Been a long, long time

[Rob-O]

Well over a decade since I’ve been on the board. But I’ve still been in the Porsche world. I was caught up in my 914, which is close to being done as a restoration project.

Sooo...what did I do? Pick up another project of course. I just added an ‘86 944 Turbo. When I checked it out I realized it was pretty rough. It seemed to run okay (I used to own an ‘87 944 S back in the mid 90’s so I’m at least familiar to what 944’s sound like). But the clutch pedal went to the floor when depressing it. Guy thought it “had to be the clutch...or the clutch cable”. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that 944’s don’t have clutch cables.

Anyhow, I get the car towed home and it won’t start. I put a new battery in it but still no go. The car turns over but won’t start. So down to basics...air, fuel, spark.

I didn’t hear the fuel pump running, so I checked the DME relay. It checked out fine but still no fuel pump. I built and installed a jumper and can hear the pump running now. Still no start. So now I’m thinking spark. I checked the coil, plug was disconnected! Plugged it back in but no start. Checked plug wires in correct order. All good there. Distributor cap was installed incorrectly. Fixed that but still no start. Looked at the sensors on the flywheel, they look okay, which doesn’t mean much. It looks like the connectors fell apart and someone did a repair and ran it straight to the DME.

I pulled the DME and looked inside. I didn’t see anything obvious but it didn’t look great in there. My plan is to check the wire repairs to the sensors. Is there anything else I’m missing before I blame this all on the DME box?

Car is below...after it’s running I’ll get the clutch sorted. Then a water pump and timing belt. Then brakes and then those wheels. Man those wheels are ugly...

[Rob-O]

[IdahoDoug]

Ah my eyes!!!! Heh - I have nothing productive to say about the DME other than to do the diag tests on it, but I had to make a smart aleck comment on the wheels.

The 914 is gorgeous. Every year that "nothing like it at all" shape looks cooler and cooler.

Doug

[Rob-O]

Ha, yup the wheels gotta go. They’re MSW wheels and are missing the center caps...not that center caps would help visually.

[djnolan]

Use the procedure on Clarks to diag the no-start. Regarding the sensors, are you getting tach bounce?

[Rob-O]

I’ll take a look at Clark’s page.

I just went out and checked, no tach bounce. What does that signify, exactly?

[grendiers]

Sensors not working

[PHillary]

The wheels would be pretty bad ass if you cleaned them up put the center caps back on and painted/powder coated them gold or white. Then you would be feeling them....I think white rims on the red body you have would be killer in that old BBS look alike style.

[PHillary]

Do you see what I mean....?

[Rob-O]

Well, I ‘kinda’ like BBS wheels (I liked them more back in the 80’s!!) but I don’t think the MSW wheels will ever ilook that good. I saw a pic of them here a few days ago while searching the Internet. Also, I think the center caps will be ultra tough to find.

If I can find the original phone dials I may go that route. But those are tough to find as well because of the 1986 offset. Cup 1, Cup 2 and certain Boxster rims in 17 are a possibility. That’s a ways down the road though. I e got lots of other stuff to get ironed out first!

Still no start!

[campbelljj]

I would also consider the factory alarm system if it has such as that will disable ignition and present with no start condition. My 88 presented a no start suddenly last year and it was the alarm. I jumped per forum instructions and it started immediately. Also Clark’s is a good resource for that as well as this forum.

[Rob-O]

Thanks for the tip. No factory (or aftermarket for that matter) alarm on the car.

I checked the sensors per Clark’s page and they appear to be good. They look fairly new. They’re connected but it looks like someone cut the factory wires and spliced in new wires that go directly to the DME. Next step is to make sure I have continuity for both sensors where the DME wiring harness plugs into the DME. Personally I’m leaning towards DME. I opened the box a few days ago (and there was evidence it had been opened several times before) and the inside just looked like it could use some help.

Would love to find a DME to borrow here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to verify, but that’s a long shot.

[Spring44]

Originally Posted by Rob-O

Would love to find a DME to borrow here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to verify, but that’s a long shot.

Do you know of Zim's Autotechnik up in the Hurst-Bedford area? They are a great parts supplier and have a workshop too.

[Rob-O]

Yup, I know Zim’s. Have already been by several times to get parts for this project. Good guys over there.

[1blk968]

Originally Posted by Rob-O

Thanks for the tip. No factory (or aftermarket for that matter) alarm on the car.

I checked the sensors per Clark’s page and they appear to be good. They look fairly new. They’re connected but it looks like someone cut the factory wires and spliced in new wires that go directly to the DME. Next step is to make sure I have continuity for both sensors where the DME wiring harness plugs into the DME. Personally I’m leaning towards DME. I opened the box a few days ago (and there was evidence it had been opened several times before) and the inside just looked like it could use some help.

Would love to find a DME to borrow here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to verify, but that’s a long shot.

I went through quite an ordeal with my 951 for a no-start issue. Finally took it to a shop and they confirmed the DME was bad. I sent both the DME and KLR to ECU Doctor in Florida and they said both were bad. $900 later the car starts fine! But you could just send yours out for testing.

Nice looking car, though would have to agree the wheels aren't the best looking. To me, an 86 951 in red with the one-year-only 16" deep dish phone dials is the perfect looking stock turbo. I have a pair of the hard to find 8" rears if you're interested, though probably a low priority at the moment. Good luck with the car!

Oh by the way, my 87 with Boxster wheels:
[IMG]20180923_081139 by Jeremy Mayne, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Rob-O]

Yeah I’ve narrowed it down to the DME/KLR. I have a few questions for the fTech9 guys (like why I might need or want a 28 pin chip connector instead of the stock 26 pin connector) and then I’ll probably go that route. I’ll keep thing stick for the most part, but I think I’ll override the stock part for the fTech DME.

I will keep the 8”x16” phone dials in mind. I still have a little research to do but I’m leaning towards the phone dials. If I go later rims I’ll need to get spacers. Just an added cost I’ll need to factor in. I’ll be doing the brakes soon and rotors will be a part of that equation. Not sure if I can add later rotors to an early Turbo and end up with the later offset. Or if rotors and calipers and ? Would need to be replaced too.

I like your 951. Is that a stock color?

[1blk968]

Originally Posted by Rob-O

Yeah I’ve narrowed it down to the DME/KLR. I have a few questions for the fTech9 guys (like why I might need or want a 28 pin chip connector instead of the stock 26 pin connector) and then I’ll probably go that route. I’ll keep thing stick for the most part, but I think I’ll override the stock part for the fTech DME.

I will keep the 8”x16” phone dials in mind. I still have a little research to do but I’m leaning towards the phone dials. If I go later rims I’ll need to get spacers. Just an added cost I’ll need to factor in. I’ll be doing the brakes soon and rotors will be a part of that equation. Not sure if I can add later rotors to an early Turbo and end up with the later offset. Or if rotors and calipers and ? Would need to be replaced too.

I like your 951. Is that a stock color?

Thanks. The color is Nautic Blue, fairly uncommon factory color.