SamGrant951

man I should have stripped my cars like 3-4 times already then.

ian

I had guessed you were going to tell me the factory alarm was the cause of my car problems, but the pearl of wisdom above was much more helpful.

odurandina

let me clarify...

when i stated the "spells the end of these cars...." i was talking about the 2~2 1/2 thousand dollar 944s out there. spells the end for many people when the cars were already fairly ragged to begin with, and their owners are on the fence about what to do next with respect to improving or possibly even restoring the cars (or not).... and this clearly imcludes many Rennlisters, who we've seen come, stay a short while and go. but even worse, there have been posters that i considered, hard-core just a year or two ago, like Tifosiman and countless others (given their frequency of contributing, dedication and the size of their projects, and their level of mechanical expertise) but, now they've disappeared off the forum likely, never to be seen again. sorry if i have alluded to the turnover rate on this forum casting a rather ominous shadow over the cars.... but for some reason, it bothers me to see people put a good deal of money, time and effort into the upkeep of the 4 cylinders, then to just disappear... to clarify.

dontnow

I am glad to see I am not the only who gets annoyed at the constant bashing on the models we chose to have. On other makes forums, I don't read this crap all the time.

Pcar944

The more I use my cars the less attention they need.

Thats german engineering for you. Confuses the hell out of people who used to own british sports cars where you look at them and bits fall off. It makes for a vibrant community of people trying to stick bits back on again.

Fintro11

timing belt / head is not that hard of a job

mazdaverx7

i'd fix it and relist it for sale. you really won't have that much into the head job if the head isn't warped. you may even be able to get a few bucks more after the head job.

Dougs951

Seven dollars and a cola?

odurandina

this isn't the first car with a serious mechanical failure during a pending sale... it's the third in the past year that i'm aware of right on this forum... by today's standards, a 25 year old Porsche 944 is a seriously challenged design offering acceleration that today's 4-door economy sedans easily match... it's one of the most expensive cars to keep on the road in running trim; what i like to coin, a semi exotic with a lot of electrical gremlins and major repairs. if you can do these repairs yourself, that's one thing. but you're mostly in the minority. i know i'll never attempt somthing like a head-gasket repair. not for me... a lot of the guys reading this post won't be here in a few years. (hell, if the turnover on this forum isn't faster than that). franky, that's sad.

Fara

Wait, What?

With basic preventative maintenance, the car is entirely reasonable to keep on the road. I've worked on many cars that are MUCH more expensive to keep on the road. Take for example a 1972 911, or a 1957 MGA. They both take regular TLC and the parts are quite expensive, however they are also both quite fun to drive.

Even if you're having your local porsche specialist do the work on a 944 - if you show you know what you're doing and source the parts yourself, it doesn't really cost that much. I was given a quote of AUD $600 for a water pump, rollers and timing belt change on my car, which is fairly reasonable considering the hours that go into it. That said, I'm doing it myself.

thirdgenbird

then your input really isnt needed here...

speaking from first hand experience, a rebuild head, head gasket, and all the appropriate hardware can be purchased much less than most would lead you to believe and it only takes an afternoon to fix it.

i agree odurandia, this car would be and expensive project for someone to buy as is and send to a shop. fortunately, there are plenty of people (the OP included) that can have this thing running again for less than $500.

odurandina

i do plenty of work on my car. just not the heavy engine work. and there's plenty of Porsche owners out there just like myself. if you count the inventory of 944s out in circulation, you guys represent a scant few who do the work yourselves... there are several hundred 944s for sale in Craigslists all over the country needing the the repairs that are commonplace on this forum. those repairs won't be getting done anytime soon. in massachusetts, you'd be lucky to sell a 944... what few cars there are, are mothballed, and eventually discarded. there's several thousand of them out there sitting all over the country. reasonably, nice 944 Turbos on the West Coast and New England are parted or junked... you guys on this forum are a minority.

thirdgenbird

that is exactly why i am saying this car can be saved. we are not talking about a broken car that is listed by an unknown craigslist seller for $2000, we are talking about a car that requires a fairly basic repair that is in a rennlist members garage. there is no reason to part this car out just because other people can not replace a head. this car should be saved because other 944 variants are getting parted.

Butters944

Minority FTW

dontnow

Sorry to clutter your thread Ian. Now back to out regularly scheduled thread......Unique 924 SE for sale....