Zermatt Silver repairs

[TheSecondChris]

I'm doing some repairs on my 84 944 NA. I removed the fuel rail, intake manifold, and AOS. It's great to have access to the top of the head and side of block to do some cleaning. The primary reason for this work was to create access to my leaky heater valve located up against the firewall. I've replaced that valve and I'm glad that I didn't attempt this w/o removing the intake manifold.

My AOS was really oily despite having newish upper and lower seals. I think the issue was that the cap/lid area was leaking (not the oil filler cap). After struggling for a while I was able to remove the cap, but it's not easy releasing those six locking tabs. I did crack the cap a little bit, but only around the non-sealing edge, so I hope it will be OK. I'll install a new Oring and hope for success. It would be nice if this cap was a separate part number from the AOS that could be ordered new since it's pretty hard to remove in a completely non-destructive fashion.

Is there a suitable heat/oil resistant plastic epoxy that might work well on this component if needed?

[TheSecondChris]

I got the cap off of the AOS and the replacement seal I purchased is a great fit. The black one has become flattened and measures 2mm thick while the new red ring is 2.5mm thick and should provide a better seal



I'm sending out the injectors for service too.

[TheSecondChris]

Sorry that it seems I'm always asking the same basic question - 'what goes here?'

This is the driver's side of the block and I removed the AOS. I don't remember removing anything from the mounting boss to the left of the lower AOS mount, which suggests that something is missing. Perhaps a previous owner removed a bracket of some kind and didn't replace. If you have any insights, thanks in advance.

[mytrplseven]

Clean part with acetone and then use JB Weld.

[TheSecondChris]

Here's another: What connects to the projection off the AAV bracket? I've looked at a lot of photos and videos of engine work but haven't seen anything bolted into this 90deg threaded projection.

[pfarah]

Hey Chris, that hole is where one of the pink cable harness clips goes...

[TheSecondChris]

Thanks Patrick! Well, true to form, a previous owner removed and didn't replace that little L shaped bracket for the pink cable clip. With all these missing pieces everywhere, sometimes I think that someone started working on this car in the daytime and decided to put everything back together at night without using any lighting.

Anyway, the part of the bracket I'm asking about is the area I've circled in red here. From what I can see it looks like it's not used on your car.

[jjeffries]

Chris, great to see this thread. In regards to your AAV, I’m no help because my 924S doesn’t have one. You’re definitely doing the right thing to remote the intake manifold and replace all those hoses. And to provide access to the nasty little fecker that is the heater control valve; I may have to go back and redo mine because it isn’t fully closing.

If you didn’t do the heater valve yet, the advice to tie a 12-18” length of dental floss to the spring Borden cable retention clip first is worth following … dropping it will therefore not mean losing it.

John

[TheSecondChris]

I finished the heater valve last week. Funny, I did exactly that with the little clip and couldn't decide if the dental floss was my own idea or if I had read about it somewhere. That valve is in a strange position up against the firewall and I can see why they relocated it in later years.

The fiberglass insulating material on the firewall is peeling away in places and the foil surface is crumbling. It would be nice to repair it, but not going to bother at this point.

[TheSecondChris]

One of these days I'm going to make a list of all the missing pieces I've found and replaced throughout the car. I get it that little parts sometimes disappear or break during repair jobs and you have to decide whether to spend 45 minutes hunting for a doo-dad or just reassemble w/o since it's a non-essential component. But in the case of the previous owners of my car, it is baffling to me how so many brackets, clamps, screws, and trim pieces didn't make it back onto the vehicle.

While I've had the intake manifold removed along with the AOS, I've found two more missing pieces. Thanks to the photo below previously posted by silverlined (see below), I can see I'm missing the cable clamp for the main wiring harness that attaches to the rearmost bolt of the AOS.



I'm also missing the small intake manifold support bracket (#2). However it's still available new from Porsche for under $10, which is cool. The puzzling thing to me is that to remove that tiny bracket you need to remove the large bolt on the top of the engine carrier. There is some evidence this was done since the bolts have corrosion around the head from where I suppose the plating was worn away. Why would you do that? I know the motor mounts were replaced a few times but thought the method is to reach them from below. However, is unbolting the carrier from the block a different method to replace them? Why would someone remove the driver's side carrier?



Finally, I was re-watching some videos by my favorite Porsche youtuber Edredas and he showed how there's a small hole in the AOS between the oil filler and the swirl tube. He explained that a zip tie runs through the hole so the filler neck portion of the AOS can be used to support the engine harness. So, if you've seen that small hole before and wondered about its purpose, well there you go.

[jjeffries]

I agree that edredas makes truly helpful videos and was clearly gifted with the ability to teach.

John

[TheSecondChris]

I had my injectors refurbished by Marren fuel injection in Oxford, CT. They look great!

[jjeffries]

Good to see Marren’s work. They are a few bucks more than other providers but … they’ve painted them where those other shops don’t, and unpainted they quickly rust. So a good value, I’d say. And … supporting a Connecticut shop.

John

[pfarah]

Hey Chris,
I don't remember what that bracket secures to and I can't find any pictures of it... Sorry. I take some more detailed shots the next time I have to remove the intake manifold...
Patrick

[jjeffries]

When I pulled the seized motor in my 924S (to get the gas tank out … ), I made the mistake (IMO, and with hindsight) of following Clark’s manual. Why was it regrettable? Because he has you pull the engine harness with the motor, and this 924/44 first timer, who took lots of photos beforehand, routing that harness when I put the (replacement) motor back in was surprisingly difficult.

Afterwards, one of the Wise Men on this board confirmed I’d done it the hard way. And that highlights one of the things I’ve learned about how I like to do things: that with time and experience, I strive to be able to understand what I’m doing such that step by step procedures are less and less necessary. Maybe the ratio of when we can figure something out versus having to look it up, or ask for help, is a measure of our competence? I’m probably at about 60/40 now. But that’s not taking into account stuff like gearbox internals!

JohnJ

[TheSecondChris]

I recently completed some work and car is running better than ever. I removed the intake manifold to do some repairs and cleaning. The primary motivation was to remove intake to improve access to the leaky heater valve, which I was able to replace.

With the intake removed I was able to also replace all three seals in the AOS and have the injectors professionally cleaned. I tightened hose clamps and checked all the vacuum hoses and the only one that was cracked was the expensive "J" shaped hose, which I replaced. I reassembled with new intake gaskets and 8 new bolts since a few of them were somehow bent by the previous owner.

One thing that made me happy was remedying something that had bothered me for two years: I re-installed the fuel rail with the injectors in the correct orientation. The last person to install the injectors placed them 180 deg. wrong which made it impossible to install a fuel rail cover and interfered with placing the ignition wires into the retaining clips. I took a picture of this pre-repair.



With temperatures now in the 40s and below, I've been seeing the Low Oil Pressure light take an extra second to go out after startup. Since I use the car all winter during freezing temperatures I dumped my 20W50 in favor of something lighter at startup.

[SilverLined]

Nice job, Chris. Feels good to remedy poor work; your car thanks you!

[OK-944]

About your motor mount reference...I replaced mine from the top, which is actually pretty easy, and in my case made sense since I'd also removed the headers as one section needed a crack welded.

The thing about engine wire routing is that there are almost no references to the specifics of this (if anyone know otherwise please let us know!)...so it becomes absolutely essential to take photos as you disassemble stuff. Of course, this assumes that whomever was in there before you actually did it right!

When I did my rebuild I got a bit lazy with taking photos...and ended up with lots of brackets and clamps needing to go places - but where? For example, I actually ended up routing my alternator to starter wiring around the side of the engine - when it should actually go up and under the intake manifold. Also, re-routing correctly can be a real PITA once everything is assembled. So again...take lots of pix!

[TheSecondChris]

I feel pretty lucky that since owning the car it has always started easily and had a steady idle. I've noticed, however, that the cold idle is below 1000 rpm while the warm idle is closer to 1200 rpm. I was confident that this would be resolved whenever I got around to inspecting and replacing leaky hoses and seals under the intake manifold. Well, after replacing seals and hoses my warm idle is still well above 1000 rpm.

One component I didn't check or clean is the AAV. I know this valve "could" get dirty and not open/close as it should but I didn't think this was too likely. I've read about the procedure for testing the component by putting it into the freezer and then seeing if the valve opens while 12V is applied. I've replaced several idle valves on other cars in the past and I don't think this ever did much to improve the idle issue I was troubleshooting, so I'm trying to learn from experience. These valves seem like an easy target, but how often are these early 2 wire valves the culprit?

I'm also considering replacing the DME temperature sensor. From what I've read these are often condemned because they are cheap and easy to swap but when the old sensor is tested it's found to be within specs. So, no actual benefit is realized here.

[TheSecondChris]

I've been using my car in sub-freezing temperatures typical to New England winters ~ 20F or 30F. The car is in an unheated garage, so cold start temperature is close to outside temperature but maybe a few degrees warmer.

Immediately after startup, I notice that it's hard to get into gear. Before I'm able to move out of the garage, I need to gently go into 3rd, then 4th and eventually I can engage the reverse gear to get out of the garage. For the first 10 minutes or so, it's tricky to get into first gear, but this continually improves.

Is this cold weather stiffness something that could be improved with a different transmission fluid or could it be a function of hard rubber bits on the shifter linkage?