Charlie944

I am at my wits ends here with my 84' NA. Here is the deal, the car has 235,000 miles and a few months ago I was experiencing a daily backfire (spark cut-out) and sometimes the car would die and not re-start. About 3-4 weeks ago the car would die on a daily basis and re-start after anywhere from <1min to over an hour. Here is what I have done:
--Replaced both Speed and Reference Sensors
--Ohmed out wires going to DME (all good)
--Replaced with different DME (thanks Lewis)
--Replaced DME Relay + Cap/Rotor (needed it anyway)

The different DME was working great for the last 3 weeks...no problems whatsoever! I thought my original unit was suffering from cold solder probs....this one maybe too now...not sure. But as of right now my 944 is sitting on the side of a country road not starting.

I have the factory Alarm option, could this be my intermittent no-spark condition??? All fuel parameters are in working order so no problems there.

Also sometimes when I turn the car off, it keeps running even with the key out, and to kill the engine I have to hit the brake pedal. Maybe something crazy with the brake pedal switch and something to do with the ignition.

HELP!!

Charlie944

I ran across on how to bypass the factory alarm on Clarks Garage. I will try that tomorrow. I just tried starting the car again (drove out to it and unplugged the alarm electrical plug located down alongside the center counsel on drivers side) and no start, but I have yet to jumper those connections listed here:
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/elect-23.htm

Anyone else ever do this?

Mark-87-951

all i can say is good luck. My car has not started for months now and I've replaced a number of things. I hope your situation resolves much quicker!

BlacknRedGT

I was planning on doing this but I got my car to start first. Its a easy procedure.

Charlie944

Thanks guys, the car started this morning after spending the night along side the road and it made it home (just a few min away). I am still going to bypass the alarm for safe measure. I aslo have a DME out of an 87' 944 and I will be getting the matching AFM here by Wed so I can try that as well.

quinnfiske

Maybe your ignition switch has bit the dust. If you shut it off and the engine kept running I would suspect it. The electrical portion of the switch can be replaced.

2BWise

You probably already did this, but I'm just curious. Did you just start replacing parts or did you figure out what the issue was (ie. no spark, no fuel pressure, etc.)? I would think that it would be easier to track down the issue first and then replace the possible culprits. The only reason I say this is that your description of the issue shows the symptoms, but no detective work to see what's the culprit.

Good luck

njwilser

Just a stab in the dark here. Clean the grounds on the bellhousing. The second smaller ground I believe is for the DME and can create intermittant probs.
Mike

Charlie944

The ign switch was replaced a couple years ago, but I can take a look at it.
I starting looking at the alarm and all that I see is the large black female pin connector on the drivers side footwell. The Clarks Garage only lists 10 pins but I have 15 total and they are not in the sequence or wire color that Clarks suggests. I need some verification from other early 944's.

Furthermore, I do not see any additional wires or plugs coming from it.
If I were to do any bypassing I suppose I would do the jumper wires on the blac connector and not on the alarm itself.

Charlie944

I have diagnosed it as no spark because my Jacobs Omni Mag coil has a green LED that lights up when ever a spark is produced and when the car will not fire during cranking the green LED does not light up. When the car does start I have to blow out the raw fuel that is getting dumped during cranking. Smells gassy as well.

Mike, I will check out the grounds on the bellhousing as well. Thanks!

35thSLP

have you bypassed the alarm yet? that was the problem when my Son's car har this problem? If the tach does not wiggle when cranking then it could be your reference sensor. That is what corrected my no start / stalling problem. Good luck!

Charlie944

I have replaced both the reference sensor and speed sensor.
I have not bypassed the alarm yet as I am confused because the procedure in Clarks Garage is not matching up to what I am seeing as far as pin #'s and wire colors.

Does anyone know if there is more plug-in's on the early 944 alarms other than 15-pin black plug down on the drivers side center counsel??

I am reeeally hoping I can bypass the alarm and that will fix it!

Charlie944

I am assuming this is the alarm? I looked in the CD manual but no pictures and it described the later 944 style and on the PET CD I get the same parts diagram for an early 944 as I do for a later one.
Here is what I have been talking about:

Charlie944

Bump
Is this the correct connector I am suppose to bypass the alarm with?

V2Rocket

I'd say check the ignition switch; it's like a $5 piece of plastic.

If not that, try your original ignition coil. Your funky aftermarket thing might have broken so swap it for the OEM one.

Also, have you checked your plugs recently? Look for dirt/oil/gap etc.