i didn't see anyone mention it yet but i'm pretty sure that connector your talking about near the back of the fuel rail with nothing plugged into it, should have 3 pins if i remember right, is like a diagnostics port for emissions or something. Not to be confused with the thing that's acutally named "diagnostics" port or connector which is located near the fuse box and has a plastic cap/cover over it. This one is much larger and has like 6 pins.

I'm glad you decided not to go for the 85. The 87 sounds more promising. Good luck and if the 87 doesn't work out just keep looking. Much better to find the "perfect" car for you than to buy random neglected/abused 944 on ebay or craigslist. When i was searching for my 2nd car, after learning so much from my 1st one, I was surprised at how much people think their 944 is worth with as many problems as it would have. So be prepared to have to pass on a few before you find a good one.

 

major things
engine
belts/rollers/waterpump
Clutch
Trans
Gauges not working or not working correctly (imo so many things that could be the cause and not worth the effort to find out on a car your buying)

If any of these have problems or don't feel right when test driving i would consider to keep looking.

Minor things that are easy fixed and shouldn't scare you away from buying.
sloppy shifter - you will probably encounter this a lot
dim dash lights - it seems intimidating but its really easy to remove that steering wheel and dash and fix that issue.
electric sunroof doesn't work (can be converted to manual or as long as gears aren't striped and just motor and/or relays bad you can still open using a socket wrench on the motor to turn it by hand)
Hatch has trouble opening or latch springing back for closing (usually just needs some TLC and cleaning and they start working fine again)

but then again, if you find a good car and a good owner a lot of those minor issues will already be sorted out. But sometimes you will find a car has had the major things regularly maintained while the minor things are just left alone. Well I think I'm just rambling now, and it's time for lunch. =)

 

Thanks for the input. It seems like I have found one of those cars in the 87. It seems like all the major stuff was done and I can just drive it for a while and knock off the little things as they pop up

Everyone talks about the cost of owning one of these cars, well from everything I have seen, it is less than my Lincoln LS

 

I really wish I had come here asking for advice, too. You're going about it right, AScholtes, good luck in your search!

Keaton offered a lot of insight on things that are wrong with the 951 I picked up two weeks ago - the biggies that I apparently overlooked are the steering (loose, too much play), clutch (chatters during downshifting in 3rd and 2nd), and no record of the timing belt/rollers/waterpump maintenance.

It has the other minor stuff like dim dash lights, non-working windshield washer fluid (broken fittings on the pump, dry rotted lines), and clearly needs a tune-up but is otherwise VERY clean with working AC (R12), sunroof, etc. with unmolested 88k original miles. I still think I paid too much for it but I'll just learn my lessons with this one and move forward.

 

It still sounds like a solid car though. I dont think it will take too much to sort it out and you will learn alot along the way (that's the only way anyone truly learns a car in the end). My last toy was a 92 Mustang hatchback that I converted from a dual plug 4 cylinder with coil packs and and auto tranny to a single plug distributor turbo motor with manual tranny. It was fun and I learned alot about the car as I basically had to completely rewire the harness to convert it, not to mention I got pretty good at pulling the tranny and motor out

 

ya, i went in full noob on my 1st 944, found it on criagslist, overpaid for it. days into ownership i had to replace the torque tube, which was very costly and time consuming. After that i started doing all the research i could about the cars as it was obvious to me i had gotten in over my head. Once i got some knowledge under my belt things weren't so bad and i have done the majority of the replacements and maintenance myself. Right now she is half apart wait for parts to repair a tension roller and i am replacing the failing AFM, worn out dist cap and rotor while im in there. I did a belt job and didn't replace my rollers (bad choice on my part, they sounded fine at the time, but they looked old and like ****, i should have known better) and well one failed after a month or two of the new belts which is why she is all open again.

To most, this would sound like a terrible thing and omg your spending all this money and time but really the parts aren't that bad and i enjoy doing the labor learning the car. What i have gained in knowledge and experiences far surpasses and dollar amount i have spent on the car. To me its priceless. But, when i went looking for a 2nd 944, i turned down a few before i found ESSNOMO which is pretty much good to go and had lots of new stuff and upgraded stuff like suspension shocks and what not.

 

derek if you don't know history on your belts rollers waterpump set aside a morning on the weekend and take your air box and AFM off, take the top belt cover off, and check them out. jiggle your waterpump pully to check for play, and spin it, it should not spin freely, it should have some resistance(if it spins freely the impeller is coming un-attached from the pulley the belt rides on, when it breaks, your pulley will be spinning but the impeller will not be moving any coolant through the system). If it jiggles a lot (has a lot of play in it up and down, side to side) look at getting it replaced soon before it binds and damages the timing belt. You can get the Gates Kricit tool for like $13 at an auto parts store, use it to check tension on the belts(if you can hear a whine noise that increases pitch w/ RPMs your balance belt is probably too tight). also check the belts for wear, if they are cracked, they are probably pretty old and should be replaced ASAP. Unless you have a shop that for sure knows how to do a proper belt job on 944 engines i would consider doing it yourself to make sure it is done right. spin your idle rollers and listen for any noise, they should be quit and spin easily. not really sure how you could easily check the other rollers that are going to have belt tension on them but i would look them over really well with a good flashlight and if they look like **** and are old and rusty and just ****ty looking, replace them.

Take good care of this section of the engine and your engine will last a long time. failure of any of these could mean bad news for the engine. i was very lucky i was in my carport at home when my tension roller failed and it didn't jump time and no damage was done to the valves.

 

Thanks for the input everyone!! Im going to go look at the car tomorrow evening, so here's to fingers crossed on it being a good one

 

That connector you see at the rear end of the fuel rail is a test connector so nothing is normally connected there -- 3 female pins. I suspect there should be a protective plug of some sort, but mine car never had it

 

Well, went and looked at the 87 tonight.... it needed some work as well. The body was not what I would call a 7 or 10, more like a 6. It had a few (ok, like 7 or 8) dents in the body. All sorts of rock chips, cracked windshield, and had a miss between 1500 and 2000 as well as under part throttle acceleration. Several small nagging issues that would not let me take her home. Maint rec's only till '06 and no receipts or records of clutch work performed. The head had been rebuilt twice in 3 years and the same for motor mounts. It needed mounts again and the balance shaft belt was too tight causing a whine.
We could not come to terms on a price, I gave him a price I was willing to pay but he would not come off the price saying that he has seem comparable cars in the 6-8000 range..pfft!


So, the hunt is back on....

 

If you are willing to spend a little more money, there are several 944 turbos for sale right here on Rennlist. I'd start looking right here. Get a car from a known rennlister could be your best option.

 

I would agree, however my budget for the initial purchase is pretty set (the boss said so) and I am not willing to go halfway across the country to get one or have it shipped to me either (really bad horror stories there).

I have located 3 locally that I am interested in looking at, one being a Turbo that may have a bad syncro in the tranny (86 turbo for $4000 OBO) and 2 NA's, an 86 and an 88