After lurking on Rennlist for 10 years, I finally bought a 928 this week. '85 5-spd, Nutmeg Brown (thanks classifieds forum!), my dream Porsche color, having lovingly built a brown Revell 928 model when I was a kid.

The car is in decent shape, it has good records and was serviced by reputable Porsche shops, but I've already got my project list going. Driving the car back from Cleveland to Chicago, we got stranded for a few hours at a rest stop after apparently flooding the engine when the starter wouldn't catch (had to do the fuel pump fuse pull twice before it resolved). So, I'll be digging in to some of the more obvious systems first to make sure everything is up to specs. Also, the driver side door seems to have a bit of a sag, I can just feel it hanging on the latch, and it might take 2 attempts to close it from the inside.

I broke the rules and bought the first car I looked at (but I did get a good PPI that came back pretty clean), so I do have some questions about whether some things are normal or not. 1) Is the accelerator supposed to be incredibly heavy? It doesn't feel like it's binding and it springs right back when you let off, but it's by far the heaviest gas pedal I've encountered. 2)The clutch engagement point is very high, almost right at the top. It disengages perfectly and you can grab every gear without any grinding. But, when letting it out, it seems to start catching the flywheel about halfway up, but no real forward movement starts until the pedal is almost all the way out. Coupled with the stiff accelerator, I'm having the damndest time starting off smoothly (and I've solely driven manuals over my 20 years driving career).

And last question, the Workshop Manual that's readily available online, is that the most current and complete version? I've never dealt with a shop manual that covered so many different variants, but if it doesn't specify that a procedure is specific to one model, it's relevant to all models, right?

Anyway, I'm glad to have finally joined the fold, and I'm really excited to be here. Officially, this time.

 

Welcome and congrats on your purchase!

The pedals on this are are indeed heavy as well as the steering. So you may be a little sore after the first few days of driving the car.

I can't speak on the 85 (because I have an 87), but when I replaced the the throttle cable a few years ago, I notice that it was binding badly because it had fallen off a pulley. So just to make sure, do a visual inspection to verify that there's nothing causing any additional resistance.

Regards,
Roger

BTW, there's a good 928 mechanic in St. Charles...if you need one.

 

You have a Double disc clutch (78-86).
Smooth operation in 1st - 5th is not the best test, the synchros can mask problems.

You need to test going from a forward gear - neutral - reverse, and see if it's smooth, grinds or catches. If it's not as smooth as the forward gears, it might be dragging.

You cannot quickly go into reverse though, pause for a moment to allow the torque tube and the rest of the rotating parts to slow down after depressing the clutch.

My 79 has a very similar engagement point, my 81 is right off the floor. I've never given it a second thought to try and "fix" the 79.

Years ago I got into the habit of testing 1st to reverse every time I start the car, just to make sure the clutch is operating properly.

 

Welcome to the rennlist 928 community! Got a first name?

Correct.

 

Please post more pictures of the car when you get a chance!

 

Highway.
Last name
Engineer

 

I highly recommend you buy the Morehouse manuals from Roger:
http://s287999742.e-shop.info/shop/c...lty-Items.html

I'm stealing this summary from an old Landseer post b/c I couldn't say it better myself, and I'm tired of typing:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...ml#post5632339

"... Spend the BEST $70 you've EVER spent --- buy the Morehouse CD compilation of documents.

You get the manuals and wiring diagrams for all years in a somewhat searchable format.

But, more importantly, among other more historical information like a video of the Holbert salt flats run with the Holbert / Kibort car, you get dealer-type service updates that constitute three categories of information: 1) deep sub-assembly repair instructions for things like auto and manual transmission and fuel injection, 2) a series of 100-page plus documents for each year detailing to dealers the mechanical, electrical and service differences from the previous year's model, and 3) a bevvy of assorted technical service specifications, troublseshooting and bulletin information.

Actually, the most important background document of all is on the CD. The introductory 1978 Service Infor Tech by year document. It provides incredible information about oiling circuits, water circuits, drivetrain layout, steering, etc, that form the basis for your understanding in order to even begin home mechanic work. ..."

Welcome.
Pix, please.

 

Welcome to Rennlist, have fun and post lots of pictures. Some of us do better with picture books than lots of words.

 

Congrats!...but without pictures....yer still just a lurker!

Edit:Just found the pics..doh!

Cheers,

 

Bingo! But I'll also go by Jeremy.

 

Absolutely!!

 

Congrats!

Is the 10 year lurk before buying a Rennlist record?

Hugo

 

I had a very similar starting issue with the Stepson, and it was resolved with the replacement of the TempII sensor.

Congrats on your car.

 

Welcome. As H/S said, clutch engagement is a bit screwy.Getting the dual disk adjusted exactly right is challenging. Mine starts grabbing about an inch off the floor, but takes until about 3/4 of the way up to fully engage. I've made sure that it fully engages and disengages, so I'm not planning on messing with it.

I will also 2nd the suggestion to get the Moorehouse CD-ROM shop manuals. They are an order of magnitude above the ones you can download. The free downloads will work, but the incredible amount of extra stuff make the Moorhouse version a bargain.

Roger has them for sure, I'm not sure if any of the other "usual suspects" have them.

"Roger" is 928s R Us, the rest of them are listed in the "New Visitor" sticky. Read it, there's a ton of info in it that is very useful.

And I will start:

THIS...

 

Looks like a good buy - interior in good shape, and cool interesting colour, so well bought. Mechanicals are the easy part to sort.

The pedal shouldn't be heavy - most are, because they've spent the last 25-30 years wearing through the nylon liner inside the two throttle cables, so there's metal to metal contact inside the cable. You can get temporary reprieve using a motor cycle cable-oiler tool to shove light grease down the cable, or just buy new cables, and be done with it

Can't speak to the clutch - I've only owned later manuals with the single disc clutch.