Most Annoying/Frustrating/Maddening Design/Assembly Feature of 924/44/68 Family?
 

This idea just came to me. Please add yours, we'll likely learn something as the Sages in our midst laugh then tell us a solution or three.

I suppose an alternative title for this thread could be "List the Reasons there are so many dead 4 cylinder transaxle Porsches in gas station parking lots"

Here's mine:

The fact that you have to go under the dash to disconnect the ECU wiring harness in order to pull the motor, THEN WORSE, when you try to reinstall your car's engine, you have to go back in there to guide the sumbeetch back thru the firewall.

You must have your own favorites? Please post some, if only from the Misery Loves Company angle.

cheers,
John

The worst for me was changing relays & fuses on my 83-944 ....you got to be a Pretzel with arm has long as a gorilla & fingers like a Fairy ,was glad when I got my 968.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat3.gif:D

The Fritz who designed the distributor cap fasteners should be shot as should the Hans who chose the adhesive for the rear hatch glass.

Rubber center clutch disk, Auto trans flex damper, 968 DMF. I suppose the DMF is common these days but I still don't care for it.

AC low side port down by the compressor. Thanks for that.

Timing belts for the turbo car, pain in the kazoo. Access to the clutch. Turbo location., getting to the alternator on the 951, guage issues, the rubber hockey puck dampener on the clutch, noisey rear ends. But you know, its the nature of the beast, Im pleased with the cars performance, its looks, and its life span, it seems to keep on ticking. Great exotic sports cars. I think if somebody has issues that turn violent against a designer, they might need to sell their car and buy a Toyota. Porsche kick butt! Great entry level car!

It's way easier to unhook the harness from the engine And leave the wiring in the car...i don't know why people **** around trying to pull the harness from the chassis.

The distributor cap fasteners are easy if you get a 6" screwdriver and bend the shaft 90 degrees.

I think it's silly that they used a pull type clutch (pita) and a tiny baby miniscule radiator (944 rad is same overall dimension as first gen Golf).

The early fuse panel is terrible.

But my biggest gripe is that Porsche used an AFM when MAF technology existed already... the cars could have been so much better had they spent the bucks.

V2: I did that because Clark’s instructions were written thusly. Other items I’ve thought through and done my own way but this wasn’t one. Your sentiment is a bit like how I feel when people use Navi, going via some preposterous route because they didn’t (wouldn’t? couldn’t?) read a map, and/or have any sense of direction. If I do this again I’ll know better, but it’s good you’ve pointed out a better way ... as I wrote up top, that kind of feedback was a goal ... in addition to just venting.

Thanks, John

I've found that Clark's instructions occasionally omit some key info. I don't mind, as it keeps me honest, and reminds me not to take the wealth of information he did provide for granted.

Case in point, the early dash removal job. This is a fiddly one, and there are lots of mystery bolts. Most are found with little effort, as they're logically placed. Except for one stupid screw. This is where a tip would've helped, and likely saved many a trim piece...

In their infinite wisdom, Porsche engineers decided abandon the top pre-molded screw-hole in the A-pillar trim pieces, whilst using the middle and bottom ones. This is confusing for a first-timer, as most will assume that the "missing" screw head had been sheared off/lost in the past, and glue or butyl had been used to put it back together. In fact, there is a screw in there, somewhere (look up and in, and dig around). You may get lucky and find it, or you'll see it after you've bent and warped your original trim piece beyond repair.

So for me, the hack-job factory placement of the top screw of the A-pillar trim makes the list!

Fantastic Response! I hate the lower dist cap fastener, and the adhesive for the glass lasted a really long time, but it is amazing that after all the improvements in adhesives that there isn't a good solution.

My other gripe is that you cannot swap the torsion bars or adjust them if they are a tooth off without lowering the rear suspension from the car!

Or that welded on Nose panel between the headlights on the early cars. Why wouldn't a piece like that bolt on when the majority of accidents are to the front of a car? At least they changed it to a bolt on piece later in production.

The idiot who decided to place the AC hardline connection at the firewall right behind the cam box/head. To swap that line requires 8 inch fingers with 12 joints or pulling the engine/head.

They could have moved it 5 inches toward the drivers side and had plenty of room but no, they had to put it in a spot that is inaccessible.

The fuel lines running directly above the red hot exhaust header! Brilliant!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...hotbounce2.gif



Yes, of all the dumb ideas, that one has probably killed more 944's than any other.

don't get me started ....

all of the above plus some, but my mind is protecting me from those horrific memories....

but then I get in my modified 951 and take to the back roads and all is forgotten.

I never heard of any 944's blowing up due to fuel line placement. I seen Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Honda, tesla and other cars burning to do electrical issues, but no Porsche 944 issues, Interesting..

Not the best choice for fuel line placement...but from where I sit - it seems that problems only arise when these lines get old and start to crack, and/or when older lines get twisted about during removal and re-installation and develop cracks in the process, and/or get reinstalled incorrectly. Proper insulation is also a good idea - although, ironically, it is this insulation which can sometimes hide underlying cracks in older lines. Probably not a good idea to even think about re-installing thirty plus year old fuel lines (especially those in the engine bay)...just bite the bullet and install new ones!

oh...yeah - gripes. Here's one - that tiny nut on the upper left rear of the alternator rear cover...locating and reaching this from underneath? - grrrr! And what about that upper left torque tube to bell housing bolt? - aaarrrgghh! The serious lack of front of engine clearance - getting that drive shaft to disengage/re-engage with the pilot bearing...especially painful when attempting a single handed engine removal/installation? - ouch! Not sure if any of these are design "flaws" - but PIA's nonetheless!

Old fuel lines and cracked fuel rails have claimed hundreds of 944s over the years.

This pics tell it all about owning a 944http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat3.gifhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1604434225.jpg

Oil filter changing mess. What a joke!

This. I have both a 924S and a 968. Both should have the rear hatch frames re-done. Nobody around Seattle can or will do it. And I certainly don't want to.

What was that original adhesive? Do we know?

The hatch frame needs redesigned. It needs a stiffener where the bend on the side is as this tends to straighten out over time, causing it to pull away or separate at the top. Once it bends it won't go back to the original shape.

It is what makes it a 944. All of the footbox room inside is because the tranny is at the rear, and there is no tranny hump, and the engine is pushed back into the firewall providing 50/50 weight balance.

Compare it to a beemer with the front tranny. No leg room for one...

Noting all the complaints, and have experienced many of them myself, I'm happy I have one! After quite a few 924 Turbos with various stages of decomposition, and rebuilding, three 924S cars, an '83 944 track car, my 'last' P-car is the best, a 1989 944 turbo. Think about the MSRP on this car back in the day. Never in my wildest dreams would I have been able to afford it back then. The perspective, is that now I can, and the idiosyncrasies of working on these cars is not that big of a deal for me.

Flip side; 944 NA has about the easiest injectors and spark plugs to swap, out of any car I've owned.
Took me maybe 5 minutes to swap all 4 injectors and check plugs yesterday.

Grendiers, I know enough than an 89 951 is pretty special, good for you, super cool. As noted in a different thread, I had an 89 S2 in 1996-7. It was a recent, totally civilized and exciting and generally UFB to me, I felt like James Bond.
V2, I like the factory spark plug tool. (Old/classic) Alfa’s are good in the same ways.
John

Just discovered (as per my earlier post) that my '87NA has a dead strut.

Why, oh why...did they change out the struts so that later cars cannot allow for a simple swap-out of inserts? Something that was so easy, sensible, and cost-effective on my previous 85.5 is now next to impossible with my current '87, and its starting to look like its gonna cost me a bundle!

oh yes...another thing - why the "automatic" timing belt tensioner? Probably designed to shorten service-time in automotive shops (allowing them to charge a full hour for fifteen minutes as opposed to a full hour for a full hour?)

But for us DIY folks I'm not so sure. (kind of ironic how I'd originally thought that the "automatic" tensioner was designed to keep the t-belt continuously adjusted!)

As it was - I found myself needing to give the tensioner a bit of a kick over in addition to its existing spring pressure to achieve the proper amount of tension...likely due to the 33 year old spring's having softened a bit.

So...I took the tensioner apart and re adjusted the spring. Very easy to do actually, and now it seems to "pre-set" the tension with good accuracy. Still and all...I miss the old manual tensioner - much simpler mechanism and much easier to work around with belt changes.

When you want to know why Porsche (or any manufacturer) does something stupid, the answer is "Money."

As usual, George is right!
John

Early vs late control arms are another example of this!

Integrating a tension setting widget was probably done to reduce the number of call-backs and warranty repairs on cars where the tech did not bother to get out the 9201. Too tight wrecking the water pump, too loose and jumping time after run-in.

The balance shaft is noisy as heck when too tight so it's pretty obvious.

I think my 1983 Supra had a spring for setting timing belt tension also. I am surprised they did not do more to idiot-proof the balance belt setup though.
-Joel.

koni makes a replacement cartridge, cut off the top of strut housing, pull out old and drop in the new. have to drill a hole in bottom of strutt to bolt in the koni. did this on my 87 944S

How the hell did you fit in there? Chicken legs? ;)No way anybody can fit in a turbo 944 engine bay, unless the engine was out. LOL!

Never heard of it? Recall? I have a 951 and no leaks? Pops owned a 84 944 and he had no issues, those cars must have been ragged out.

Not at all, this is a common issue and cause of fires. If you are running original fuel lines and have no issues so far, trust me you will and it won’t end well. Old fuel rails (and also oil pick up tubes) do crack but usually if other things increase vibration in the engine such as using non-Porsche motor mounts or balance belts slightly off.

Nope, it's been a problem for 20+ years just due to age of the hoses primarily.
12 years ago I was doing a lot of work for a local 944 guy fixing what another shop had...un-fixed.

We discovered a crack in the fuel rail one day so he ordered the whole shebang Lindsey Racing fuel rail kit...I was going to install it the following Monday.

On Sunday the guy tried to drive to the carwash (maybe 1 mile from his apartment) and the car burned to the ground.

On my 87 924S project, I’ve replaced all the lines with any rubber in them, plus all the rubber vent hoses. I had not realized the injector rail was also a risk factor; for a safe and non-self immolating car, is it a smart move to replace it? Or are there places on it to inspect? Do we know where they usually fail?

Thanks, John

Typically the stress cracks happen at the joints where the "legs" that bolt to the intake manifold/cam tower are brazed to the tube.

I have observed it to be a bigger issue on late cars than early cars; I can only guess that the late FR with slotted holes on the cam tower side allows more slop in fitment/vibration than the fixed-location early rails with round holes.

Much appreciated V2.

John

Early cars suffer from this as well; that's exactly what happened on my '84. The leg going to the damper developed a crack at the rail. I had it re-brazed, and had them do the other junctions as well, for good measure. Caught it when it was still a drip, but it had been at it a while!