Jamey

A friend asked me to come over to his house today to listen to his '88 S4. I'm not too knowledgeable on the 32valvers as mine is a '84 S model. Anyway, I was a little surprised when I got there. This incredibly clean 60K 5spd monster couldn't get out of it's own way. Hardly any power at all. It had an erratic idle that went from a moderate vibration to a occillating RPM surge. It also didn't have the typical 928 sound. He purchased this car about 300 miles away and stated it ran great coming home. He immediately took it to a local Porsche mechanic to have the dome light short repaired. This mechanic kept the car 6 months. When my friend picked the car up he said it had this running problem. Mechanic is a rip-off artist and the car will not go back to him for the diagnostics on this. What is everyone's thoughts on the weak engine... bad coil, LH brain, MAS, vacuum leaks? Any help would be appreciated. Oh, Exhaust smelled like it was running rich.
Jamey
'84 928S
'82 911SC

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Tony

my 1st guess is a bad MAF,it defaults rich...or atleast mine did when i unplugged it to trouble shoot some things. Remove the aircleaner, filter asembly then start the car..whne the car is exhibiting the probelms, unplug the MAF and see what happens. When i first removed mine there was a tremendous amount of corrosion on 2 of the contacts of the wiring conector

Donald

My problems (except the really big, nasty one) run to vacuum leaks. The favorite is under the brake booster, driver's side. Check the three small rubber lines (half the diameter of a pencil) at a three way connector canister. When one of those pops loose my car will barely pull away from a stop sign, and fluctuates at idle.

Donald

Max

If you need a place to look it in Tyler, Guy just opened up a Dyno shop there and he is a 928 owner/wrench.

I don't have any of his numbers or email address on hand. He is a good friend of Marc and Susan at DEVEK's, so you could call them to get a phone number or address if you need it.

HTH

Max

WallyP

One thing to check - the S4 has two virtually separate ignition systems. Get an inductive-pickup timing light, or a test light that will check for spark without disconnecting the plug wire, and check for spark on all eight cylinders. If you are missing spark on four cylinders, check the coil wire on the affected side very carefully. (This can cause the rich smell.)

The injection system also acts as two four-cylinder systems in some regards. You can use a mechanic's stethoscope or a three-foot wooden dowel, or a three-foot section of rubber or plastic hose to check the injectors - there should be a stead clicking from each injector with the engine running. (This won't cause the rich smell.)

Gretch

Also check the battery voltage. I have had mine behave exactly like you described, when I had a weak or bad battery........See if the battery will take a charge, and check the voltage....