I am new to Rennlist, and to Porsche ownership. My long time buddy owned a 1985.5 944na (Dark Blue) since new. Never drove it much (47,325 original miles) (his wife hated it) 6 years ago he just parked it, put outside under a cover, (this is Florida) and just left it there.

Although everthing worked before he let it sit,he was moving and didn't know what it would take to get the car in running condition, and didn't want to move it. I had often asked him to consider me if he wanted to get rid of it. So...2 weeks ago, he says to me "take it". My wife saw it, covered with dirt, interior covered with mold and mildew, tires flat looked at me like I was crazy. To make a long story short, I put in new fuel pump, (all) belts and hoses, battery and fluids, cleaned it (no rips, cracks or dents) and it runs looks like new. Problem is it has some elecrical glitchs. Horn, brake lights, a/c blower and gauges all dead. Fuses and relays look good. Any ideas?

 

In florida, sitting that long, you may have corrosion messing up the grounding, I'd start by removing all the grounds, cleaning them really good, and trying that.

 

When you say all belts... did you do the timing belt as well? You may want to do the water pump too.

I know that does not answer your electrical question but those are important items and if they fail your car will need alot of work.

 

your story sounds a lot like mine. I also am a new Porsche owner as well Rennlist member. I have always wanted a 944 since I was a senior in high school in 84. The 944 I was given had been sitting for 4 years. I had a few electrical problems and all of them were either corrison on wire connectors or dry brittle wire. I replaced everything as you did and have been going strong for 6 months.

 

My guess is you replaced the external accesory belts to the power steering and AC/Alternator. I wouldn't fire that car up again until I had the timing belt inspected. Sitting that long it's likely got some dry rot and could break at anytime. With 45K miles on it, its already at the age to replace, and your's has been sitting a loooonng time.

Since you're new to Porsche, I (we) can't over emphasize the importance of the timing belt and the catastropic consequences of its failure.

There are probably 2-3 guys on this board right now that are in the process of rebuilding their motors as a result of a broken timing belt. (Read $$$)

Get it towed to a mechanic for inspection/ replacement ASAP.

 

See timeline of sorrow. If he's lucky it may be under $2K

 

Hey, thanks for all the ideas. Yes I did change the timing belt and the balance belt, and it seems on a second look (and trying some relays from a "donor" car- that 2 relays are bad. When I plugged in the donor relays everthing seemed to work! So it seems no one locally carries them and I had to order them. Hopefully will have them Monday. Oh well, yet another weekend when I can't drive my P car. I'm sure I will be "talking" to all of you soon. Plenty of other stuff sure to go wrong......

 

I just learned something from Ice Shark. If the relay says 87 and 87a on the daigram they can be had for a lot less than the $47 the dealer wanted or the $42 the foreign parts place wanted. More like $7-10 for quality ones.

Caveat emptor.

 

Let's not be too simplistic here, Paul. You can't trust a Porsche wiring diagram, you need to look at the part! <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

Anyway, I could order up and sell the standard relays with the 87, dual 87 and 87/87a output posts all day long at 7 to 10 bucks a pop. Ten bucks sounds best. LOL! This is for a Hella 40 amp made in USA, not Chinese crap. You only need to heft it in your hand to tell the difference as it weighs a few times more than the junk.

 

I meant the little diagram on the relay.
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Just because I mean it, I don't always get it across.

Oh NO, sounds like Jim now.

 

Just wanted to make sure the thread starter understood this basic fact of Porsche life.