Devia

Of course dreams aren't enough.

But, like my dear father said, without the dreamers, we never would have set the first man
on the moon! You must dream up something, so you can create it, and make it real.

- Julie

Devia

Well, that's pretty much what I'd been saying all along - and had asked McKenna Porsche to check, BEFORE I had her towed in. But they refused to check it.
It was at the top of my checklist, and had made sure they'd check it, before
I set foot in there.

I'm pretty sure it boils down back to the wiring behind the DME Relay board, as has been
my suspicion since she died on the freeway. The DME, and the silver relay
between it and the driver's side wheel well were BOTH hot to touch, and
I had to wait for an hour before she would restart.

Also, when she's been kind of running okay, there's a funny smell, like
fried fish coming inside the cabin.

Wierd smells to me ALWAYS mean electrical. I really need a mechanic that will work with me, and possibly come to the house on this one! I'd pay them, if they could properly diagnose and fix her. Just if she's towed, she'll run fine!

I've NEVER in my life ever seen such a consistent, intermittent running problem in my life, except ONCE: my mom's first microwave! It would die,
and then we'd put in the back of my stepdad's truck, and take it to the repair shop. Wouldn't you know, it would work each and every time!? We finally
just would shove it into the back of the truck, drive it around for an hour, and
bring it home, and it would work fine for another 6 months!

I heard there's a good Porsche Indy mechanic in Santa Ana? There's an Indy
up the street from me, but he detests my model an awful lot, so best not to take her in. Silly owner tried to get me to go back to VW bugs, lol. Told him
I'd trade my 944 for a well maintained, well running Karmen Ghia!

In the end, I pretty much do want a bug, Karmen Ghia, 911 and my 944 -
BUT gotta fix this puppy first, so I can get a BETTER job, or at least be
able to get around a few days a week I work outside of here!

And that's the key, folks - I don't need her as a daily driver; just 3 days
a week!

- Julie

86 951 Driver

I don't if you have done this yet. It sounds like my old problem. It turned out to be my DME. The solder joints were bad. I replaced the coil with an MSD unit along with the wires. Get some magnacore wires they are about $50-60. Take your DME out and take it to a TV repair shop and ask them if the solder joints are cracked. I replaced everything my 924S and it turned out to be the DME solder joints. Just something to check before dumping a lot more money into it.

Devia

Neon Driver - more info, please? Do you mean just the DME Relay, or the other part of the DME
circuitry?

I'm not following completely what you did, as I only replaced the DME Relay, with a brand new one.
It didn't make a difference.

Out of all my CDs on my car, the wiring CD of course is the one that is corrupted! So I'm blind in this arena.

If anyone can post anything about the wiring, etc., or email it to me, I'd be greatful!

- Julie

Jfrahm

The car sounds like a heartbreaker and maybe not worth sorting out, just one problem after another. If the DME is bad again, it probably has wiring harness problems that caused the DME to fail. Sorting that sort of problem out is best left to people with lots of time, an interest in crawling around under the dash and hood, and a reliable daily driver. If the car has damage to the wiring harness, got wet inside a lot (rain/leaks, a flood, etc.) questionable PO wiring hacks, etc. I would stop messing with it and go shopping for something like a 1990 Integra. It could have bad injector wiring, shorted sensor wiring, a clogged cat, who knows. It'd take hours to figure out and if it's intermittent you have to be able to diagnose it on the side of the road the next time it acts up, which means you have the tools, knowledge, and the time in your schedule to deal with it at any time.

toomanylemons

it sounds like you have done alot of work on this car, and you have also have had alot of problems. if various parts of your engine control systems are overheating(like the dme and its relay), then there is something wrong with those components and thats including your wiring. you also have to remember the basics, electricity has to flow. if components are overheating, then there is resistance in these circuits. the first thing that i always do (since i am a mechanic) when i see a wierd electrical problem, i check all of my grounds. they all need to be clean and tight to ensure no resistance.

my father had problems w/ his 944 dying after driving more than 30minutes. we suspected the dme, and swapped it. it fixed it for awhile, but did the same thing. when we had the orignal one rebuilt, they told us to check the grounds. he found one of the grounds on the bellhousing (i think) were loose and causing the dme to overheat. the resistance would increase soo much that the dme would no longer function until it cooled back down.

now this is what i have seen on my fathers car, but you may or may not have something different. i would chase after that smell you are having, is more than likely is the source of your driveability/running issue.

Devia

She's not stopped acting up this time; she sits in her parking spot, with her hiccupping/stalling issue.

The smell was like fried fish, which I found odd, and I found no place from where it was coming from!

The Bellhousing - hmm, that could be a clue, since the clutch was accidentally replaced with a used clutch.

- Julie

Devia

FYI - the only spot she leaks, is from the rear hatch seal, of which I now have a new one, ready to install. That never has bothered any of the sensors, or wiring. A roll of papertowels on the rear passenger floor is enough to take care of it, so I leave one there for the next deluge (rare out here in S. California).

I'm going to see about contacting that alleged reliable, independent Porsche repair shop in Santa Ana, as I just don't have the time to deal with this with my uncle's deteriorating health right now.

I see no reason to give up on a car who's been reliable except when she blew the waterpump last year.

If I were stronger, and not so claustrophobic, I'd definitely check the bellhousing!

- Devia

Dynamite 76

Is the original problem fixed? If not, Sharky's web site shows how to re-solder DME solder contacts The link is in his sig I think.

pjburges

I have the porsche factory wiring diagrams in electronic format I can send to you but they are big. PM me for details on that and Ill be happy to help out.

I know that you can find the complete EE schematic for the bosch motronic dme and get down with a voltmeter on it. They are pretty simple and it isnt as hard as it sounds. To see if your wires are good just check their resistance and wiggle them around a bit and check again. You are having a DME ignition/ fuel failure if your car just turns off. That is usually the DME, not headgasket or anything like that. Since your cylinders are full of fuel and the car is rich it probably isnt a fuel problem. Id point my finger at a short either in the DME itself or in the engine electrical harness, or the high-voltage side (coil rotor cap wires.) Maybe the CPS is failing. It wouldnt be the AFM of TPS or anything fuel related. Its definetly spark related.