I just realized I never posted a proper intro and instead went straight to asking for help.

Im Jim, Im in Chesapeake, VA. My dad was a "car guy" from the time he was like 10, maybe younger. His chosen career was mechanics, everything from daily drivers, to dump trucks, custom work vehicles for municipalities and street rods. We built my first car starting when I was 14, a 1978 Camaro we picked up cheap in a newspaper ad. We spent the next two years restoring it. Id love to find it but I dont have a VIN. Moving on, I caught the bug young and Porsche was probably my favorite.

Sometime around age 13 I was riding my bike around town and saw a 928 and decided Id eventually have one. My first drivable Porsche was the 993 I still currently own, I purchased it from a rennlister in WV. I bought a one way ticket and drove it home to NH. No I did not get a PPI, it was really well priced and I figured no big deal. Got it home and aside from a new set of tires and alignment it needed a rear main seal. I did that and some other things to "make it mine". Then I found the world of HPDE one afternoon while driving around.

I spent the next 10 or so years as a track rat. The 993 became more and more track focused and less street. It ended up with a 4pt roll bar, race shells, harnesses, race suspension etc. It's since been sort of turned back to street, I put the interior back in but left all the suspension goodies in place. Now it gets taken out to the mountains for weekends with friends and the occasional drive around where I live. Police in VA are not friendly when it comes to exceeding the speed limits so I dont drive it around town often.

I also have a 2021 Cayenne S coupe that is my daily driver. Great vehicle. Does everything really well and looks good too.

Some friends and I recently built Spec E46 cars and wrapped them all the same. We look like a real race team 😂

Six months or so ago I decided it was time to get a 928. I wanted an 87 or newer, automatic and already loved. I planned to drive this often and didn't want to worry about ruining a low mileage car. I found a 1988 S4 5 speed at a decent price with 181,000 miles on it here on Rennlist. I rode up to Richmond area with a friend and we drove it home. It had some issues....

When I picked it up the seller had just driven it for 'the last ride" and the idle was hunting a bit. I took it for a test drive and the steering was whacked. I thought maybe both tie rod ends were shot. Anyway, it was about what I expected and I figured the steering wouldn't be a huge issue. The first owner drove it daily in NJ/NY I think selling it around 115k maybe (I have the records but dont recall). Second and I think third owners drove it to 177k. Fourth owner, the seller, bought it around 2013 and only drove it 4k miles or so in 12 years.

I knew it needed a timing belt service and something with the steering. A good cleaning and probably some odds and ends. It had a Spectre intake on it which I planned to remove and it lacks cats and a read muffler. Id like to add one or both of those back, it's a bit too loud for what I want this car for. If anyone has a stock exhaust or something similar, please let me know. Someone replaced the radiator with an aluminum one so thats good. Many of the fuel lines and pieces have been replaced, I think the only one that hasn't is the large front one. Vacuum lines are original, I picked up a kit from Roger. It has a short shifter as well.

So where are we now? Work completed; timing belt, water pump, oil pump seals, oil pan seals, front crank seal, cam seals, valve cover gaskets, valve cover plate upgrade, Porken tensioner, fixed the alternator fresh air tubing, radiator mounts, rotors, caps, wires, plugs, fuel filter, brake flush change transaxle fluid, power steering fluid and of course oil and coolant.

So where am I now?

Last night I cranked it over for the first time since everything but the fuel filter was done and it fired up after about 3 turns. Great! Went to bed dreaming of a nice test drive this morning. Well that didn't happen.

This am I went for a test drive and the first 5 minutes were great! Then it started to bog down and loss of power. The engine took a deeper note, huge loss of power and did not want to stay running. Turned around and limped home. Power would return randomly for half to 3 seconds and then loss of power again.

Opened the hood and grey/blue smoke came from the backside of the engine compartment. Im not sure what that was but it went away. Maybe the timing is off? I brought it back into the garage and checked the timing. Timing was advanced on both cylinders. I reset to 0/0 hot. Dropped one of the screws for the Porken tool and sounded like it went into the timing belt cover. $#%^@# Looked for a bit, stuck a magnet down into the cover, no luck. Looked all over teh floor, in all the apparent places it could fall and get trapped, nothing. It must be in the timing cover. Lunch time. Made burgers and sausages. Mmmm.

Back to work, have to take all of the front off to get that damn bolt. Started to pull the fans and radiator and then decided I might be able to get this done without pulling all of that and dumping fresh fluids. Got the car in the air and slid under to start working. Decided to take another look for that bolt and FOUND IT! It had fallen between the alternator and the vent tubing. It took my 10 minutes but I got it out. Buttoned it back up from the timing reset and out for another test drive.

Better but not right. Power felt better initially but as it warmed up the same problem came up. Headed home again. Figured one of the coils wasn't firing properly so took the IR thermometer and checked all cylinders. Same temp more or less everywhere. Unplugged coil on passenger side and started the car, ran like it did while on the test drive. Unplugged the coil on drivers side, same thing. At this point it seems like it's got to be a fuel issue. I had not changed the fuel filter yet so went ahead and did that. Off for another test drive. Didn't get far, same issue.

I sent a DM to Mrmerlin and he suggested the temp2 sensor or connector court be bad or the MAF. I did a quick search and it appears that if you disconnect the sensor, the brains decided to use a preset based on duration of running rather than using the sensor. This can lead to hard starts and poor running when cold. But my engine was hot already so we are good to go! Went for another test drive. Near success! Longest run yet with fewest issues but, the same issue is still occurring just at a reduced rate of occurrence. So I'll replace the sensor and connector just because.

Now, what am I seeing besides low power randomly inserting itself into an otherwise fun test drive?
Warning lights - Coolant, Stop Light, Belt Tensioner (this one is randomly on and yes I grounded the wire out as instructed) and the voltage gauge reads 12v.

Not sure it matters but I did oil the K&N today. I did not clean it because I didn't want to wait for it to dry so I quickly oiled it and waited 20 minutes as instructions say. I dont think I over oiled it, quick even passes using the aerosol. I have heard of K&Ns causing MAF issues if you over oil them so I was pretty careful.

So what do I change next?

Pics of cars because every intro thread should have them


I think this was Tail of the Dragon?

Just after picking it up. I put the stock red and amber lenses in

Mine is 461. S are wrap just different numbers. Its funny **** when we get spread out in a run group at a DE, people think we are lapping them at a crazy pace

This is the only pic I can find of the Cayenne. Poor thing, I need to be better about taking pics so she doesn't feel unloved.

 

Welcome.

I don’t see an intake refresh on your list of completed work. If not done recently I would do an intake refresh, fuel dampers if original, MAF and LH rebuild, all fuel lines, high pressure steering hose. Mostly preventative stuff so you will get many years of trouble free driving.

I would first take some readings of the temp II sensor when hot and not running well. As Stan has suggested. That little guy can cause lots of issues.

Also with the ignition amps, remove them and add a new dab of heat sink paste. Cheap insurance to ensure they don’t over heat and die.

If you have cats be Carefull if you think it is only running on 4 as you might end up in a situation I was in not long ago. Lol

 

Fuel dampers and all lines but the front main line appear to have been done recently, the car playing is still bright and clean. I can look up the date/mileage they were done.

Mrmerlin recommended LH,EZK and MAF be sent out to Electronik Repair, Rich Andrade so I’ll be reaching out to them Monday am.

The fuel line will go out to Roger, already planned on that one.

Oddly the power steering rack has been replaced three times on this car, seems excessive. One of the times it got a new high pressure line.

I was hoping to drive the car a bit this summer then pull the engine and do the wiring and vacuum lines over the winter. Not sure pulling the engine is needed but it needs a good bath and it seems easier than doing that work in the car.

Can reading be takes at the sensor or just at the modules in the footwell as I had read? Where are the ignition amps?

No catalytic converters on this car as of right now. I think it’s running on all 8, I pulled the coils one at a time and there was no change in how it ran with the disconnection of either. It feels like it’s running out of fuel. Running down the highway 60mph 3rd gear and I floor the throttle, rpm’s barely creep up. Then a minute later it comes alive and revs like at should in that situation.

Jim

 

Amps are under the plastic cover, circled in red. Each amp controls 4 cylinders and powers the coils.

Good plans by the way.

 

I was wondering what was under there! I need to take time and get all of the grounds cleaned up as well. The car ran ok when I picked it up aside from the hunting idle so I hadn’t prioritized it yet.

 

Is this appropriate or is there an automotive use option? https://a.co/d/aqQeKmI

 

Great looking Porsches. Once you get the 928 sorted you'll love it. You should 0lan on attending Frenzy in Sterling in September.

 

If it doesn’t coincide with a race weekend Rob and I are both planning to come. He just picked up a 94 last week.

 

Yep that will work.