MN944S

Hey all, greetings.
Judging from my join date, I figured it was time to say a few words.

I'm Rich and my '87 944S is my first Porsche. Here is the short story.
I heard and learned the phrase "There's no such thing as a cheap Porsche" only AFTER purchasing this car for what I thought to be a great price.
But it doesn't matter, this car has me hooked.

I went in with my eyes open, knowing full well about the prior salvage title (hit front, hood and fender replaced, valence repaired, cosmetic only) and the nonexistant service history prior to the PO. Also evidence of an engine fire at some point. What hooked me was the near perfect interior and the sexy red exterior. I couldn't help myself.

I paid $3750 for it in the Fall of '06 with 73,500 miles. In 3-1/2 years I've put less than 5000 miles on it. The current plan is to take care of the usual maintenance suspects and start driving and enjoying it. Like most people, I'm on a budget but I have a timeline of roughly one year to get everything needed done. The time coincides with my daughter getting her license and needing (wanting?) another vehicle in the driveway. (She would drive my current DD, I get the 944)

The TO DO list:

* Belts, rollers and WP. Front reseal too? (T-belt has been done but is due again. All else is original.)

* Clutch: I know it shouldn't, but this scares me.

* PS leaks: Pump, rack and lines all look to be leaking. It's all going away. Going with a manual rack.

* Motor mounts while swaybar and rack are out.

* Koni yellows up front

* 951 swaybars F+R (my S didn't come with a rear bar)

I know there's more but these are the heavy hitters.


The DONE list:

* Cam tensioner pads: Glad I didn't wait, they were bad.

* Fuel lines: Replaced all underhood rubber lines with a set from Pauer.

* Rear shocks: Swapped out the original Sachs for Bilsteins.

* Regular maint. stuff, oil+filter, fuel and air filters, plugs+wires, etc.


What did I miss?

pontifex4

Good for you. When you do the belts again, It might not hurt to check the tensioner and oil supply to it, just in case. And make sure your daughter doesn't ride the clutch.

racer

I see you are in MN. Will the '44 be a winter DD or just a 3 season DD? How many miles will you be putting on it?

you could also let your daughter drive the '44 (a 25y/o car can be cheap to insure afterall )

MN944S

pontifex4:
When I did the tensioner pads the tensioner itself seemed OK. It was getting oil and it had plenty of "spring". Is there another method for checking it?

racer:
I'm still debating the winter DD portion of my plan. I could go either way. I have a second set of rims for it that could get some winter specific tires...
Other advice? Pros and cons?
Miles? Substantially less than 10K/yr., probably somewhere closer to 5K. I ride motorcycle a fair amount in the warmer months.

kombatrok

The car has a heater for a reason...

gtroth

Welcome!
How's she running? Idling?
I'd go ahead and send the injectors to witchhunder.
I'd do the o2 sensor, measure the fuel pressure to check the FPR.
Measure the AFM and the TPS response (electrical).
Measure the vacuum. Maybe rebuild the throttle at some point.
Clean up the grounds.
And drive the daylights out of it. Shift above 3800~4000 always.

Good luck!

MN944S

Thanks for the welcome gtroth.

She runs and idles great for the most part. Power feels strong and fuel economy is decent.

There is a rare rough idle at cold startup..happens maybe 1 in 10 or 15 starts.
Doesn't want to do it's normal warmup idle and won't unless I help it with throttle.

Will add the other items to my list. Added witchhunter.com to my favorites.
Off to search about the other issues.
THANKS!

MN944S

I also figured it was time to pay up. Woohoo, I'm a member!!

The knowledge base here is incredible and I've learned more about these cars than I can remember. Thanks guys!

gtroth

That doesn't sound too bad. Couple of things that might be going on might be:
1) an intermitent TPS (DME doesn't know it's time to idle even though the throttle is closed)
2) sticky ISV (gets gummed up and adds a lot of lag in the idle stabilization feedback loop)
3) throttle not competely closing, so TPS switch doesn't actuate (looks just like (1))
4) I wonder if a flaky engine temp sensor (NTC II) might sometimes be telling the DME that the engine is warm even thought it's cold...

But again, sounds not so bad, so you don't need to do anything.

JohnKoaWood

I use BOTH my 944s for DD duty..and I commute 70 miles each way each day.. it CAN be done, but it isn't cheap! and I use an Audi TT Quatro for backup and harsh weather (SNOW)...

good luck, welcome to the family... OH and the obligatory..

PICS OR BAN!!!!

EJnMN

Where in MN? If in the south, I'm in Rochester, I have a set of the Arnworx tools I can lend you for the belt work. Some experience (good and bad!!) to share as well!!

MN944S

JohnKoaWood: I'll work on getting some pics up. It's just another rare red one with a black interior though....

EJnMN: Waconia, about 30 min. west of the Cities.
I'd love to host a 944 belt and/or clutch thrash GTG when the time comes if there's interest for such a thing.

JohnKoaWood

HEY, my 951 is also that rare color combo (red over black) but I do have 4 way power sport seats...

we all LOVE pics... pics are the life blood, even on booring color combos... at the age of these cars each one IS different... even if they are all the same...

good luck!

MN944S

So... a few pics of my hooptie as requested.



The rest are here: http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/x...nomaZ_01/944S/

Kind of a before and after photo album.

gtroth

Nice.
993 winter wheels?