knfeparty

I test drove my first 944 yesterday, a 1988 N/A. It had a lot of work done to it over the last five years...
"comes with all books and records up to date, and just had head work and related items done...Has New Timing Belt, Water Pump, Plugs, Wires, Filters, Belts, Brakes, and complete valve job just done."

For 180000 miles, the engine ran very, very smoothly. Records said valve job was done because of low compression. The power felt about right. My only concern was that it had a tremendous amount of gear lash and overall drivetrain slop that was very evident when going on and off of the throttle, accompanied by a lot of noise. I crawled under the car to do a quick visual inspection...a little bit of corrosion on the CVs, but nothing considerable. Records indicated that the CVs had been recommended for replacement about a year ago but had not been replaced. I'm wondering what other possible explanations there are for the all of the slop. It is particularly bad when decelerating, but noticeable when accelerating, also. The rest of the transmission feels great; she falls into all 5 gears easily. How concerned should I be about the slop and the car in general?

David Floyd

Rubber centered clutch is shot

JimV8

The drivetrain slop you are describing may be the clutch going bad. I know this from experience. To verify you need to get under the car and pull the rubber inspection cover on the front of the transaxle at the torque tube and with the car in neutral try turning the driveshaft. If it turns more than a fraction it is the clutch.

devious944

mine did that , i thought it was the cv's i replaced them and a day later i was making a u-turn and got on it and blew the tranny up . i later learned it was a lsd tranny and hard to come by

knfeparty

Thanks a lot for the feedback. The clutch feel was pretty good and the noise I was hearing while driving was definitely from the rear of the car. Does the decision still stand? I did note that the records I looked at (~5 years worth) did not say anything about a replaced clutch. Certain 944s have a clutch that isn't rubber-centered, right? Can I fit one of those on this car if I buy it, and how much repair cost are we talking about?

ubercooper

the new clutch, and assmuning you dont install it yourself, will cost you anywhere from 1500-3000$
I paid 3k for mine. cost as much as the car...

knfeparty

wow. Yeah it is at a used car lot, asking 4,888 for it. I would maybe give 3,200. The whole 3k clutch deal sheds some new light on the situation. I should probably just wait around...is a 951 too much to try to get involved with?

ubercooper

before you do anything, ask a local shop about how much a new clutch would cost. it might be better...or worse.

depending on your situation, a 951 might be great, or a total PITA.

WGB

Check the Connection between the Torque-tube shaft and the input shaft of the transaxle.
Visible at front of transaxle with rubber bung removed.
On my car gearbox had been fitted with one of the two locating spacers on the torque-tube to transmission housing missing.
Very slight misalignment caused connector to breakup and was diagnosed by two Porsche Mechanics as bearing in gearbox breaking up. One suggested that it was a rubber clutch centre going.
Caused an enormous amount of drive backlash before it was replaced along with awful noise from rear of car when idling in Neutral.

Bill Babe

NeoRules

I though my tranny or my CV's were bad on an early 85 I just bought. Turned out the Wheel bearing (gland?) nut was not anywhere near proper torque. When I gave it gas it clunked. When I lift off the peddle it clunked even louder. I jacked up the rear wheels and put it in first at idle. WHAT A RACKET it made... Tightened up the nut and it got real quiet. Now I am shopping for bearings just to be sure. JC

U-30AT

don't think the "noise" is the clutch..you say its from the back and makes noise on deacceleration, kindof a "grrrrrr..,grrrrr..,grrrrr.." winding down, right? usually at lower speeds? from what the Porsche tech told me (after road test) and my "tranny noise" search on RL this is not "the" clutch. Mine (85.5 NA - 64K miles) is also noisy on deacceleration and I'm going to try Swepco tranny fliud per RL member recommendations to see if that quiets it down.

caveat emptor - my results, yours may differ - seek a PROFESSIONAL opinion i.e. PPI from Porsche tech.

knfeparty

thanks a lot guys. What neorules said is the most like what I'm experiencing. I think I am going to pass on that particular car, though, because a 1989 with less miles was just posted for sale nearby.