onspeed

Have a friend who has an old 944 sitting in his driveway. Not sure what year, but it's pre-85.5. 28,000 on the odometer... 128k or 228k I don't know. From what I'm told, it was running up till about a year and a half ago. It was an extra car and rarely driven. One of their relative had their car stolen, so they let them drive the 944. It came back a few months later on the back of a flatbed.

So. I had about 45 minutes to tinker with it today. Jumped the fuel pump through the DME relay, could hear it whine from under the back of the car. Tach needle jumps a tiny bit when cranking - meaning speed/reference sensors are good? Pulled a plug out and connected it to the wire. Didn't see a spark at the electrode. Concluded that it might be a faulty coil? I have a spare from my 86 turbo, upgraded to MSD. Going to give that a try next time our schedule allows. But till then, what else would come to mind that would cause a no start? Never delt with an NA before, or even an older style for that matter, but I figured the diagnosing should be similar to my turbo. Spark + fuel + air should make it fire up, even if the AFM or TPS is faulty or the original vacuum lines are messed up, no?

luftpirate

Good luck

V2Rocket

check the ignition switch

xschop

Factory alarm

krystar

alarm +1

u got tach bounce and fuel. all u need now is compression and spark and it should start.

Butters944

+1 if it has an alarm

Butters944

Krystar: jynx! You owe me a soda haha

StoogeMoe

I've been going through this ordeal for the last couple of weeks. You will have to do a proper trouble shooting to determine the cause of the no spark. Start testing for spark at the coil and work your way back. It can be many things from there.

Bad coil.
No 12V to the coil.
Ignition switch.
Alarm.
Reference sensors
DME.
Wiring harness.

xschop

This POS is the reason why MANY 944's have been parted....

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...solutions.html

onspeed

Not sure i remember seeing the extra keyhole for the alarm... but will look for that next time. my spare coil should be compatible right ?

V2Rocket

if it worked on the 951 it will work on the NA

944Ross

Added a couple that are quick and easy. I'd work top-to-bottom on that list.

Mike C.

Coil failures are pretty rare from what I've read. Easy enough to check with an ohm meter.

jimporsche86

I would look at all your grounds also,battery to body,battery to engine and many other body grounds... I think clarks has a ground diagram... hope that helps

onspeed

Went over to tinker with it some more. Changed the coil and rotor with spares I had and bypassed the alarm module. Good strong spark. No start still. Cracked open the timing belt cover to see if it had snapped, nope looked good. Then the actual owner of the car informs me that the person they lent the car to supposedly brought it to a "mechanic" and was told it was the timing belt causing the problem. They installed a new belt. Found the box in the trunk.

So. I guess the timing belt snapped, then they brought it to some hole in the wall mechanic who just put on a new belt (who knows if they even got the timing right). This would explain the no start, right? I saw spark, I smelled fuel when pulling the plugs out. I saw the tach needle move as well, but only after I switched out the DME relay with mine (weird?).

I've never had the misfortune of a snapped timing belt. What type of parts and labor charges would they be looking at? NA 8V heads seem to sell for like $100-ish? Plus head gasket kit? I assume it would be cheaper/easier to simply replace the heads with a used set then to try to refurbish the one on the motor?