9444Alexis

Hey all,
It's been a while since i posted about my odd transmission problem. I have since gone to IMA in Fairfax, VA who are super nad I would recommend them to one and all. They went over my vehicle with a fine tooth comb and found a few minor <gasp> things wrong. The first call from them was "get rid of the car, start over!". The firts problem that caused me to bring it to them was a mysterious emissions failure.

After they removed the mouse and its nest, the car ran much better. Apparently these Porsches aren't compatible with direct acorn injection in the <normally MAF area> air intake thingy. The mouse glared at the tech while he was patiently diagnosing all the concerns. It stomped off later.

They inspected it and found the following problems: clutch was about to spin into two pieces <replaced>, the ball joint in the right control arm is SOL, the timing belt is of unknnown age, the tranny still doesn't downshift into 3rd, the window motor on the right side is non-op, and it got a tuneup while there. It didn't pass with a great margin either.

I ordered all the belts and the front hood shocks <being decapitated while servicing the engine seemd counterproductive> and a throttle cam. I am contemplating a DIY repair of the control arm.Any thoughts? Any transmissions? Any prayers?

Scott M.

Alexis;

I love the old saying... "Nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche"...

I hear IMA does decent work. Do you know if Heinz Peters is still there? Older
Bavarian dude.

michaelathome

9444Alexis,

Good to hear that you have gotten the 944 up and running again. I have sold my 83 intact. Try PM'in 9five1 as he spotted a few 944's at some local wreckers just last weekend. He is here in the NOVA area as well.

Good luck and look forward to seeing you around,

Michael

weizen

What year is your car? I may have a tranny and arms (freshly recuilt) for you from an 85.5. Working on getting rid of the whole car but will let you know if I don't. I have no idea what shipping would be but let me know if you're interested.

silverBean

You can do the control arm for the window. I remember when mine went, it straight broke, just snapped right next to the motor and when i was lossening the bolts, it karate chopped my hand thanks to the excess pressure in the spring. That was fun. It is an easy fix though, just use some packaging tape to hold up the window while removing tha arm. Be sure to get a new gasket ans new sealant for the window as well. Best of luck!

9444Alexis

My car is a 1988........

I appreciate all the hints and helps. I just received my package from Pelican. Amazing how you can spend $100 and get a very small box in return :-P. I think the hood shocks will be the first step though. Might make people more eager to help.

As far as the saying about cheap Porsches, I am learning this first hand. The thing I am consoling myself with is a) I found an excellent repair facility thanks to a recommendation.
b) by doing a bulk of the repairs myself I will get to be much more familiar with my car and what's going on and..... c) I can honestly say I damn near rebuilt the car myself!!

I love my car. That's the odd thing about this situation. It should be that I want to get rid of it and start over with a better prospect, but I am in love with this car warts and all. And chips, dents, clanks, missing gears, square wheels, non working stereo, water filled tailights, etc.........

Guess no one would want to buy it now! LOL

silverBean

Oh i know the feeling. What sucks is when you get new dents. But all the old ones add chracter!! Hood shocks will take 10 minutes tops. Good luck!

Ezra944

I have that on my left tailight. How do you get the water out?

9444Alexis

the experts have spoken : get a 1/4" drill bit and make a drain in the bottom of the housing. I will be looking into this....

The hood shocks will be the confidence builder .....the next one is the one frill I bought.....the throttle cam :-D. I am having a control arm party..just found out my truck needs the ball joints replaced as well. I always said I wanted to learn more about suspension :-P.

The dents are starting to make my car look like it has the radar confusing profile.....no flat edges to bounce the radar off. Hmmm.......I may be able to test this theory...if you see a post for bail money, you'll know it was a failure :-D.

Barry A. Waters

I've got a 'whine' from the transaxle on my car that seems to be from the pinion/ring gear interface. When I first got the car a year ago I was super sensitive to all noises and it bugged me.

After Swepco 201 went in (no metallic bits in the drained stuff or on the magnetic plug) it got slightly better but is still there. It occurs in all gears only under drive conditions but I can 'float' the throttle (neither accel or decel) and it goes away - hence my pinion/ring gear assumption.

I really don't notice it that much now because I've gotten used to it. I've heard this could be 'normal'. Is there anything here I need to get worried about? The past year has been great - no increase in noise - it's just usually there if you get quiet and listen for it.

Thanks!

Barry

Barry A. Waters

Sorry, meant to post this as a new thread...

9444Alexis

No problem, it does bring up questions forme as far as if our problems sound the same......

tifosiman

Not really that bad of a list, provided the rest of the car is in good shape.

The balljoints are not hard to rebuild for anyone with rudimentary mechanical skills, and a few tools (provided that the arm is in good shape and only the joint bushings are bad). A bench vise is very helpful. I would rebuild both a-arms while you are at it, since you will need an alignment aftwards anyway after just one. Go to www.rennbay.com or www.klaindustries.net. Both have good kits and are Rennlist Sponsors. Post up any questions you have here about rebuilding them, many of us have done them so many times that we can do them in our sleep and blindfolded, whil drinking a beer upside down.

The timing belt is a little more involved, but do-able. Do the rest of the belts while you are at it. You will need a tool (kricket, Porsche, or Arnworx) to check the tension on the belt. Clarks Garage has a good write up on the procedure.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-ma...ure-index3.htm

What other signs of problems is the trans exhibiting? Have you drained the fluid and changed it lately? Is your shifter sloppy?

The window motor is not bad, either. Have you checked to see if it is something as simple as some connections on the switch needing to be cleaned or that there is not a short/break somewhere in the wiring?

9444Alexis

As far as the A-arms, I was already planning to do both and was going to go through rennbay for the kit. The bench vise I am not in luck enough to have a garage, that's turning into my dad's apartment. One day.......>sigh<. Is the procedure for drinking the beer upside down included in the link you sent?

Timing belt I got scared of..I assumed doing all the belts at the same time would be wisest, so I bought all the belts from Pelican and they arrived yesterday. I heard that the 1988 944s have an automatic tensioner and no tool is needed......is this true?

Next question: why are the shop manuals $820?? ARGH!!

Tranny: Shifter is sloppy, the gear oil hasn't been changed in the months I have had it <that was the first stop though. That is slated for sometime soon......see note about 'no garage' :-P> I have been looking for used trannys just in case I have a big mess or sparkly gear oil.

Thanks!

Chris_924s

I use a 4' length of surgical tubing. Suction it right out.