86 951 Driver

I bought my car 13 months ago. Don't get me wrong I love these cars and actually believe it or not the 944 Turbo is my dream car. But anytime I have someone work on this thing that knows these cars they seem to find issues.

When I bought the car for some reason it wasn't making full boost and ran rough. So I started diagnosing the issue. I did a tuneup and the issue still existed. I then changed the FPR which fixed the Running rough issue as that was bad(Tested with gauge). Car ran better but still had a knocking noise coming from the exhaust/torque tube region(more on this later). Car still wasn't making the correct amount of boost. Someone recommended I just replace all the Vacuum lines and and make sure there were no leaks. At this time I also replaced the fuel hoses mine were so dry rotted. Well during the process of doing that I found a socket in the J Boot. Great I thought my engine is toast. My turbo was chewed up, but my engine was not harmed(shockingly). Since I have never done a turbo replacement much less on a car this complicated I source a great mechanic some may know on here as PorscheDoc(very good guy BTW). He took the car under his wing and replaced the turbo along with many other gaskets and redoing my intake job basically. He found 1 injector that was leaking. He was curious on what could be making the knocking noise. He replaced the rear wheel bearings and the noise was still there. He gave me back the car and I was happy. Sure it made that horrible noise but I was told by a few that it wasn't a huge deal.

Fast forward a month. I though hey maybe its the trans fluid. Changed that and it made no difference. Changed the axles 2 times(messy job and garage was covered in grease), still made the noise. WTF is this knocking noise. More on this later. I just wanted to enjoy my car. The car ran pretty good and I was happy. That noise started to make me nervous wondering if my car was going to explode or not. Well then my A/C started to go out. So I took it to a shop that deals with R12, they told me your compressor is shot. Great. I decided to wait it out til next summer to fix it. I told the mechanic the story of the car. I told him after swapping a different transmission along with axles and all that it made this noise. He offered to go for a ride. For a while now I thought it was the exhaust and he confirmed that assumption. Great. Got the exhaust fixed up. NO MORE NOISE. Great now me and the 944 can rule the earth right? I have done so much work and tried to take care of her.

Just the other day I noticed my car was crying green tears. I asked what was wrong, shocker it was coming from the timing belt covers. We all know what that means. WATER PUMP. OMG WTF. I call up the guy who did the bodywork on my car to see how much he would charge. He quoted me a price and then I said alright I will have the car towed there. He just tore into it. All my rollers are shot, pump is definitely leaking, 2 of the 4 FE seals are leaking oil as well. Alright I knew that was coming, minus the rollers. This was the kicker my AC compressor I spoke of earlier is pretty close to being completely seized. He told me that I should at least put a different used on there that didn't have a seized up clutch. He has a spare one laying around so he will throw that on. He had no idea if it worked or not. So yet another high $$$$$ bill.

Sometimes I miss my old 924S that just worked and drove. I'm almost to this point.

/rant

AScholtes

Im with ya there... it seems every time I fix something, another problem pops up. Case in point, did all the belts, hoses,water pump, vacuum lines and intake gaskets, replaced j-boot, etc. Drive the car for a month and starts to develop an electrical gremlin... troubleshoot back to the ignition switch, then the problem disappears (I have a new switch here when I find the time to install it). Then the Aux coolant pump quits and starts leaking... well about this time i've just about had it and my wife gets laid off, so I put it up for sale. Several people made offers, but never came through on the close. So I said the hell with it, Im keeping it, and im gonna fix it. I order a new pump and replace it, and the world is right again for 5 days.. I hop in it and get ready to start it and I notice the windshield is cracked... seriously, wtf!!

She is more finicky than any woman I have ever met and demands more of my money than my wife does... and yet I still love the old girl... I guess those couple of dents in the quarter panel will have to wait until I put a new windshield in her (about $600 from the estimates..)

spammajamma

bought a beater as what you've described is not uncommon given the years and overall complexity of these cars
and I'm learning to do the work I paid for in the past

spammajamma

I still carry full coverage, it's only $100 to get the windshield..what's your policy state?

AScholtes

I pulled full coverage off of it while I had it parked in the garage over the summer waiting on buyers or parts... only carried liability on it.... so it's on me to get it replaced.

fortysixandtwo

For a 20 -25 year old car, that doesn't sound too bad. Remember that the axle changes, wheel bearings, vacuum lines and gear oil change were done as misdiagnosed items. Depending on mileage and maintenance, they may have been due for replacement, so you can chalk these up as preventative maintenance.
Fuel pressure regulator: These don't last forever, consider it a long term tune-up item
Injector: They clog and leak over time.
Turbo: Fluke, sucks that it happened.
H2O pump: These don't last forever, consider it a long term maintenance item
Belts and rollers: These don't last forever, consider it a long term maintenance item
Engine seals: These don't last forever, consider it a long term maintenance item
AC comp: Not common to fail, but not out of the question, bad luck on this one.

Please tell me that you had the timing belt and rollers changed during the H2O pump replacement.


Oh, and my story:
I just had a cam lobe and follower eat themselves. This put me into a head refresh / reconfigure project. The engine also had to be stripped down to the block for cleaning and main / rod bearings replace (just in case). About a 4.5K project on an engine built with only ~10K miles.
Granted the cam issue wasn't an assembly issue. It was directly due to the cam profile, seat pressures and guide lengths. This was found out after the failure. The new setup will be much nicer to drive.

This unplanned project pushed off my suspension refresh and wheel / tire shopping. (escort cup, remaining rubber bushings and 996 turbo hollow spokes) Oh well, there's always next year...

86 951 Driver

Don't take my post the wrong way most of the stuff I did in the beginning was maintenance items. The timing belt and water pump job was due and I'm glad the belt didn't break or pump didn't seize up. This will be the last rabbit hole I will find on this car. This was the last thing that was opened up since I have opened the car. I just needed to vent and make sure I wasn't the only one out here.

Schuepbach

I got about halfway into a clutch job on my car when i realized the engine prob had close to 200k miles on it and there were small oil leaks everywhere. I said f-- it and did an ls1 swap lol.

pettybird

I'll take "famous last words" for $100 please, Alex.



I've gone through that list on my 944S the last couple years...the turbo is next year. I'm still in parts hoarding mode

86 951 Driver

I almost did this to my 924S, but I wanted more of a drag car then I wanted it for handling. I love these turbo cars. They remind me of a 2 stroke motorcycle, little power then OH SHIZ BOOST. I like that feeling about them. I probably won't when I autoX next year.

fortysixandtwo

No worries. I was just putting things in perspective.

Willard Bridgham 3

You start dragging this car and you will find your past expenses were a pittance.

jmj951

I think this is part of what makes these cars so much fun - if you're the DIY type. My story: I PM heavily, don't spend much money on engine performance upgrades, and have had several enjoyable track days with only a head gasket failure halfway through one of my days (because it was old and rusted, I found) and a coolant cap failure at the end of another track day. Has over 140k miles, has never given me problems off the track (includes several 2-hr and 4-hr drives). No (noticeable) leaks. PO resealed the engine and heat exchanger and replaced the K26/6 with another stock 26/6, but otherwise the car was all original when I got it. I should probably count myself lucky, but then again I only push about 8/10th's on the track and replace/upgrade anything that is showing its age physically or performance-wise.

As long as the failures don't happen at inopportune times and ruin a track day, every problem diagnosis and successful repair adds to the feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment this car can give you. The car is old - at some point, a lot of it will need to be replaced. There are two extremes on maintaining this car, PM to the extreme on one end - don't fix anything until it breaks on the other end. If you're the kind that PM's to the extreme, uses fairly conservative, sensible upgrades in the process, and can disassemble/reassemble without creating more problems that weren't there in the first place (I understand this was the PO in your case, but just a case in point), then the car will be very reliable and a lot of fun.

On the other end, if you don't do most of the work yourself and you're not closely 'in tune' with your own car, things break more unexpectedly and the car is a maintenance nightmare. I never recommend this car for someone that is not willing to personally tackle projects such as head gaskets, water pumps, belts, brakes, exhaust, and wiring/other electrical.

EVOMMM

compare your ordeal with a guy who buys a ferrari 348 and has a 5000 tune up bill every 5yrs ! and a yearly bill of 1k to 2k for a car not as rewarding to drive as these 951
Mike

Ronin-951

After putting the purchase price back into the maintenence items, I am in the Wonderland part of the equation. Its been a full year since its felt the touch of a wrench and I've been smiling like the Cheshire Cat since.