Having trouble getting 83 944 to idle
04-18-2011, 09:52 PM
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Having trouble getting 83 944 to idle
Hello all, I just sold my car and am looking for a new one. Being a former BMW owner, I've always been fascinated with Porsche as well so I've been keeping my eyes open for older models.
I just went to look at a 944 that I'm interested in buying. The engine turns over and tries to fire, and will sometimes keep running for a few seconds if the gas is held down, but it won't idle without help. The seller is a mechanic and builds racecars, so he knows his way around cars but has another 944 and is trying to get rid of this one.
He has already replaced the fuel pump, fuel pump relay, distributor cap and rotor, the starter, and the fuel filter. All cylinders have good compression (185-190 psi). He thought the plug wires might be bad, so I took a multimeter with me and two of the wires checked out normal (9k-10k ohms) and the other two read pretty low (3k-4k ohms). I assumed this was the problem, but when we swapped wires from his working 944 and they seemed to help the cylinders fire but it still wouldn't really hold an idle. When I checked those wires afterwards, they read about the same resistance as the originals so I'm pretty much assuming that 3k-4k ohms for those shorter wires is about normal. On top of all that, it appears that the engine has under 70k miles because some of the old receipts show similar mileage.
He said that the car had been sitting for about 2 years and he never put new gas in (just a can of Seafoam) so I'm thinking that probably has to do with it. Are there any sensors or anything else that might give me the issue I'm having? Injectors and the plugs themselves also come to mind, but I'm thinking at this point that the gas is just completely stale but I figured you guys would know better than me.
Besides that, the car is in pretty good shape as far as I can tell. It isn't immaculate by any means but it's a neat car for sure. The guy wants $1200 for it which is a steal if all I have to do is get new gas and/or plugs, but I don't want to buy the car and realize that something much larger is at play.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice you can offer me,
Luke
I just went to look at a 944 that I'm interested in buying. The engine turns over and tries to fire, and will sometimes keep running for a few seconds if the gas is held down, but it won't idle without help. The seller is a mechanic and builds racecars, so he knows his way around cars but has another 944 and is trying to get rid of this one.
He has already replaced the fuel pump, fuel pump relay, distributor cap and rotor, the starter, and the fuel filter. All cylinders have good compression (185-190 psi). He thought the plug wires might be bad, so I took a multimeter with me and two of the wires checked out normal (9k-10k ohms) and the other two read pretty low (3k-4k ohms). I assumed this was the problem, but when we swapped wires from his working 944 and they seemed to help the cylinders fire but it still wouldn't really hold an idle. When I checked those wires afterwards, they read about the same resistance as the originals so I'm pretty much assuming that 3k-4k ohms for those shorter wires is about normal. On top of all that, it appears that the engine has under 70k miles because some of the old receipts show similar mileage.
He said that the car had been sitting for about 2 years and he never put new gas in (just a can of Seafoam) so I'm thinking that probably has to do with it. Are there any sensors or anything else that might give me the issue I'm having? Injectors and the plugs themselves also come to mind, but I'm thinking at this point that the gas is just completely stale but I figured you guys would know better than me.
Besides that, the car is in pretty good shape as far as I can tell. It isn't immaculate by any means but it's a neat car for sure. The guy wants $1200 for it which is a steal if all I have to do is get new gas and/or plugs, but I don't want to buy the car and realize that something much larger is at play.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice you can offer me,
Luke
04-18-2011, 10:24 PM
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04-19-2011, 11:37 AM
#3
Burning Brakes
Check the Vacuum Lines.. I mainly talking about one large hose the plugs into the bottom of the J-Boot. (Hard to See) The car will not idle without this... (Except using the throttle)
It might not be the problem, but its real easy/free to check
It might not be the problem, but its real easy/free to check
04-19-2011, 01:19 PM
#4
2 year old gas = bad
seafoam in 2 year old gas = crap
dead idle valve = won't idle when cold unless throttle applied
for 1200, it's a good deal. but still bargain him down
seafoam in 2 year old gas = crap
dead idle valve = won't idle when cold unless throttle applied
for 1200, it's a good deal. but still bargain him down
