New 944 owner, right into the deep end
#47
Thanks guys. I knew the car was going to need some love. No stranger to old cars, had a '78mgb, then a '86 636CSi. Both high miles, I got the 635 with 240k on her and daily drove it for 2 years.
This car just been a bit of a disappointment in terms of significant mechanical issues I am finding the hard way and the $ bill associated with it.
Damn good looking car though and when running the sounds, feel and experience are definitely top notch.
This car just been a bit of a disappointment in terms of significant mechanical issues I am finding the hard way and the $ bill associated with it.
Damn good looking car though and when running the sounds, feel and experience are definitely top notch.
#53
Racer
IMHO get him something else newer to drive. These are great hobby cars. When they need repair you park it, order what you need, and take your time to repair. Otherwise you pay top dollar for lesser quality, local parts-if they even have it and rush to repair. And went you rush, well you know the rest.
#54
Nordschleife Master
Its a 30+ year old car with high mileage and dubious maintenance history. It’s never going to be reliable unless it has every assembly looked at and repaired/replaced. It took me over 3 years and about $6k to get mine to the point of being a reliable daily driver and that didn’t include paint or interior. These are reknown wyit cars that mount up the costs on the simplest jobs even if you diy everything, just be thankful you don’t have a turbo
It's not a "is something going to break?" but a "when is something going to break?" situation.
This would be true for any car of that age. The fact that it's a Porsche means that the parts will cost more.
If he needs reliable transportation, find a cheap 'ultra-low mileage' lease on something. I think you can get a sub-$20k car for below $200/month.
But it won't have the 'panache' of a Porsche. It won't have the satisfaction of knowing how the car works and that he can fix it when it breaks.
#56
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I appreciate all the input. I will say that some of it had me almost sell the car as we are just not ready (mentally or financially) to drop 3-4-6k in repairs into a car like this as a 1st car for him, though things do add up for sure.
I talked with son about the situation, $ possibly involved to keep going, pro/cons of it as a driver, and options to go another route, but he is just smitten by the car (likes things with curves like dad, man are we in trouble), so we will just keep going one drive at a time for now, he does not get his license until Dec. The engine sure seems to run like a champ, and I ran it good thru 6k+ this morning getting on the freeway. Man these cars sit low. I was noticing how short it is next to semi's, and had someone in a parking lot pull pout in front of me as they could not see me over the bushes in the parking lot. Brakes/tires passed that test and something I need to make sure to relay to son to be aware people an not see it around bushes well.
- Shifter was the common pivot bolt wearing out. c-clip gone, then the linkage fell off, easy fix and I did the upgrade with the thrust bearings and a 10mmX50mm bolt.
- High/low beam stalk on column was bad, highbeams were on unless you held it back a fraction. I pulled it off the car and was trying to see if could open up and they are seals units. GRRR. tried adjusting one of the contacts and of course the spring popped out. DOH! Also found the blk wire for the cruis control was not connected to anything. Buying an assembly off a parts car, but for now, no headlights other than highbeams.
- Rear wiper. It did not operate at all when we got the car, did't realize how $$$ they were. Kids tinkered with it a little and said it only moved and inch back and forth, good sign, motor had power, odd it would not fully cycle. I pulled the cover off and the assembly looked almost new. Took the arm off and turned the wiper on, the shaft sure seemed to be moving well. I marked it and sure enough it was making a full 90* sweep. Teeth on the shaft are almost non existent. I put the arm on and made sure to get the nut on there really tight. Turned the wiper on and bingo, full motion, very stong wiper!
- Radio - aftermarket radio, showed and error when bought it. PUlled a manual from internet and error was for a short in speaker wiring. pulled the entire radio, cut ugly spliced aftermarket harness. I rewired it into the car and now radio works, though the rear speakers are beyond weak, even will full fader to back and high volume could barely hear them sitting in garage. We will have to rewire and/or replace speakers. Are the rear prone to going out, that a moisture area, or just bad wiring normally?
- Front swaybar bushings are being a %&*@$ They do not want to fit in the clamps and bolt up to the mount. I will keep working on that once I get some of the bushing lube at the store, hoping it helps. Is there some sort of trick? do you put bushings in the clamps then try to slide it over the bar? They were so stick to the bar I did not see that being possible. so I slide bushings over the bar and then spread clamps and snapped over them. But of course not it pinches the bushing.
- Cooling - I think I mentioned that it had overflowed on us in the driveway. Wife and son had made a 30min freeway cruise, got home and it overflowed when sitting in driveway idling. Looked to me like it both triggered the expansion tank cap and that cap did not have an outer seal so a mess. Re replaced the cap refilled expansion tank and ran it. Around town never had an issue, always stays in bottom 1/3 of the gauge. I watched it and on freeway running it seemed fine, soon as came to prolonged stop getting off freeway, it was in top half of gauge. I watched and it was not coming down, so I turned heater to max and it dropped immediately and I turned heater off. Gauge stayed down. I have heard fans running before but with traffic I could not hear if they were running or not at the time. It was pretty cool out this AM, probably 50-60*f so concerning that it was getting warm. When I got to work I pulled out my laser therm and head was 195*f, expansion tank showed 156*f. Neither seems overly hot, but at that time the gauge was back down in it's normal lower 1/3 range. anyone have any ideas?
I talked with son about the situation, $ possibly involved to keep going, pro/cons of it as a driver, and options to go another route, but he is just smitten by the car (likes things with curves like dad, man are we in trouble), so we will just keep going one drive at a time for now, he does not get his license until Dec. The engine sure seems to run like a champ, and I ran it good thru 6k+ this morning getting on the freeway. Man these cars sit low. I was noticing how short it is next to semi's, and had someone in a parking lot pull pout in front of me as they could not see me over the bushes in the parking lot. Brakes/tires passed that test and something I need to make sure to relay to son to be aware people an not see it around bushes well.
#57
Nordschleife Master
The Multi-switch (turn signals, high beams, ect) isn't supposed to come apart. And if you do take it apart, it's pretty much a three handed job to get all the pieces and springs back in (plus 2 more hands for the casing). But it can be done.
Front sway-bar bushings. They should fit like they 'supposed to' go there. If yours are pinching, something isn't right. I'm not going to do a whole lot of searching around, but I seem to recall that there are a couple different swaybars, and a couple different clamps. They don't 'mix & match'.
Not sure what's going on with the cooling. Mine will get hot if I sit and idle, then the fans come on and do their job.
Glad to hear you are planning on keeping it. They are awesome little beasts, and a ton of fun. Being only a 4 cyl, they are far less likely to get a younger driver into big trouble (seeing a kid in a 'Vette or a BMW or other 'high performance car scares the crap out of me).
You now have an idea of what you are in for. One of the worst experiences is to get into a project like this without realizing what you are in for. Both cost and labor. I don't like scaring people off, but I prefer that to dooming a car to an untimely death at the hands of someone who has no clue.
Front sway-bar bushings. They should fit like they 'supposed to' go there. If yours are pinching, something isn't right. I'm not going to do a whole lot of searching around, but I seem to recall that there are a couple different swaybars, and a couple different clamps. They don't 'mix & match'.
Not sure what's going on with the cooling. Mine will get hot if I sit and idle, then the fans come on and do their job.
Glad to hear you are planning on keeping it. They are awesome little beasts, and a ton of fun. Being only a 4 cyl, they are far less likely to get a younger driver into big trouble (seeing a kid in a 'Vette or a BMW or other 'high performance car scares the crap out of me).
You now have an idea of what you are in for. One of the worst experiences is to get into a project like this without realizing what you are in for. Both cost and labor. I don't like scaring people off, but I prefer that to dooming a car to an untimely death at the hands of someone who has no clue.
#58
Instructor
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Front sway-bar bushings. They should fit like they 'supposed to' go there. If yours are pinching, something isn't right. I'm not going to do a whole lot of searching around, but I seem to recall that there are a couple different swaybars, and a couple different clamps. They don't 'mix & match'.
Glad to hear you are planning on keeping it. They are awesome little beasts, and a ton of fun. Being only a 4 cyl, they are far less likely to get a younger driver into big trouble (seeing a kid in a 'Vette or a BMW or other 'high performance car scares the crap out of me).
You now have an idea of what you are in for. One of the worst experiences is to get into a project like this without realizing what you are in for. Both cost and labor. I don't like scaring people off, but I prefer that to dooming a car to an untimely death at the hands of someone who has no clue.
#59
Nordschleife Master
You can drill/grind the rivets out and then use small machine screws & nuts to hold it back together. I think I used 8-32 or 6-40.
I can't remember exactly what the different sway bar sizes are. And I'm lately being plagued with 'misremembering' stuff. I will have a clear memory of a fact or piece of data...
That is completely wrong. It's starting to drive me nuts.
Testing the fans isn't all that hard. Pulling them isn't either.
Pulling the radiator and flushing it out is likely a good idea. Maybe even take it to a decent radiator shop and have it properly cleaned out.
Yeah, when it's one thing after another after another after another, it gets more than just a little bit discouraging.
But, keep in mind that everything you fix right is not likely to break for at least a while, right?
So the more you do, the less there will be to do in the future (I keep telling myself that).
I can't remember exactly what the different sway bar sizes are. And I'm lately being plagued with 'misremembering' stuff. I will have a clear memory of a fact or piece of data...
That is completely wrong. It's starting to drive me nuts.
Testing the fans isn't all that hard. Pulling them isn't either.
Pulling the radiator and flushing it out is likely a good idea. Maybe even take it to a decent radiator shop and have it properly cleaned out.
Yeah, when it's one thing after another after another after another, it gets more than just a little bit discouraging.
But, keep in mind that everything you fix right is not likely to break for at least a while, right?
So the more you do, the less there will be to do in the future (I keep telling myself that).
#60
Racer
" it has 191K miles on it"- holy volksvagen****zenboxen! I have a 30 y/o S10 with a V6 vortec with 190,500 and it's one thing $$$ annually. Old cars need cash. Take out a second mortgage to fix it like the 911 guys do. LOL!