I bought a mint '87 944s about 2 months ago. Did the first oil change and found 2 camshaft teeth (see my thread on the cam swap). Put a new (used) intake cam in (the old one was missing 2 teeth) but left the exhaust cam in because i couldnt find one cheap (it's missing 1 tooth). I put in a new chain from the dealer and replaced the tensioner with one that only had 35,000kms and new pads.

At this point i'm starting to see the price of owning a p-car... or at least i think.
I'm just about ready to sell this car.

Is the 944S motor really this problematic? Is this going to happen over and over? I realize i still need to find a good exhaust cam, but the intake cam i bought only has a few less Kms then mine did when i found the teeth, I'm worried it's going to let go again soon.

What's the verdic?
1) Be prepared to swap cams over and over unless i penny up and by referb'd ones from say 944online? (assuming i get lucky again and it doesnt grenade the motor next time a tooth lets go)
or
2) Drive the car the way it was meant to be... it was just an unlucky incident.

-Jeff

 

I can say I bought mine over 2 years ago. The body had 108K miles and the motor about 60K. I replaced the tensioner pads after 1 year ago just in case. I did find a crack starting in the top pad once it was pulled off. After 32k miles no issues with the cams. I do not drive it easy on my 40 mile round trip commute 5 days a week.

Now DME's are a different story for me. I seem to have some serioulsy bad luck with them. Maybe my car likes to eat them??

 

If this was really problematic wouldnt you think that in the 25 years there would be more information about it.

 

My money is on the cam pads fell apart for the prior owner, he swapped out the tensioner and ran with it the way it was.

The chain likely weakened/stress fractured a few teeth at that time due to the skipping off of the sprockets, and you luckily discovered them before any serious damage occurred. Perhaps he didn't even look to see if any teeth came off? We will never know either.

With proper maintenance these cars are solid as a rock, IMO.

BTW...mine has @ 158,000 KMS and the sprockets and chain look as good as new...I inspect the tensioner each spring for pad wear, and the j-tube for cracks, etc.

Drive her!!!!

I'm just 2 hours north of you near Owen Sound, if you ever need help/advice pm me.

Best,

 

I don't think you'll have another cam issue.

I do think the oil supply line (J-shaped) and copper crush washers should be changed, if you still have it open. The line can work harden and break- then you have no oil pressure to the tensioner, and you end up where you are now, or worse.

The cam drive is the expensive part of maintaining a 944S engine (aside from the clutch). So you've nearly knocked that out.

 

cool thanks guys... that makes me feel alot better about this car (I was 100% ready to sell then i went to the ALMS race at Mosport and saw all the Porsche's.... made me not want to sell it again haha)

Only thing that made me think it was common was the fact that 944 online sells referb'd camshafts for broken teeth issues(http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/ASI...inderhead-944s)... and when i called around to find used cams, everyone told me "everyone and their brothers looking for those... good luck"

 

The reason people are looking for the camshafts is because they failed to keep the tensioner serviced and caused the damage to the cams.

It isn't camshaft weakness/flaws.

Cause and effect.

 

ahhhh ok awesome

 

LS?

muhuhahahahaha!

no seriously, these cars are pretty bulletproof, any problems you come across will most likely be like described above; some previous owner didn't take proper care of all of the preventative maintenance, and that came back to haunt you. Just don't fall into the same category with your work!

 

haha, im also on the 944hybrids forum too... LS1 was the original plan but because this car is sooo clean i kind of dont want to make it unoriginal... but ask me again in a few years and we'll see haha.

 

I'm in exactly the same place with my S. Same regrets a few years ago shortly after purchase when the full neglect of PO became apparent. Swapped out tensioner pads and all is good with the world again. (Except it still needs a clutch.)

While I love the promise of endless V8 torque, there is something really special about a sweet running twin-cam motor pulling well past 6K rpm.

 

ya i need a clutch too... thats the other thing... the rubber is gone and its knockin

 

Fix the clutch soon, or you may end up replacing the crankshaft.

 

Thats not going to happen soon, $800 is the cheapest clutch kit i can find and im getting married in less then 5 weeks....

how would that damage the crank??

 

I'm guessin you plan on doing it yourself cause the labour for that job is outta sight!