

I think that one of the golden rules with 164's is to change the ATF
regularly. If you have just bought a secondhand car I would suggest flushing
the ATf a couple of times. I now change my ATF every 20,000 km and it makes
an appeciable difference. In the overall scheme of things ATF is cheap, so
why not keep it fresh?

I replaced the rack bushes on mine some months ago. The rack was moving and
the symptom is that if you turn hard left the steering wheel centres
slightly offset to the left and vice versa. On bush is replaceable (drivers
side) and the other requires the rack to be removed. Its the drivers side
one that provides lateral location of the rack and hence is the critical
one. The bush is cheap (I think I paid AUD$5 for a pair) but replacing it is
a cow. You need to remove both loacting clamps and raise the rack a couple
of inches to get the new bush in. The bolts are difficult to access. Doing
the job on a hoist is almost mandatory and removing the rear bolts on the
engine/ suspension mounting frame will help by allowing it to drop an inch
or so. You probably need to face up to a full days labour. It does however
make a big difference to steering feel and precision.

The brake symptoms listed are consistent with a MC problem. Bill Harkell can
give you chapters on this, check the 164 homepage.

Check the ABS with hard braking and the headlight bulbs are easy to
replace - check the owners manual. I used 100/130 watt bulbs which make a
big difference.

Doug Gould
91 164L

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