Sikorsky

My first post, hello to everyone!

I just picked up an 85.5 944 last week. Copenhagen blue over linen and a 5 speed. Build date of 04/85. 208,110 km. Power windows and sunroof and that's about it for amenities.

The best part is that it's a one family car with a maintenance history from new. The dad bought it, then his widow drove it for 13 years until the daughter had it for 3 years. It had been parked for 2 years under a Porsche car cover and in a garage when I went to see it. After three cranks it fired and after 30 seconds the idle smoothed out.

There is quite a bubble on the rocker under the drivers door but no other signs of corrosion. Yay for west coast cars! A cracked dash (c'est dommage), really great seats and carpet and everything but the passenger window switch works.

So far I've racked up 600 km and there have been no major problems. A set of Eagle GTs went on the unmarked phone dials yesterday. It's getting a major service of all fluids, filters and ignition tomorrow. The following day a new Kenwood deck goes in, replacing the non-functioning Pioneer in there presently. New speakers behind factory grills and a small self powered sub to fill things out. Soon a set of Bilsteins to replace the tired units on there.



My big issues at present are as follow:

1) The A/C. The old R-12 has long departed and it's time to convert it over. I've seen an R-134 kit at 944online. Anyone have any experience with it? Or do you have other suggestions? The temps are pretty high here in Vancouver right now and if it's off o. Road trips this summer, I'd like to keep SWMBO comfortable.

2) Power. There isn't anything. Sure it will do highway speeds with ease. But acceleration is how you say, lacking. I'm guessing that my old Toyota corolla would spank it merging onto the freeway. It has all the emissions gear still on it. Is there any special areas that may cause this lackadaisical performance? Or do I just live with it.

Other than that I can say that I LOVE THIS CAR! A great handler, sexy body, great shifting transmission and phenomenal handling. What a package.

I look forward to delving through the trove of info on here to fix the minor issues it has.

Paulyy

congrats

post some photos!

do a search on R-134 and there should be some threads about it.
To gain more power, well that isn't as easy. you can get a chip set. Rogue Tuning is making a "speed density" tune to remove the stock AFM to get as much air though the intake as possible, it'll be the best chip for the NA on the market when it's out.
a 2.5" exhaust is a quite common upgrade.

white924s

Welcome! As part of your maintenance, I would strongly recommend that you change the timing belt, rollers, and seals at the front of the engine. They can wear out over time (even if the car is just sitting), and a timing belt failure causes expensive damage in these cars. While you're in there, it's usually a good idea to also replace the water pump. If your engine is low on power, you may want to check the compression on the engine. Keep in mind though, these cars only have 150-160 hp from the factory, so they're not exactly rockets in a straight line.

As for the A/C, I think you'll need to change the oil in the compressor when you change the refrigerant, but I'm not sure if you need to do anything else.

max_boost951

Welcome to the world of maintenance. I have an 86 951 and recently converted to R134a and I did not use the retro-fit kit. I recovered the R12 system, changed the receiver/dryer and recharged. I don't see the need to change the hoses unless they are broken.

mytrplseven

After you get a clean flat surface for the car to sit and have driven it a little, look for oil leaks. Cars this old have oil leaks due to rubber seals that have hardened. The front and rear camshaft, balance shaft (2) and crankshaft seals are common leakers. While the belts are off, replace water pump, rollers, and, if you're seeing oil leakage indications, re-do the seals while you're in there. I went through my entire engine and transmission and replaced ALL my rubber seals, including the little ones in the throttle body shaft. It was a major vacuum leaker. Bottom line, if one rubber seal is leaking, all the other rubber seals are of the same age and if they're not leaking, they will be soon so WYIT will save you labor in the long run. You're gonna love this car when you don't have to worry about the maintenance issues. Also buy a spare dme relay. They're cheap insurance ($20) for that one day when the car won't start.

F40LM

Welcome and post pics.

Michael

944Ross

I bought conversion fittings for the AC at NAPA, NAPA P/N 409902 and 409903, $7 each. They are robust brass pieces, not crappy aluminum. (Are you in the US? you should put your location in your profile) I also replaced the drier and changed the oil in the compressor as noted above. As my car was apart, I also thoroughly cleaned the fins on the condenser, as that is the weak point of a retrofit system. The system works great! You're lucky to have a 85.5+ car, the early AC systems are a nightmare.

If you think the car is gutless now, wait til you have the AC working! Actually not that much worse, but these cars aren't sprinters. You can check the air filter, check the usual ignition parts, maybe it just needs a tuneup.

fittrjoe

Replace those old rubber fuel lines under the hood ... do a little research on this .
Lindsey makes a nice braided set . FIRES are hard to recover from.
1990 944 S2

StoogeMoe

Come on! Quit playing around and post pics now!!!!

Sorry, I don't get to see many blue 944's.

Will Feather

I freakin' love Copenhagen Blue....PICS!......first things first.. change that timing belt!

A/C not my area, I delete it on all my cars.... for power as some have said a chip, exhaust, cut the cat out if you can get away with it where you live. Besides that... your going to have to live with the fact that it is a momentum car!

Sikorsky

Sorry for the delays about pictures. I'll do some tonight, promise!

There is one small oil leak somewhere. The previous owner had it re-sealed and wveything cleaned up. Belts changed 3 years ago and then it sat parked. I'll risk it out and wait for next spring to re-do it.

Where can I find more info about converting the present AC to 134? I've looked and searched and get several differing threads. Do you guys know of one simple, step by step DIY thread?

I've popped up on the "What have you done today?" thread for the other stuff I've been puttering on.

As for the car, I'm 2000 km in and still loving it!

szabon

Don't risk the belts. If you don't fix the a/c, then you are a bit hot and have to drive with the windows down. If you don't replace the belts, your engine goes "BAM" and then you have to spend all kinds of money and time fixing it....Belts are the way to go.

AND YOU LIED. YOU SAID YOU WOULD POST PICS LAST NIGHT!!!!!

FRporscheman

Congrats on your purchase, and welcome to Rennlist!

When you get a chance, do a leakdown and compression test on the engine to see if the poor performance is a real problem, or just your high expectations.

Some common spots for oil leaks that people can miss are:
- the rear cover of the cam housing. There are 3 bolts, check if they're loose. The cork gasket might be bad.
- the rear o-ring on the lower balance shaft housing. From under the car, look behind the headers and find the BS housing. At the back of it, there is a round aluminum plug. Clean the area and run the engine, looking for leaks. Silicon is a proven fix, in lieu of tearing half the engine to replace a measly o-ring.
- also check the oil pan. start by checking that all oil pan bolts are tight.

Do your timing belt, if you don't know when it was last done.