Daymon66

thanks Parker. i can't get to my battery and i cannot stand stuff not working.
hatch broke, factory porsche CD player broke, passenger window won't go down.. little stuff i know but it will be fixed..

mechanically sound, safe and all things working is one of my passions.

just a little love makes all things better.

Charley B

There are a couple things that still bother me.

You mentioned the plug wires were replaced two years ago. You shouldn't be having a fire works show this soon.

Generally a car doesn't go from running great to barely running from deteriorating plug wires. A rough idle, maybe. A miss while accelerating, maybe. But to go from running strong, to running on four cylinders would be really unusual.

You have mentioned a few things that have me thinking charging system. With a stuck hatch and no access to battery it's tough, but I think i would do something to check the alternator output. I'm lazy so I would probably hook the charger to the jump terminal and see what happens, but that's just me.
If the plug wires don't do the trick maybe some one here, who actually knows 928's, will suggest a proper way to verify you're getting sufficient current.

Daymon66

hey charlie, great advice.
i thought the plug wires were replaced but the were NOT. EVERYTHING else was replaced within the last 4-5 years accept the plug wires.
i have no idea how old these are but i will look thru the receipts i was given and see.
i got a great history and tons of documentation. Carl and Sias did good.

it does run, it starts and idles. power sucks and it "feels like" it is running on 4 cylinders.
it will rev up if you mash it slowly. it lugs down and then comes up if you mash it hard.

i'll get the hatch open, put in a fresh battery so that issue will be done and i'll have a base line for the battery. replace the plug wires and go from there.

all i know is that it WON'T run right like this no matter what.

again this may NOT fix it but it is the ONLY problem we have been able to actually isolate and confirm. process of elimination is the best way to approach some of these things.

thanks for everyone's help and wisdom.

DonS

For the hatch try just using the key and press down on the hatch at the same time while turning the key. Don't waste time right now trying to diagnose the electrical release. As stated, there are several write-ups about correctly adjusting the mechanism. Usually adding the small shim makes a big difference.

Daymon66

Thanks Don. that is how Sias used to open it by pressing down next to the lock. that don't work no more.
The electrical side is fine. i think it's just a mechanical thing. i'll get it released and try some of the ideas on a few of those post.

Dan87951

I haven't read all the posts just yet but when I read the above I wanted to say...

Just speaking from experience here, but when I first bought my 85S it ran great on the ride back from Ohio but the next morning after it had rained I went out to start the car and it did exactly what you were describing. Replaced the plug wires from another 928 I had and sure enough it fired right up no problem. For me it ended up being bad plug wires and upon close inspection the plug wires seemed fine but they were holding moisture. Good Luck with it.

mj1pate

You may have found it already, but there is a thread or two concerning how to get the trunk open without keylock or remote control action. My apologies, as you may have already seen suggestions like this: From my experiential point of view; try lowering the back seats, and crawling into the back. The tool cover is at the very back of the hatch area. It has two ***** that when turned 45 degrees counter clockwise release the cover. Carefully try prying the cover off, which may meet with some resistance, as the hatch is down and may be pressing on it. Behind the cover and in the center is a rectangular metal cover, behind which is the lock receiver. The tongue of the hatch lock is captured (but not positively) by the lock receiver. You should be able to see pictures of this setup in threads associated with "hatch lock". You may be able to loosen the rectangular cover to get at or release the lock tongue. Or may be able to reach behind the cover to trip the lock tongue free. Pictures in the threads will help.

Be careful; swear off spending much money until you are able to get at everything you need to. I'll bet you'll find that your problem is not a cash related one. You'll probably find "your wire" loosely hanging on some stud somewhere. We've all been there.

Mike

Daymon66

thanks guys again for all the input. plug wires and plugs should be here tomorrow from Roger so i'll update with the results as soon as i complete the install.
this place is great for sure.

heinrich

If you pull plug wires while the car is running, they will arc.

heinrich

Please be very careful with the rear hatch mechanism, it can take your fingertip clean off.

heinrich

My money is on a coil wire.

Daymon66

hey heinrich, thanks for the advice.

good Lord i hope people kow they will arc when you pull them off. IF THEY ARE WORKING..

the end connector arc'd when i pulled it off because of the broken end (see the picture i posted)
the other wires were arcing between themselves without touching them.
more so on the drivers side but both sides were easily seen once i realized what i was looking for.

FIREFLIES EVERYWHERE.

Herman K

If the cables and plugs don't do the trick!

Copied from post # 19 > On very rare occasions the little amplifier module on the front apron fails, and perhaps slightly more often a coil will fail. Still pretty rare. < I had the amplifier module fail and had the same problem as you described. Do you have one to swop out? How far are you from Houston's East side?

morganabowen

My money is on the MAF

ROG100

The original set of plug wires made by Beru and from me are $350. There is another set that are aftermarket and made by Karlyn - STI and I sell those for $285. I have never used a set from STI and because they are not OEM cannot recomend them yet. They are cheaper yes but unproven to me.

The economy set is Beru wires with the correct crimped ends and you reuse your existing connectors. The connectors are expensive so if you have good ones it keeps the costs down. The economy set does not come with spacers or sleeves. Available in Red and Black for $119 with instructions on how to test your existing connectors. For the record the connectors are $26.95 each for the spark end and $10.99 each for the Distributor end - so you see that there is a lot of $ in the connectors. All sets come with the coil wires.
Roger