Hi, I just purchased an 83' 944 with a few minor problems, and I'm looking for some help. Here's what's wrong:

-Driver's side door will not lock with the door open
-AC blows regular air, but compressor still turns on
-Odometer frozen (Carfax indicated 75k earlier this year)
-Oil gauge light went out today while driving around
-Windshield wipers don't work, nor does it squirt any fluid (fuse?)
-Parking brake works, but won't stay in the on position, it just falls to the floor.

The AC and the wipers are pretty urgent, but the other things are just very minor inconveninces. Any help as to the cause of the problems or what to expect to pay to have them fixed/ fix it myself (if simple enough).

Other than that the car is in excellent condition. Interior is like new, exterior only has one very small out of site chip that my friend will be fixing. Runs strong and certainly feels fast.

Thanks, and I hope to enjoy my car for years to come!

 

the drivers door can only be locked when the door is closed and only with a key when you are outside the car. Thats the way they made it.
AC - humm?
Odometer - have to get back to ya on that I have gotten info from members about but will have to find it
Oil gage - that is a standard 2" oil gage you could replace it from almost any auto parts house.
Wipers - get a pair of wires and try putting 12v directly to both wiper motor and washer pump motor to eleminate the motors being bad.
Break - there is a small spring holding the catch.

 

My odometer is also broke. I think I heard someone if you try to reset your trip while driving it will break the little gear inside. mine went out at 81k.

 

door lock - I'm not sure what David is talking about. I can lock my door with it open and without the key. I'm not sure of you're problem though.

Oil gauge light - try banging the dash

windshield washer - try checking out the setup here. It in the front passenger side of the engine carpartment. When i got my car, the previous owner had rigged some wierd stuff with the washer system. The pump is right in front of the resevior. I'd suggest just hotwireing the pump to see if it work. Make sure you point the outlet somewhere safe. Then just check to make sure all the hoses are going where they're supposed to.

parking brake - my car also has this problem and it's somthing i've just dealt with. To make the parking brake hold, when it is in the down(disengaged position) try to pull the locking button out a bit with you're fingers. While you're holding the button out, then pull up on the brake. You should hear the clicking of the lever locking. I think the button spring just gets old, so it doesn't push out all the way.

Hope some of my rambling helps.

 

The drivers door lock on our '84 (LHD) will not go down if the door is open also. I am pretty sure this is normal.
The bulb is probably burned out in the oil pressure gauge. They plug in the back of the gauge.

 

Hey 'iloveporsches'-
Try locking your keys in the car from the driver's side. That's exactly why it dosen't lock with the door open. Truly "foolproof". We Germans are pretty clever, huh?

 

All of the 944's (I'm sure) aren't supposed to be able to lock with the door open, and are supposed to have the key to lock them. A lot of them have broken (including mine)...I notice some amount of force to push it down when the door is open (a lot harder than the passenger side).

 

Yeah, you shouldn't be able to lock your door when the door is open. Most German cars are like that. They must be the smart ones.

The gears in the odometer break after a while because of reseting it while moving. I had mine repaired for under $100.

Behind the oil guage is a lil light bulb. You should check that first, good luck getting to it though. It sucks!

Check fuse for the wipers, then do what adrial said about hookin wires to it to test the motors. My fluid motor was dirty when I bought my car, took it off and cleaned it up and works now.

I know what you mean about your parking brake. Mine was the same way, their is a trick to getting it up, try not pushing the button in while pulling up. Pull up in a one quick motion and as you get to the top let get go of handle but follow through with your hand. I don't know if its supposed to be tricky but mine is.

I also have an '83 too!

 

Well, luckily the most important fix, the windsheild wipers, just involved plugging them back in. Don't know why they were disconnected, but they're working fine now .

The oil gauge light keeps going on and off, so that's just a loose wire.

Does anyone have any ideas what the A/C's problem might be? I was driving around yesterday, and here in Chicago it was 105 with the heat index. Black interior, chacoal grey car, plus no A/C makes for really hot driving.
I'm hoping it's just a recharge, because I think I can here the compressor turning on.

The rest of the stuff I'm not too worried about, just something to eventually get around to. Thanks for all the help!

Oh, and about that lock thing-ingenoius! Now I don't ever have to worry about locking myself out again!

 

Does heat or warm air in general always come out of the vents? If so, its just a .60 cent plastic clip that needs to be replaced...really common problem... the heat will pretty much cancel out the A/C, even though the A/C may be working.... just a suggestion

 

lately there has been hot air coming out of my vents even when everything should be off (and the temp is set to blue even if the fan was on). what is this plastic clip you speak of?

 

The hot air is only when I turn on the A/C switch. I've also heard that the early cars don't have that plastic clip, but I may just be mistaken.