badmonkeygod

Hi,
My 85.5 944 NA was in storage for the winter (unheated). A combination of winter storms and incomplete municipal drainage planning led to the entire storage area turning into a shallow lake. My 944 had water up to and possibly above the front seats. Water does not appear to have made it into the air intake/engine, though the exhaust definitely filled up.
Any ideas where to start? I removed the DME, rinsed with deionized water and allowed to dry. I get fuel to the fuel rail when cranking. I'm getting regular - seeming sparks to plug 1. It does not appear to have had the factory alarm option. The fuel DME is new and I replaced the battery. It will crank very strong, and for quite a while, but it never catches.
Any thoughts on where to go next would be greatly appreciated.
-Ben

odurandina

it's a miracle but you might actually make it through this.

first off, I would have dropped the oil and put in new.

then put in about 2 quarts of rubbing alcohol for a 1/2 tank of gas.

then pulled the spark plugs to avoid a possible hydro-lock before finally cranking her over.

would have done that until it wouldn't turn over any longer.

then given the battery a full charge and re-connected the spark plugs and gone for it.

my guess is you've got water in the fuel or part of your ignition circuit is fried.... or both.

plumbum

Your also likely going to need to remove the interior and clean everything before mold sets in...now I feel I should go check on my car.

Hope it turns out ok for you

odonnell

Have you tested the ignition coil, cap, rotor, wires, etc?

Travis - sflraver

This may seem overly simple but, if you are getting spark and fuel to the rail and it's not catching at all you may want to check to see if your injectors are firing.

If they are firing then you probably have water in the gas. If not then the injector driver circuit in the DME is toast.

william_b_noble

spray ether into the intake and see if it will fire, that will tell you a lot

Devia

Please be careful on draining your battery! You don't need to crank your car more than a few seconds. Porsches either run or not! No inbetween.

Let's break it down. Car needs 3 things to run:

Fuel
Spark (electrical)
Engine

Check the Starter, by chance?
Fuel filter, which is beneath the trunk? That was DEFINITELY covered in water! I'd change it out, to be safe.

IMHO, sounds like there's no fuel reaching the system. Are you hearing the click-click-click of the fuel pump, after you start cranking the car? It'll be right behind you, coming from the hatch/trunk area.

Check the Fuel Relay. That'll keep your fuel pump in your trunk from sending fuel to the rail at all, keep engine from turning over.

Check the Rotor, see if humidity got inside the cap. Change the spark plugs, if warranted. Pulling them out, will also tell you if any humidity snuck into the engine.

Humidity, anywhere it gathered in any of these systems, is your enemy. I do find leaving the car windows down 1/2" helpful, if weather permits, to speed up drying things out on the inside.

I do think you may have to consider after running through maintenance checks, that the Computer might be a little fried. Usually those can be repaired, or used one bought.


Think about how high the water went into the Engine compartment; it reach any of the BELTS?
HOW long has it been since you last CHECKED the Timing belt, tensionors? I'd at least open up the case, check the tension, make sure the balance belt is okay. Replace the Utility belt, since it sounds like the water hit that.



There's a few inexpensive things to check, including the CRANK SENSOR. Fairly easy to get to. You can switch that w/speed sensor, I've got pics if you need them. I've recently replaced both. But that's up HIGH, behind the engine, on the transmission.

Humidity in your system, is what you also must think of. There's a gas dryer you can put into the gas tank, to help with that. Gee, you might think I've dealt with something similar...

About that interior: coming from someone who's had her's toasted? Remember, it's a galvanized steel body, so don't panic!

First: GREASE THOSE RAILS! Because that's normal procedure anyway, for the rails. They WILL cease. If they have, just spray them with WD-40, get someone that's 200 + lbs, to sit in the seat, work it for you, pulling on the lever, back & forth. It WILL break free, start working normally, if it isn't electrical. That's what it took to get my passenger seat moving again. I know, sounds barbaric, but it worked.

Get a carpet steamer, after sucking everything you can out of it. I used that stuff for cat pee, Nature's Miracle? Sprayed it all over the carpets. Guess what? I steamed it half an hour later, voila: sucked all the crud right out! Nature's Miracle has an enzyme in it to eat mold, etc. out of the carpet, will keep working for a few weeks. I zapped my car again, 2 weeks later. It even got the crud from metal corrosion out.

I just used my little Scunci Steamer for the bathroom, house & my mini wet/vac. Enough to do the job! I had a roof leak that was so bad, I opened the door, water poured out. I was beside myself.

I still need to replace the carpets, they've faded from all of the abuse + 30 yrs this year. BUT this buy you time, so you don't focus on the carpet. It's the mechanics, fuel, spark that's important.

Hope that helps! From someone who's been there. People who've been here for any length of time know I've been restoring my 944 over 10 yrs. I'm on my last laps w/her now.

badmonkeygod

Thanks for all the ideas, everybody. I'm working on an order from Pelican this morning. I'll let you know what I can get to after work and how it goes!

Voith

Check for water in various connector housings, instrument panel, switches etc.

Dino V

Hope you can get it sorted out, water is a major PITA

Dougs951S

Sounds like the injector drivers got fried, even with water in the fuel it should try and fire. rebuilding the DME is simple and low cost affair luckily if you are handy with a soldering iron. Good luck, hope you get it cranked up soon!