DUDE! Jerry, i was out there at the 25 hour race this last year, were you guys out there then? I was looking for maybe any 944s, (all i saw were a ton of 944s and 968s in the camper spots, presumably as daily drivers for the drivers :P) i couldnt see any out at the race that day, at least at this last 25 hour one that is.

 

No - we ran the 25 3 years ago. Planning on another attempt but not this year unfortunatly.

 

When I lived in Sunnyvale, I was happy with http://www.modderman.com/

After moving to San Jose, I now go to (and am also happy with) http://www.ctautomotive.net/

I like them.

Karl.

 

Depending on where you are - There is a newer great shop in Santa Clara: The RennShop (www.therennshop.com). That's where I take my car when I need help. The owner - Marvin Weitz - is more like a doctor. He thoroughly diagnoses the issue before he prescribes the cure. His shop is super clean, and his work top notch.

 

Just picked up the car. It's dark and digicam is at the office so no pics yet. The good/awesome: It's an 88.5 red on black 951, which is essentially the 89 with Koni adjustable coilovers, the larger turbo, sport seats and sunroof. Belts done and turbo rebuilt in last 5k mi, motor rebuilt 80k ago. Seats freshly re-covered. Handles like a dream. I think the only non-stock part is the exhaust and the stereo, but need to confirm the exhaust.

The bad: 178k on the clock, but apparently the ODO is broken so it has more than that. The warning light ("!") flickers at all times... likely just a loose wire from the way it flickers on especially under vibration or over bumps. Dent in left rear fenderwell. Big dent, but not kinks or paint damage... looks like a fatass leaned against it. Leak in the turbo piping... not sure where but it's not quite getting full boost. Paint looks faded, but a good detailing may bring all of the color back. It's not chipped or scratched.

All in all, score. This car will be loved.

 

sounds like a winner! khoobam merci!

 

A simple item that will make the "!" light go on is the switch at the parking brake. That would be the first place I would look.

 

Thanks for the tip, Bill. Found the wire disconnected... and bouncing around periodically grounding itself. One problem solved! I hope they're all this cheap and easy.

Here she is. I already named her, Farrah:


I also already know not all is perfect in her world. Just driving across the city produced some coolant steam... not over heated so there must be a bit of a leak somewhere. Then there's the turbo leak I mentioned above. The rear wiper has ground it's gears off. Odometer doesn't work, so that's going to make it tough to track maintenance schedules. Still... all the major stuff seems to be sorted and she handles unbelievably. I can feel everything through those Konis.

 

Glad to help and welcome to the wonderful world of 951!

Definately do not anticipate all repairs to be this cheap and easy. The 951 is a complex vehicle that requires proper upkeep. If the 951 is neglected, what would be normal maintenance costs can become catastrophic damage and prohibitive repairs. Unfortunately there are a lot of neglected 951s on the road. People that want speed and handling but can not or do not want to spend for the upkeep. I follow the strategy that is "keep it in a like new condition" which means, perform all required maintenance and if something breaks....fix it immediately.

 

Autopoint Motors in Richmond. The owner Art is a mechanic of the local spec racecar group and all his reviews online are five star. He personally has a 951 and is willing to work with you on those big expensive repairs. He just removed and resealed my engine at an incredible price. I needed a new clutch fork and didn't want to pay the new cost ($$$), Art went to a dismantle yard and personally picked out the best used one for me. I also received emails from him around 7:30pm on a friday night, he is honest and determined to keep his customers satisfied.

 

I've had the car for about a week which has given me time to actually inspect it in daylight and go over all of the service records (I have most but not all, going back to ~60k mi to '94). All in all, it drives great, has been well maintained, and should be a great car. However, there's a couple of things I really need to check out before I put too many miles on it. I've got a note to Arash, and if that doesn't work out, I'll bring it out to Autopoint Motors per the multiple recs.

Here are the things that concern me:
* The turbo was rebuilt about 1k ago after a tuner dropped a nut in the new larger turbo, ran it, and destroyed the thing. It was put back to stock at P/O's request and shop's expense. So I should be benefitting from a recent turbo rebuild, but I don't trust that they did a diligent job, because of two things:
1- The boost gauge is zeroed at it's bottom (0.4bar) rather than center (1.0bar). Under full throttle, I can get it to show about +0.8bar (1.2bar on gauge).
2- P/O didn't notice the gauge but didn't think he was getting full boost and suspected a leak somewhere. He wasn't mechanically inclined but was a sensitive driver so *something8 is probably off with the turbo.
* The wiring harnesses that run along the front upper strut mounts both have cracked insulation (pics below). Not sure which wiring this is, but given the location I suspect it's the ABS. That would make sense since...
* The brake fluid warning light is showing. If I had to guess, it would be ABS related since the fluid is topped, pads and rotors are fresh, and the brakes feel great.
* Brake hose jacket fraying and looks a bit rigged at clamp. Need to confirm which hose this is so I can order replacement from Pelican. (pic attached)
* ODO broken. Not concerned mechanically, but I don't want to put on miles that I can't keep track of. This happened within last 1k.

Frayed harnesses L&R


Frayed hose and cobbled clamp

Engine bay

More car shots (including dented fender)

 

If I wanted to have something fixed on a turbo S and wanted it done right the first time and all the little parts put back just how they were installed from the factory I would take it here! They are reasonable, know Porsches inside and out and very quick! Warranty all work but they dont need to because there work is top notch!

http://hitecauto.com/

 

You're correct, those wires are for the ABS. This is very common, I don't think I've owned a 944 that didn't have the jacket coming apart. As long as the actual insulation is ok and there are no copper wires exposed I wouldn't worry about it.

Looks like someone tried to repair your brake fluid reservoir and didn't do a very good job. Best bet would be to run down to Parts Heaven in Hayward and pick up a used one along with the blue clutch master hose.

When you say your boost gauge is zeroed at 0.4 bar are you talking about just with the key on or when the car is at idle? Your boost gauge should read less than 1 bar at idle since the engine is pulling vacuum at that point and not making any boost. With just the key on it should read 1 bar. 1.2 bar at full throttle (as indicated on the gauge) is low. That's basically .2 bar of boost. I wouldn't assume the turbo is bad unless it is very loud or smoking bad on full boost. It's usually a leak in the system or a bad sensor, the TPS was to blame in my case.

Dead odometer is another common problem, it's most likely a broken or loose drive gear inside your gauge cluster. Check out www.clarks-garage.com click "garage shop manual" and you should learn just about everything there is to know about these cars.

 

Great to confirm. I do need to trace the whole thing, as I suspect there's a short somewhere that's causing the brake warning light I'm getting. And if it's not that, I want to eliminate it from the possibilities.

Excellent. My next question was going to be "what's a good parts yard?" Thanks!

At idle, it's bottomed at 0.4 bar and even under light throttle it's still there. So there IS a +0.8bar difference between idle and full throttle, but I don't know if it's a gauge error or if something is actually pulling a vacuum under idle. While I definitely feel the turbo kick in, I don't feel like I'm getting full power off or on boost, and I've also been getting TERRIBLE gas mileage.

Yup, read up on this one. Annoying that the only way to know which gear I need is to disassemble the whole thing and count teeth...

Thanks again for the help!

 

Try not to think of the gauge as just a boost gauge, it also measures vacuum. My gauge indicates 0.3 at idle, if your car is running correctly it should in fact show vacuum at idle. The 1 bar reading on your gauge is actually just atmospheric pressure, basically no boost. Anything above that shows how much boost your turbo is making. 2 bar on the gauge equals 1 bar of boost. So if your gauge shows 1.2 bar, you are only making .2 bar of boost and there is a problem. A Stock 951 should show about 1.6 at full throttle. If your car is a turbo S than it should show about 1.8 bar.

The stock gauge is really not that great and if you plan to modify the car or really want an accurate measurement than you might want to add an aftermarket gauge that reads in psi.