rehansamee

hi everyone

i finally took delivery of the car a couple of days ago -- guards red; black leather interior; 105k km on the clock.

the car had no service history (japanese import into my country), so had it checked by a local porsche specialist and carried out the following repair work on his recommendation:

1. change all belts / rollers
2. change cam cover gaskets + cam chain + tensioner
3. change front engine seals + oil cooler seals
4. change brake discs + pads
5. change transmission seals
6. change control arm ball joints (l + r)
7. change filters / fluids / plugs etc.

being a first-time porsche owner, i am very impressed with the build quality of this 14 year old car. however, i would appreciate your comments / advice on some things i have noticed in the last 2 days:

clutch -- if i am not careful in matching engine revs when shifting up or down, the transmission makes a "thump" sound when the clutch is released. is this a sign of a dying clutch? however, there is no clutch slippage.

harsh ride -- going over road joints etc. is turning out to be a backbone jarring experience. i am no stranger to firm suspensions -- my "family" saloon is an alfa romeo with eibach springs and koni yellows. its ride is firm but not harsh. do you think that the boge dampers have reached the end of their shelf life? how can i check? -- there are no leaks from the dampers. any other suggestions re. suspension bushings etc? i do NOT intend to race this car.

wheel alignment -- i got the following results (l + r):
front castor: 0.9 degrees + 2.1 degrees
front camber: -0.7 degrees + -0.3 degrees
front toe: 0.3 + 0.3
rear camber: -0.6 degrees + 0.2 degrees
rear toe: 0.0 + 0.9
i think i am way out of spec. is the castor and camber adjustable on these cars?

tranny whine -- when decelerating from cruising speed there is a whine / vibration from the tranny. this disappears if the clutch is pressed. is there a problem with the gearbox?

best regards,

rehan

craig001

It sounds like you shop covered just about everything. You car is right about where mine is.

If your shocks and struts are original then you should think about replacing them with the mileage you have. Porsche didn't offer the adjustable sport suspension from the factory because they were worried about frame flex and twist since it's a cabrio. (Mainly the windshield cracking or popping) That said there are several folks on Rennlist that have put a M030 or aftermarket suspension on, along with the 968"s M030 swaybars. I'll be one of them if I ever get around to getting the pieces parts I need. The main problem is once the project is begun there are a bunch of "while you are in there" kind of things to do. A lot of the shop expense is taking the car apart to get to where you have to get to.

One thing to think about is motor mounts, I am kind of surprised your wrench didn't recommend that while he had your control arms off for replacement. Your clutch may be going. Mine was repaced at 71,000 miles.

I think all these cars have some tranny noise, but hopefully others will reply to your post if their experiences.

I can't give you the factory alignment specs because I'll at work and my shop manuals are at home. I'll try to post them later.

Congrats on the new ride and have fun.

SoCal Driver

Try not to use just the trans during deceleration.

Dal Heger

it's fine to use the tranny while decelerating. Sounds like you might have a clutch job in your future, does it seem like there is a lot of play, or if you get on and off the gas a little bit is there a clunk? Most likely the clutch rubber center has disintegrated and you're getting a lot of slop in the driveline. I'm also surprised that you haven't changed engine mounts yet, this will smooth out the engine a LOT, use ONLY the PORSCHE engine mounts, the aftermarket stuff isn't as good, nor does it last as long.

The shocks are toast, replace them. I'd suggest KONI's for a good replacement shock.

The tranny whine is normal for these cars. They all sound like that.

Good luck!

Dal.

Luis de Prat

You've been given some great advice. Regarding the harsh ride, I would consider replacing the motor mounts, although 105K km is exactly the mileage on my Turbo cab and the mounts are OK. I did replace them on the S2 cab, but that one has over 220K km.

Another item to check on the cabs are the caster blocks, but if your mech did the control arms, those should be OK.

As you've noticed, these cars are very well built. They're also relatively rare, as only 5,640 "944 cabriolets" were built for all markets, including the Turbo cabs.

Enjoy the car and welcome to Rennlist!

GOBOGIE

Welcome

adrian_jaye

pinion bearing on its way out

or

torque tube

Luis de Prat

944 transmissions are notoriously noisy. I wouldn't be overly concerned about it unless you started to hear a grinding noise.

I have over 325K km on the original transmission on my 83 and it's always "whined" since I bought the car with 140K km.

YMMV

Peckster

There shouldn't be a vibration and I don't have a noticeable whine from mine on deceleration.

Luis de Prat

I really think his clutch is causing the vibration, not the transmission. The car has 65K miles. 944S2 transmissions are quite reliable.