audi49

I'm thinking about getting a '87 944 S. Haven't seen it yet, but by the owner's account it is extremely well taken care of and has no issues presently. If I get such a car, I want to do 'repairs' and fixes myself as much as possible. I have experience doing things myself on Audi's, such as control arms, shocks, radiator, timing belt, water pump and all planned maintenance. If i can do that on an Audi, will i be able to do the similar on a 944? Thanks.

divil

Maybe these pics of 944s leaving the Audi factory where they were made will answer your question

Sorry couldn't resist...but seriously, yes if you can do all those things on an Audi you will be fine doing similar jobs on the 944. The rear suspension on the 944 uses torsion bars so that might be the biggest difference compared to what you're used to. Have a look at some of Van's videos to get an idea of what 944s are like to work on


Parts are *not* cheap though.

CVR_Rally

I have gotten to know my 87 944S pretty well...still working on it. The 8v is much easier to deal with but not to say the 16v is terrible, just more fiddley.
Chris

odonnell

I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly, the worst 'mechanical' job is probably the clutch, but even that can be done in a weekend. It's the mystery no-starts that cause the biggest headaches in my opinion.

944Ross

I disagree. It depends what you are comparing them to, tho. Certain parts are expensive, but price out comparable parts for a modern car, they are worse. A new car with electric power steering basically has one $1,000 part, for that you could replace the rack, PS pump, and all the hoses on a 944 and pocket some change. And as long as we can GET parts for our 944's I sure won't complain.

austin944

I have no experience with Audis (what kind?), but I think the 944 is pretty reasonable for the average home mechanic to work on. The first time replacing the timing belt and water pump was somewhat intimidating for me, but I had the support of the online forums (and e-mail lists prior to that), the factory workshop manuals, the Haynes manual, and Clark's Garage web pages. Since you've already done those kinds of jobs, it should be pretty straightforward to transfer your skills over to the 944, if you read and thoroughly study the existing information out there.

I would suggest searching these forums before asking questions, and search for relevant keywords in the title to get better results. The usual topics have been covered many times here over a 10+ year period. If you don't get a response, it usually means either (1) it's been covered before, or (2) you didn't explain yourself clearly.

mhariush

The 944S cars are fun, but more fiddley and sensitive than the 8V NA's. Additional electrical stuff that can cause issues, the 16 Valve part of the engine is very fiddley if you need to pull the head ever.

They're slower in low gears and off the bat than the NA's, but have more torque and speed at higher gears.

Other than that they're just like the other 87 cars...

SOB Racing

I'm new to 944's but have been wrenching for a while. The car is relatively easy to work on. Nothing different than the Chevy's and Mitsu's I'm used to working on.

the parts cost varies ALOT, for instance $300+ dollars for a water pump and $200+ for a new door handle is insane in my book. But a timing belt change for $250 is not too bad when compared to my interference motor on a 4g63 Mitsu.

Normal wear items seems to be a little more but not grossly different.

Used part market on the message board look to be about the same as well....reasonable.

gtroth

You'll be just fine.
Chain and its tensioner are the biggest maintenance difference.
I haven't found the S to be fiddly, and it's real quick if you rev it like it's meant to be rev'd.

Arominus

The S is a great car and i found it to be no worse than an 8-valve NA 944 to deal with. There area few unique things on the car that you have to pay more attention to (cam chain tensioner blocks, not stripping the threads on the magnesium intake manifold) but everything else is the same as an NA. These are fairly easy cars to work on, but attention to detail is important.

Get it! I loved my 944S!

audi49

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Checked out the car today. Have posted questions in a separate thread.

MAGK944

You are joking right? Porsche parts are a total rip off when compared to any car using similar branded parts. For my BMW, VW, Jag and even my 308 the parts are a fraction of the cost, let's not even go domestic cars using German OEM brands. Check my post here: Porsche - BMW Parts Comparison