Greetings all. Been lurking (and learning) now for quite a while so thought I'd post a little about myself and new ride.

EJ here, from sunny Colorado. Having done the vintage air-cooled VW thing for about 15 years, I finally gave in to the life-long urge to get a Porsche. (It really doesn't cross any loyalty lines, right?) So anyway, off went the '57 bug and bus, and the quest for a nice starter 944 commenced. Was really looking at a red '84 when the VWs sold so called the guy to get serious. Owner was nice enough to inform me that there were only two rust spots, and one could almost be covered with your hand. And the search continued... Found a silver '89 N/A just about an hour north of the house so went and checked it out. Silver outside, off-white (linen?) leather inside. Cracked dash (of course) but really in nice shape otherwise. Took her out for quite a while and fell in love with her (you knew that was coming). After the obligatory offer/counter offer, the deal was struck and she was mine.

Interesting tidbits... Paperwork in the glove box reveals:
Receipt (less than 5000 miles ago) from the local Porsche dealership for:
Water pump
Timing belt
Tension rollers
Thermostat
Control arms/bushings
Various seals, gaskets & bushings
Lots of etc...
Total: $4700

New tires (less than 500 miles ago).
Total: $400

Bill of sale from when the owner I bought it from purchased it for $4900 (about 3 years ago).

Sooooo, including purchase price this gentlemen was into the car for about $10K when he decided to sell it to me for less than a third of that. As hard as I try to figure out his rationale, here's what I come up with. The car has a bit of a progressing bogging issue. Seller told me a little about it during the deal, but it's got progressively worse since then.

Engine bogs under acceloration, and if you just depress the clutch to let her catch her breath she just settles down to idle, never quits. Was spending some time with her the other day in the driveway and while sitting in neutral, I'd bring the revs up to about 3K. She'll hold steady there for a while but every so often will slowly (2-4 seconds) bog down to about 1500, stumble for a bit, then climb back up to the 3K. Have replaced fuel filter, and just for grins, a new DME fuel pump relay. (Didn't change anything so I just put the old one in the glove box for a rainy day.) Any other suggestion?

Current plans are to replace ICV, re-plumb engine vaccuum lines, and install new injectors. In my humble new and limited knowledge of the on-board systems, these sound like suitable and hopeful places to start. But I certainly defer to the experience present here...

In conclusion, if you've read this far, thanks for putting up with my lengthy intro. And a bigger thanks to anyone who may be able to shed some light on my bogging issues. (I tend to think after $4700 worth of repairs, this bogging may have pushed the previous owner, or his wife, over the edge to ridding themselves of this quirky little German money pit.)

Thanks again and in advance for the wealth of experience I hope to take advantage of over the course of this journey. Looking forward to playing along.

I know, I know, no pics yet. Will post some as soon as I can get a few quality shots.

Take care.
EJ

 

Congrats on the purchase of your 944. I had an 83 as my first and can only add what applied to mine. Mine bogged down under WOT and at various rpm/load situations. The first thing I did was re-track the AFM wiper arm and replace the fuel filter. I don't know which one was the culprit but the AFM had the telltale grooves that can cause a dead spot in throttle response. Both jobs are easy DIY projects.

AFM Wiper Arm Re-tracking

 

PICTURES!! Where are those Rennjunkies with their acronyms and such comments like pics or gtfo?? lol

 

could be bad plug wires or the afm sweep.

 

Yep

Somehow knew that was coming, too, in one form or another.

Sounds like a great car! So you got it around $3k? sweet deal

 

Welcome!

We had another guy with somewhat similar problems, no power above 3,000 at all, like hitting a wall. His had a K&N and part of the insides of the filter had come off and gotten stuck in the AFM. Worth checking! It sounds like one way or another, it's AFM-related, although a corked cat converter could do similar.

 

Oooh, good that I did not see it, if it has a nice Linen interior and a 2.7 head I might have bought it and then... well... it might have become a roller with a light gray 968 interior.

Welcome, where abouts in CO are you located?

-Joel.

 

Funny that you posted about the big bucks the prior owner put into the car. These old P-cars basically get handed down from one guy to another, leaving behind a wake of four-digit repair invoices. I remember when I bought mine, I went through the repair records, and saw how the prior owner had put about $4,000 into it in the prior year. I thought, "Sucker. He pays for these repairs, his wife yells at him to sell the junker, and now I get to buy it!"

Well, a couple years later (yesterday) my wife is reaming me out over a $3,500 repair bill, which when added to the $2,000 clutch I put in in the Spring, well exceeds the tab that the prior owner paid. It would only be fitting for me to hand the keys to the next mid-life sucker! (But I know better.)

 

The receipts from POs are a double-edged sword when you are the seller. On the one hand, they show massive infusions of money into the well-being of the car. On the other hand, they show massive infusions of money into the car. I had a buyer for my '84 until he realized some of the things I had done, he couldn't do, and he'd have to rely on a $60/hr mechanic for.

 

Welcome to P cars heaven & congrats one you purchase the 89- 2.7 is a very nice car enjoye.

 

Thanks much for the responses and direction all. Weeks are full of 12-hr work days, but will pull the AFM Saturday and have a look. Weather seems like it might cooperate enough for me to take a pic or two as well.

During my research here I've been dismayed to find threads with similar problems to mine that just seem to dead end. My goal is to continue to post my efforts to a solution to this little issue and beyond.

Thanks again, and hope to post updates this weekend.

EJ

 

Make sure that the timing belt was retensioned after ~1500 miles. The 2.7 has unique valves, meaning it's especially bad if the belt lets go.

 

Hello EJ and Welcome to the forum. Great advice on the AFM MOD, also check the barn door for free movement or clean it. Another place for Maintenance info is clark's garage.com (Home Page). Read all the way through it. 944online.com is another forum that has a great TECH Article Section. Of course there is always the Search Function at the top of this page.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-ma...ure-index3.htm

Cheers,
Larry

 

OK, so I couldn't wait for Saturday. Temp was tolerable when I got off work so I decided to pull the AFM and have a look. Found the tell-tale grooves but won't be able to verify if they're causing the issues until I perform the test, a la Clark's Garage. Anyway, here's a pic of what I've found so far...

For what it's worth, the issue is getting progressively worse. My wife had the car out for a little bit today and it actually stumbled down and stopped running for the first time. Calm as a cucumber, she hit the clutch, fired her back up, and got her home without another hitch. All that being said, since it's actually stalling now, I consider the car parked until I get this sorted out. Any more direction on what might be at the root of this progressively worsening issue?

Thanks much, and keep the ideas coming...

 

That doesn't sound like AFM to me. Did it belch black smoke or give any other symptoms when she re-started?