1985 Porsche 944
Discussion
Recently i purchased a 911 off eBay at a reasonable price the thread can be found here, the car was won and purchased having never viewed or driven another one!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
However i have now topped myself, during isolation i saw this appear on eBay
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/porsche-944-/3530039355...
ive always liked the 944 so when it ended i asked the seller how much they were after, they told me a week or so passed and i asked if they still had it! which they did... i got these extra pictures and a price for delivery as they are a dealer and were 180 miles away not the 30 miles away i thought!
So after chatting to my neighbor and them agreeing to let me keep it in their garage i decided to pay the seller to deliver it sight unseen! bit of a gamble i know! it needs welding and paint work but worst case scenario it breaks for more than i paid for it!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
However i have now topped myself, during isolation i saw this appear on eBay
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/porsche-944-/3530039355...
ive always liked the 944 so when it ended i asked the seller how much they were after, they told me a week or so passed and i asked if they still had it! which they did... i got these extra pictures and a price for delivery as they are a dealer and were 180 miles away not the 30 miles away i thought!
So after chatting to my neighbor and them agreeing to let me keep it in their garage i decided to pay the seller to deliver it sight unseen! bit of a gamble i know! it needs welding and paint work but worst case scenario it breaks for more than i paid for it!
Ok so today whilst i was working the car was delivered! its pretty much as i expected not really had a good look at it! luckily it fits in the garage, the first things on the list of jobs to do are swap front passenger wheel for spare as its not holding air! the battery is also on charge but i think its dead! and finally free off the break calipers as they seem to be seized on! after that jack it up and asses how bad that rust is!
Im aware of what im getting into regards the amount of work and ££££ involved! ive always liked tinkering with cars and now it will be nice to do bits without having to worry about getting the car back on the road as its not my daily driver, i will have the luxury of pushing it back into the garage and shutting the door until the next parts arrive!
MC Bodge said:
This and the 996?
too much time on my hands and too many wines! in regards to the welding etc it will be done by a competent person! its in no means going to be a concours restoration i just want a car to do a bit of mechanics on and drive occasionally when its on the road! if i spend more on it than its worth then in my experience thats the way it goes with cars! Right so i finally made a start on the car! put some fresh fuel in as i think it was about out, put the battery on that came with the car after it has been on charge for about 18 hours and nothing really happened, one or two lights on dash but wouldnt turn over! so i took the battery off my Fiesta van which i know is good and tried that! car turns over but doesnt start... the decision was then made to push it out the garage and start on the other jobs!
First up was to find a suitable bonnet stay!
Secondly was replacing the flat tyre that doesnt hold air with the spare which luckily does! the spare was hard to get at due to a broken boot latch! which when trying to undo both bolts snapped... job for another day!
At this point dad decided that he was the man for un seizing the front brake!
We then had all four wheels off the floor to check they spin correctly! the rear passenger side needed a bit of freeing off also!
Followed by having all four wheels off so we could get a decent amount of air into them for rolling it about
After getting the car at least move able it was time to start looking into why it doesn't start! first up i found there was no power to the fuel pump! this led us to putting a 12V feed to it and it works we are now checking the DME relay as this is apparently a common issue on them! i have ordered a new battery from halfrauds and some fuses, the rust on the car does appear to be catastrophic... but there is definatly some attention required in the future! i think the electrical issues are going to take a while to go thru!
this also arrived in the post as there wasnt one with the car!
once i have collected the battery i will make sure the relay is working! and if it is check that i have fuel and spark at the engine...
First up was to find a suitable bonnet stay!
Secondly was replacing the flat tyre that doesnt hold air with the spare which luckily does! the spare was hard to get at due to a broken boot latch! which when trying to undo both bolts snapped... job for another day!
At this point dad decided that he was the man for un seizing the front brake!
We then had all four wheels off the floor to check they spin correctly! the rear passenger side needed a bit of freeing off also!
Followed by having all four wheels off so we could get a decent amount of air into them for rolling it about
After getting the car at least move able it was time to start looking into why it doesn't start! first up i found there was no power to the fuel pump! this led us to putting a 12V feed to it and it works we are now checking the DME relay as this is apparently a common issue on them! i have ordered a new battery from halfrauds and some fuses, the rust on the car does appear to be catastrophic... but there is definatly some attention required in the future! i think the electrical issues are going to take a while to go thru!
this also arrived in the post as there wasnt one with the car!
once i have collected the battery i will make sure the relay is working! and if it is check that i have fuel and spark at the engine...
Ok so todays update! i fitted the new battery... checked we have spark which we did! re fitted the DME relay which didnt appear to be faulty but the fuel pump still didnt prime/run with it installed, we also checked we had fuel coming out of the injectors with the relay by passed
that was what we were greeted with! so we drained the tank until it was alot clearer and smelt more like petrol! also one of the injectors is faulty, even after trying it with a plug off a working one! after draining some of the bad fuel the car started and i drove it a short distance before it stopped and wouldnt start! i then pushed it back to the garage and drained the entire tank and purchased 20L of fresh petrol but it wouldnt start... i swapped a few fuses and now the heater fans work and the headlights pop up and work!
A new DME relay is on order and currently searching for an injector and fuel filter
that was what we were greeted with! so we drained the tank until it was alot clearer and smelt more like petrol! also one of the injectors is faulty, even after trying it with a plug off a working one! after draining some of the bad fuel the car started and i drove it a short distance before it stopped and wouldnt start! i then pushed it back to the garage and drained the entire tank and purchased 20L of fresh petrol but it wouldnt start... i swapped a few fuses and now the heater fans work and the headlights pop up and work!
A new DME relay is on order and currently searching for an injector and fuel filter
I fitted the new DME relay today and the new second had injector! so we had all four injectors firing fresh fuel! which is probably a good thing when trying to get a car to start...
it still wouldnt start! which was nice so we checked for spark which we had last week as it started briefly! no spark... dad had always thought the clifford alarm was causing issues with the starting and so the wires were traced back from it to where they are spliced in and all removed! we also checked the reference sensors with the mulitmeter and the air flow meter all appear to be working as they should,
after a bit more turning over it finally decided to jump into life! it then was turn off and fired straight back up! i even took it a little drive to the end of the street and reversed back! a little later i decided to run it up to temperature to see if the fan kicks in, the need got to red but no fan, and i noticed the coolant wasnt circulating at all as the header tank was cold, so out came the thermostat to check it!
sat in boiling water from the kettle and nothing! so a new one has been ordered! i put the hose back on the car and filled up the header tank to check the water pump is actually working and not seized... turned the key and it turns over but refused to start! so it was pushed back into the garage until next time!
it still wouldnt start! which was nice so we checked for spark which we had last week as it started briefly! no spark... dad had always thought the clifford alarm was causing issues with the starting and so the wires were traced back from it to where they are spliced in and all removed! we also checked the reference sensors with the mulitmeter and the air flow meter all appear to be working as they should,
after a bit more turning over it finally decided to jump into life! it then was turn off and fired straight back up! i even took it a little drive to the end of the street and reversed back! a little later i decided to run it up to temperature to see if the fan kicks in, the need got to red but no fan, and i noticed the coolant wasnt circulating at all as the header tank was cold, so out came the thermostat to check it!
sat in boiling water from the kettle and nothing! so a new one has been ordered! i put the hose back on the car and filled up the header tank to check the water pump is actually working and not seized... turned the key and it turns over but refused to start! so it was pushed back into the garage until next time!
And here we go again! decided that id start off with a nice simple task and ignore the non starting for now and try to get the fuel gauge working! the gauge has always read close to zero but did move a bit when it was driven the other day, so i figured the gauge is ok and the float is probably sticking on the sender or a loose connection
First job was to remove the tools/spares from the boot
i then pulled back the cover to reveal the top of the sender and the wiring! all attached and looking ok
Sender out and fuel drained out of it, and i could hear the float moving slowly, so i sprayed some brake/clutch cleaner in and turn it upside down and around a few times
once it was all freely moving i checked the resistance against a table i found on the internet and it gave near enough readings for empty and full and slowly changed between the two as the float moved, the terminals were cleaned up and it was re fitted
Battery on a ignition on and the gauge moved to 1/4! result... onto the next job, i was advised to check the wiring to the fuel pump near the fuel filter as it can be corroded etc, i found what i thought was a broken wire but i think its just where sumbody has spliced in previously so i taped it up for now to stop it shorting out
I then cable tied the fuel pump back up out the way as it was hanging loose from when i drained the tank previously
Back under the bonnet and checked for spark by pulling a plug and had a very good spark! right back onto fuel, i took the end off the fuel rail to see if there was fuel to the injectors as we think there may be a pressure problem, a tiny dribble came out so its not holding pressure my next plan was to jump the fuel pump to build pressure up in the rail and try starting the car again, all i got from the fuel pump was a click it wasnt running as it had previously so out it came!
i ran a wire direct from the battery to it and it just clicked so a new one is on order! while i had the hoses clamped and the car in the air i fitted the new fuel filter!
The car has clearly had a bit of fault finding in the past as i have a few spare relays and switches with it so i decide to test a few!
I test the five window switches and a sunroof switch which wasnt fitted, i found that four of the window switches work and one is bad and the sunroof switch is bad, luckily i only need three so i still have a spare!
First job was to remove the tools/spares from the boot
i then pulled back the cover to reveal the top of the sender and the wiring! all attached and looking ok
Sender out and fuel drained out of it, and i could hear the float moving slowly, so i sprayed some brake/clutch cleaner in and turn it upside down and around a few times
once it was all freely moving i checked the resistance against a table i found on the internet and it gave near enough readings for empty and full and slowly changed between the two as the float moved, the terminals were cleaned up and it was re fitted
Battery on a ignition on and the gauge moved to 1/4! result... onto the next job, i was advised to check the wiring to the fuel pump near the fuel filter as it can be corroded etc, i found what i thought was a broken wire but i think its just where sumbody has spliced in previously so i taped it up for now to stop it shorting out
I then cable tied the fuel pump back up out the way as it was hanging loose from when i drained the tank previously
Back under the bonnet and checked for spark by pulling a plug and had a very good spark! right back onto fuel, i took the end off the fuel rail to see if there was fuel to the injectors as we think there may be a pressure problem, a tiny dribble came out so its not holding pressure my next plan was to jump the fuel pump to build pressure up in the rail and try starting the car again, all i got from the fuel pump was a click it wasnt running as it had previously so out it came!
i ran a wire direct from the battery to it and it just clicked so a new one is on order! while i had the hoses clamped and the car in the air i fitted the new fuel filter!
The car has clearly had a bit of fault finding in the past as i have a few spare relays and switches with it so i decide to test a few!
I test the five window switches and a sunroof switch which wasnt fitted, i found that four of the window switches work and one is bad and the sunroof switch is bad, luckily i only need three so i still have a spare!
Small update today! still waiting for the new fuel pump to arrive so nothing on the starting/running front has been done, so it was back to electric problems and we made progress!
First job was the electric windows/mirrors now that i know some of the window switches are ok, plugged in three switches and tried drivers side nothing, so off with the door card, the motor was trying to do sumthing so clearly the mechanism was jammed, i removed the motor and cleaned the mechanism up and freed it off and it worked!
the passenger side would also open from the drivers side but not the passenger side, this was cured by swapping the two switches in the drivers side over as one wasnt sending power to the passenger side!
whilst the door card was off it was very obvious why the electric mirrors do not work, the wires from the switch go nowhere and after removing the mirror it isnt even electric! next up was the sunroof! we checked the fuses and they had power, the switch had power so we checked the motor! this worked manually with a socket so wasnt seized up, next to check was the micro switch which is pressed when sunroof is closed this appeared to work intermittently so was removed and the wires joined as a temp measure and the sunroof mechanism worked perfectly off the switch, the brake lights also did not work which is the switch as when i pulled the plug off it the terminal off the switch came with it, a quick bridge across the plug and they worked fine, i have now ordered more new bits and have sumbody coming to quote the welding on monday!
First job was the electric windows/mirrors now that i know some of the window switches are ok, plugged in three switches and tried drivers side nothing, so off with the door card, the motor was trying to do sumthing so clearly the mechanism was jammed, i removed the motor and cleaned the mechanism up and freed it off and it worked!
the passenger side would also open from the drivers side but not the passenger side, this was cured by swapping the two switches in the drivers side over as one wasnt sending power to the passenger side!
whilst the door card was off it was very obvious why the electric mirrors do not work, the wires from the switch go nowhere and after removing the mirror it isnt even electric! next up was the sunroof! we checked the fuses and they had power, the switch had power so we checked the motor! this worked manually with a socket so wasnt seized up, next to check was the micro switch which is pressed when sunroof is closed this appeared to work intermittently so was removed and the wires joined as a temp measure and the sunroof mechanism worked perfectly off the switch, the brake lights also did not work which is the switch as when i pulled the plug off it the terminal off the switch came with it, a quick bridge across the plug and they worked fine, i have now ordered more new bits and have sumbody coming to quote the welding on monday!
Have been back at it, removed the front seats and carpet to check the extent of the rot! the floor pans and inner cills are sound from what i can tell! which is a relief!
My dad inspecting the worst bit of rot on the car!
The seat runners especially the drivers side were very stiff which made it nearly impossible to get to the bolts to get the seat out! so i removed them from the seats and gave them a clean up and a grease
My dad inspecting the worst bit of rot on the car!
The seat runners especially the drivers side were very stiff which made it nearly impossible to get to the bolts to get the seat out! so i removed them from the seats and gave them a clean up and a grease
New Parts!
gathering parts for the 944! Including
bonnet struts
boot struts
spark plugs
wiper blades all round
brake light switch
sunroof wind deflector hinge
new antivibration mounts for fuel pump bracket
bits of wire! and jubilee clips and nuts!
just waiting on the fuel pump itself, a sun visor clip... Electric window motor and sunroof micro switch were also posted today! and i have it booked in for the rot/fiberglass to be cut out and metal welded in in July!
gathering parts for the 944! Including
bonnet struts
boot struts
spark plugs
wiper blades all round
brake light switch
sunroof wind deflector hinge
new antivibration mounts for fuel pump bracket
bits of wire! and jubilee clips and nuts!
just waiting on the fuel pump itself, a sun visor clip... Electric window motor and sunroof micro switch were also posted today! and i have it booked in for the rot/fiberglass to be cut out and metal welded in in July!
Todays work started with the fuel pump! as you can see in the picture the bracket and old mounts have seen better days! i manged to get some new rubber bobbins off ebay
Fitting it on the car was a bit fiddly but i got there! in the mean time dad replaced some damaged wires where the alarm had been removed
Car started pretty much first turn of the key with the new fuel pump, put fuel pressure gauge on and pressure is good, had it running for a while all got up to temperature and ran ok! fan kicked in when hot! still havnt fitted the new thermostat tho,
A good view from when i was fitting the new brake light switch
new struts fitted to the bonnet and it finally holds itself up, i left the ones for the boot as i need to take the catches and boot lock off and unseize them and grease them
After running for a while i turned it off and it refuses to start now! it has fuel and spark so god knows whats wrong
Fitting it on the car was a bit fiddly but i got there! in the mean time dad replaced some damaged wires where the alarm had been removed
Car started pretty much first turn of the key with the new fuel pump, put fuel pressure gauge on and pressure is good, had it running for a while all got up to temperature and ran ok! fan kicked in when hot! still havnt fitted the new thermostat tho,
A good view from when i was fitting the new brake light switch
new struts fitted to the bonnet and it finally holds itself up, i left the ones for the boot as i need to take the catches and boot lock off and unseize them and grease them
After running for a while i turned it off and it refuses to start now! it has fuel and spark so god knows whats wrong
Small update today! mainly fault finding and repairing wiring as im still waiting for some new engine sensors to be delivered
The car is still awaiting a wash! which might happen this afternoon
I removed the passenger door card to check the wiring to the electric mirrors as it wasnt wired up on the drivers side which i believe sends a feed to the passenger side! luckily the wiring is all there and intact so can be tested once we have made a loom for the drivers side
One of the issues i have noticed is the horn wasnt working, i thought it could be down the aftermarket and nasty looking steering wheel and push horn but the relay was clicking when the horn button was pressed, i went under the car and removed the wires to the horns and when pressed we have 12v feed to both horns, so these are off to the bin!
One thing that has bothered me about the car is the state of the wipers that can be seen in the first picture! i have new blades to go on so took to arms off gave them a clean up with a cup brush to get rid of the rust spots and gave them a coat of etch primer and then paint
the rear hatch mecanism has also been stripped as the boot lock is seized, some new anti vibration mounts are on order for the sunroof motor as they had perished and came apart, i checked the washer motor works which it does but there is a leak from the headlight washers when they run! so that will be investigated!
The car is still awaiting a wash! which might happen this afternoon
I removed the passenger door card to check the wiring to the electric mirrors as it wasnt wired up on the drivers side which i believe sends a feed to the passenger side! luckily the wiring is all there and intact so can be tested once we have made a loom for the drivers side
One of the issues i have noticed is the horn wasnt working, i thought it could be down the aftermarket and nasty looking steering wheel and push horn but the relay was clicking when the horn button was pressed, i went under the car and removed the wires to the horns and when pressed we have 12v feed to both horns, so these are off to the bin!
One thing that has bothered me about the car is the state of the wipers that can be seen in the first picture! i have new blades to go on so took to arms off gave them a clean up with a cup brush to get rid of the rust spots and gave them a coat of etch primer and then paint
the rear hatch mecanism has also been stripped as the boot lock is seized, some new anti vibration mounts are on order for the sunroof motor as they had perished and came apart, i checked the washer motor works which it does but there is a leak from the headlight washers when they run! so that will be investigated!
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