is anyone interested in an 84 944 that doesn't run but has a bunch of new parts? i'm about ready to admit defeat and sell it to someone who understands these cars. thought i could make it run but getting sick of trying. the car is in pretty good shape and my daughter was excited about driving it but time is running out and maybe i'll just buy something american-dread the thought though.

 

Gee, such a glowing recommedation!
I'll give you a dollar - can you deliver.

Seriously, what's wrong with it. Maybe we can help get it running.

 

erick was quite helpful as everyone on here is. i posted earlier tonight about low vacuum possibly causing fuel pressure problems and in june about how it only runs minus the fuel pump fuse. it's a long story but i'm just getting tired of looking at it with the hood up and receiving comments from wife and four kids and their friends about it. maybe i should just close the hood and walk away from it for awhile and i might get a new attitude. i quit drinking again recently and my patience is nonexistent. better have a good cigar and turn on the tv tonight instead of laying under the 944. thanks for the pep talk. by the way, it only runs (very poorly idles) after removing fuse #2 in the secondary fuse box which according to my books is the fuel pump fuse. as soon as i replace the fuse it dies. found this out when replacing the fuel filter while bleeding the pressure off the line. bought it not running and have tried for 2 months now. i guess it's the abuse i'm faced with thats getting me down. replaced fuel pump, filter, pressure reg., plugs cap/rotor, dme relay was already done, did all the test with ohm meter and volt meter. maybe i'll tow it to a friends garage where they have a scope. maybe it's the dme. who knows at this point! --paul m.

 

paul i read your other post... sounds like my dads 85.5 after i cleaned the idle stabilizer valve... i left a vac hose to the intake off, the car would start for a sec then stop, i could hold the throttle open it would run but die on release of the throttle... DOUBLE CHECK ALL VACUUM LINES connecting to the intake manifold... turned out i left one off going to the front under the butterfly... d'oh!!!

 

paul if it turns out its the dme i have several... its highly unlikely, if it does turn out you need one... call ian's europarts in pompano beach, fl, they have just about everything, if they dont have one, i do. i'd look at the vac lines first!

 

thanks mike--i'll check that right now. i started following every vac line today but got called away, but i'll go look around under ther and see if i missed something. when i bought it i was told that it ran perfect and one day just quit while going down the road and never started again. thanks again. i'll keep you guys posted of any updates. paul m.

 

The "very poorly idles" sounds like a vacuum leak to me as well. My 951 ran like crap at idle. The PO had spent a small fortune trying to find the cause and getting it to run right. The car finally got to the point where it almost wouldn't idle at all. Ran a vacuum test on the engine and found NO VACUUM at all! While looking for a missing vac hose I found a blown intake manifold gasket (little piece of gasket material sticking out of the number one runner). Replaced it (and the other three) and now the car runs great. Less than $10 in parts - but many hours under hood.

You also said "i was told that it ran perfect and one day just quit while going down the road" reminds me of a similar problem I had with my first Porsche, an '83 944. It to would "just stop" while driving. I found that the Speed and Reference Sensors were old and brittle. They would wiggle themselves loose and once they lose connection, the car stops - period! Might check those as well. They might need cleaning, try electrical cleaner from Radio Shack or something similar.

None of this explains why the car runs with the fuse pulled. I hope thats a by product of a more simple solution.

Good luck,

 

Almost sounds like it's flooding if the only time it will run at all is when fuel pressure is removed. Do you smell raw fuel?

 

[quote]Originally posted by Bones944:
<strong>Almost sounds like it's flooding if the only time it will run at all is when fuel pressure is removed. Do you smell raw fuel?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Bones944 has a good point. If the car runs with the fuse pulled, then I suspect the fuel pump is running all the time. I going out on a limb here, but it seems to me the thing should die if you remove the fuse. Going with this thought, maybe it's getting power from somewhere it's not suppose to be and flooding the engine.

<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

Sounds like you need to check the MAF, I have the procedure if you want I will post it.
All the procedures are in the Haynes, do you have a Haynes ?

 

today i decided to re-group and pull the intake. i found a very rotten j-shaped vacuum hose almost in pieces-it's the 1/2" line that hooks to the very bottom of the intake with a tee in it also. my son and i went shopping and cobbled a tee made of some various plumbing and underground sprinkling parts along with a piece of heater hose. (no porsche parts available on sunday-but at least worked for temporary) i put it all back together and also replaced every vacuum line and connector(bought 20 feet of plastic line and 6 feet of rubber) and tried it and it flooded instantly. i removed the fuel pump fuse again and tried it and as long as i held the pedal right at 1800 rpm's it ran for 15 minutes until fully warmed up and until i shut it off. note this is without the fuse in. if i gave it more throttle it would stall and if i let it idle it would stall but as long as i held my foot down just a little it runs, but not perfect-pretty rich and lots of fumes but not black oil smoke. so what i thought would fix it didn't. it definately needed that tee hose replaced anyway, as it had large holes and cracks. could it possibly be that the cat. converter is plugged up? it runs like it's got a potato stuck in the tailpipe! oh well it was sunday and i got to know it even better. any ideas?---paul m. (thanks)

 

[quote]Originally posted by paulm84944:
<strong>today i decided to re-group and pull the intake. i found a very rotten j-shaped vacuum hose almost in pieces-it's the 1/2" line that hooks to the very bottom of the intake with a tee in it also. my son and i went shopping and cobbled a tee made of some various plumbing and underground sprinkling parts along with a piece of heater hose. (no porsche parts available on sunday-but at least worked for temporary) i put it all back together and also replaced every vacuum line and connector(bought 20 feet of plastic line and 6 feet of rubber) and tried it and it flooded instantly. i removed the fuel pump fuse again and tried it and as long as i held the pedal right at 1800 rpm's it ran for 15 minutes until fully warmed up and until i shut it off. note this is without the fuse in. if i gave it more throttle it would stall and if i let it idle it would stall but as long as i held my foot down just a little it runs, but not perfect-pretty rich and lots of fumes but not black oil smoke. so what i thought would fix it didn't. it definately needed that tee hose replaced anyway, as it had large holes and cracks. could it possibly be that the cat. converter is plugged up? it runs like it's got a potato stuck in the tailpipe! oh well it was sunday and i got to know it even better. any ideas?---paul m. (thanks)</strong><hr></blockquote>

Maybe disconnecting the exhaust system somewhere before the cat might allow you to check your theory.

You could just loosen the bolts where the exhaust maifold meets the "connecting pipe?" to allow a gap to let the exhaust flow free.

... just my .02 pesos

 

wow! still sounds like a vac leak... with the 85.5 after i left the one vac hose off... i could get it to run by..... you guessed it, holding down the throttle a little, more and it would quit, and less and it would start for a sec then die. have you checked the intake manifold gaskets? intake boot? maybe you have a leak at the idle adjust screw or the oring on the throttle butterfly to intake manifold mating surface... check these too as they are sources of loss of vacuum. happy hunting!

p.s. wow no explanation for that fuse though!

 

had the intake off today and gaskets were new black rubber and very clean. o-ring to throttle valve looked good and i cleaned everything and liberally lubed the groove that the o-ring sits in and the o-ring before re-assembly (partially just to hold it in place while liming up the four bolts). i've got two posts going here at the same time, sorry. one is "could low vacuum cause no start?" and one is "about ready to sell", the help i've received in phenomenal. thanks everyone for everything!--paul m.

 

When you pull the fuse for the fuel pump does the pump still run? If so it's getting power from somewhere and that needs to be fixed.