My new 944

[Monkey Wrench]

Hello new friends
I just bought a 1985 944. Previous owner was a friend and he had it for a while. He’d had trouble starting it for some unknown reason maybe just a relay or fuel pump
It sat for more time ( years) and the gas started leaking from under around where the fuel pump is , he caught the gas until it stopped. I had it towed home.

Guards Red and not fuel injected. Im used to working on old Volvos so it seems a lot of the electrical has similarities. I’ll need to learn more about the fuel injection and how the basic computer functions but it seems not too over complicated which I like.

The back bumper is pushed in a bit, the end caps got damaged and at least one bumper shock is pushed in. He removed the back wiper motor and I’ll put that back. The shocks are weak so they don’t hold the window up , that’s easy.

Couple of minor dings but it’s good for not being rusty and it rains a lot here in Vancouver BC it had some moss growing in the passenger floor but no mushrooms yet battery box was not rusty or the tire wells.

The sunroof will tip up at the back under motor but if I just put my finger under the edge I can just lift it maybe tgat should lock

Headlights won’t open but I’ll check if there is power to the motor , bad relay maybe.

The hood badge was swiped at some point. I’d like to fix that . is the 944 badge the same or different from other models ?

Will the gas tank be plastic or metal and are others seeing them fail and leak?
I’ll get under for a good lock I’m just moving stuff around now, making room for the new baby.

I’m planning to change all the fluids and the timing belt and counterbalance belts

Fuel filter and both fuel pumps? One in the tank with a screen that dissentegrates maybe ? I guess I need a screen or filter for the transaxle
It looks bit greasy I’ll clean it and see if it leaks

I want ti hit in the main stuff that will cause a failure and just replace the stuff I need to get it reasonably reliable before I try driving it. I appreciate suggestions, I can do a compression check I guess I though maybe I should do that with oil first and not dry since it’s been parked . I gave it a little click it’s not seized but it sat so shoukd check if the timing belts are good before I try to start it.

I assume I might need to check wheel bearings maybe disassemble and clean the starter and alternator

Water pump ? I’m not sure it’s about 127,000 mikes I think , if it’s in mikes and not KM it shows both in the speedo.

He included some body trim that fits down over the rocker panels makes it look lower at the sides. said it was a bit broken but it’s mostly intact. He took it off I don’t know if I should try to fix that or just leave it no rush anyway. Most others I see in pics don’t seem to have that trim would it be an option ?

I like that it’s fairly simple and looks like it will handle nicely
The power will be greater than I’m used to with a Volvo and I’m happy that I don’t need to rebuild a turbo or worry about that stuff for now.
He said second gear synchro is a bit rough so maybe I need to change the synchromesh or what have done before is just time myself take it easy and shift nicer
and double clutch going down, and I’ve sort of worn them back in that way, if it’s not too bad. I’ll see if the oil is full of metal

I did not get the key for the wheel nuts can I break them off somehow if that becomes a problem ?

Tires are old but no miles I can’t decide if they are unsafe I can spend in that later after at least a test run, but I have seen old tires with good treads still rip the sidewalks right out before and that’s dangerous.

I’m not an auto mechanic I’m a millwright and I like to tinker with my own cars I don’t usually go see auto mechanics unless I’m really stuck, it seems like a good choice because it looks fun and I kind of have an appreciation for cars that aren’t over complicated. It looks easy to get to most things but I say that never having changed a Porsche clutch and I may see that job.

Volvo was good that way originally so I liked them and owned lots through the redblock phases . 122 , 240’s and 740’s at some point they went all overboard with gizmos so I lost interest in fixing all that. I never owned a car that had antilock brakes or airbags

I just have a yard and no garage I get by with car tents for now but at least I can tinker with it out in the back yard.

[originalowner]

First thing you need to know is that you have an early 85, sometimes referred to as an 85.1 or a square dash car. There was a mid-model year shift which redesigned many parts of the car, notably the electrical system and HVAC system, and the dash. These are called late 85, 85.2, 85.5 or oval dash cars. If you are buying parts, it's often just easier to say you have an '84. They are nearly identical.

Your car is most definitely fuel injected.

Start getting familiar with the shop manual portion of clarks-garage.com

Welcome to the club.

[mistertate]

Great find. The steering feel on the early cars is better.
You can do all the stuff you mentioned. The galvanized body does well in Vancouver but it would be good to cover because of possible leaks from the moonroof.
The factory lug locks can have the top popped off with a pry bar, then they come off as normal.

[Fast Freddy 944]

Looks like leroy has your front porsche emblem! lol! Man, that engine is corroded. Time to jazz it up.

[djnolan]

if you want to turn it into a keeper then replace rotted rubber first once the timing belt checks out:
fuel lines (fire hazard)
radiator hoses (overheat hazard)
front engine seals (oil leaks)
the large vacuum lines (rough idle)
power steering lines (oil leaks)

[dstudeba]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench

Will the gas tank be plastic or metal and are others seeing them fail and leak?

Metal. Rust on the inside is a problem. I have also seen reports of cracks and weak points. 85.2s are plastic.

[Monkey Wrench]

Thanks Guys. I was confused if it was early or late 85 so that helped a lot.

I had a car tent that had a wood pile in it and I spent a couple of weeks reorganizing that and made sort of a floor from a bunch of planks and tarpaper so I am not lying in gravel and looking for bolts I dropped.

Ill get he back up on blocks, remove the back bumper to see whats damaged there. I think I need the back bumper shocks , would they be different if it's a turbo model? I got some end caps for the bumper not the best shape but perhaps saveable with some repainting etc.

Ill find the cause of the fuel leak, maybe I have to pull stuff apart to get that out, but I'll find out. I suspect the fuel pump and figured I should just change that. I know it didn't stop with a bang or blow a head gasket, he said second gear synchro was a bit rough, Ill have to drive it to see. I might just be able to baby it and doubleclutch down into second. changing the synchromesh sounds like a lot of work.

no doubt Ill need to replace any rubber parts hoses belts etc. tires are new but cracking on the sidewalls, so I dont trust them, ok just for a test, not for highway speeds. are tires hard to find or is it a common size?

I thought I'd do the timing belt and balance belt and maybe the experienced guys can advise. should I also do the water pump or the seals behind those belts? what else? in a volvo the seals are easy I just use basically a screw driven in and pull out the seal and it's location behind those belts makes sense to do along with the belts. It also appears Ill be near the waterpump and I know they can fail suddenly on other cars so I'm contemplating that, rad hoses and other belts are easy to change after i get it out for a test run. I'll do a good rad flush. i have a spare new thermostat.

on old volvos of this age they have a flame trap, It basically traps crap from the crankcase and it can plug. when those plug up then the crankcase pressure goes up and increased pressure can cause those seals under the cam and balancer shaft to push themselves out and then leak oil, if you are very unlucky so can the rear seal and thats engine or trans removal.
I have one that wants to push it's dipstick out which is a sign of that. I don't know if the porsche has that issue.


the aluminum corrosion looks bad , It'll feel good to clean all that up. its a blessing in disguise because it wasn't driven for the last dozen years or so. I'm sure the gremlins accumulated but at least it's not too worn out.
we figured the mileage is about 27 K and it only seemed to have up to 100 K before running out of numbers, so it probably wrapped once. It has both K and MPH on the speedo,, would the mileage clock be in KM or miles? I dont know if the odometer runs. a lot of volvos have that issue with stripped plastic gears for the odometer and trip counter, seems Porsche can have that issue too. I can live with out that if it's stuck.

i was suprised it has speed control and it has the parts, it was unplugged, Ill leave it like that for now. I find it just makes a car want to drive beside someone else on the highway and normally I avoid driving right beside other cars, if avoidable. nice to be able to lift up you lead foot to move it around on a long drive ;-)

i dont think it has a prepump in the tank so I guess I should just change the pump and fuel filter.

on volvos of this age they have a prepump and a fine plastic mesh screen inside the tank, the screen tends to break up with age. is there a plastic screen in the tank with the fuel guage and pickup? ? Ive seen similar in the water bottle for the windshield.. maybe alcohol rots the plastic after some years.

the timing and counterbalance belts seemed to range in price form about 10 bucks to 100 bucks for a performance one. I figured something I can recognize like Gates might be ok ?

I guess i can examine the rollers. . I was thinking maybe that bolt should be replaced if it might break. i dont know if it's a fastener designed to be used only once or just a normal bolt, maybe socket head cap screw.

the guy I got it from said when he bought it the belt was changed, he figured it should be ok but I dont trust it even to start the car after it sat so long.


I want to do the basics to drive it and know it better and then go spending on the bits it needs like rubber parts maybe motor mounts which seem pricey, tranny mount, molded hoses maybe the intake manifold gasket? rocker cover gasket is a given, plugs distributor cap and rotor maybe. once it fires up I can do a compression check. likely it needs the suspension bushings and maybe I can use cheaper and stiffer polyurathane bushings?

I watched a "wont start video" and in his case it wasn't to do with the relays but there is a TDC sensor and some other similar sensor near the back of the engine on top. I figured maybe they should be renewed for reliability. I understand the need for the TDC sensor but I am curious why there are two sensors there, You are quite right I'll probably find this out by reading on the clark's garage site and becoming more familiar. no point asking you guys too many obvious questions just because I haven't read all of whats available.

I want to see if I have a rusty metal gas tank that's leaking and I'm thinking it might take removing the transaxle to remove the tank. maybe I can braise the bottom of the tank up, or uses some gas tank sealing product, or replace it but it could be just a bad hose or cracked fuel pump.. My van is the same age and it wasn't too much just to put a new tank in and be done with all that business of trying to repair the old tank but its just a common ford ..

I was thinking that back when cars ran on gasoline, the gas didn't mix with water so the water would settle to the bottom of the tank and probably stay there. I usually buy chevron high octane because it's the only gas we can get here at the pump that isn't gasohol. alcohol does mix with water so maybe that's a way to clear out the drops of water by running that once in a while? are the new gasoline's that contain alcohol bad for the engine ? i know they wreak havoc on carburetors especially if left with the gas in the carb. sometimes I add stabilizer if it's being parked. I pay the extra for good gas, rather than creating issues. Its hard to see the difference.

sometimes I use sea foam, I add some to my gas but also to the oil, run it a bit then change the oil, It helps remove a lot of deposits. then there is the stuff in a spray can and I can blow some of that into the intake Just past the MAF sensor and Usually I blow some in when running , let it sit then when I start it again it blows a lot of black crap out the tailpipe. I guess the jury is out if all that is good or bad.
I kind of think it should be done if the car has run a lot without proper oil changes and stuff. I dont think it needs to be done with a good maintenance schedule. I dont think much maintenance was done but at least it's not all modified.

i once owned a volvo with the older fuel injection similar to this , it had sort of a flapper int here and so I think cleaning that area might be good. I think the newer ones measured the 02 and that governed the injector pulse width but this old system regulated the fuel pressure and not the pulse width and maybe doesn't have a MAf sensor. Ill read up more on all that. I might be way off on some..

Ill plan to clean the fuel injection system , but that can wait till after it's run. no point upsetting too many things and then wondering why my car won't start. I suspect one fault preventing it from starting plus the fuel leak. probably the worst thing I can do is create three reasons why my car won't start and end up in tears with confusion.


I appreciate your help and thanks so much for the responses.

[dstudeba]

Please check the fuel lines that go to the engine. Cracked/broken fuel lines dumping fuel on a hot engine are a common source of fires for these cars. There are plenty of thread on it.

The filter is at the bottom of the gas tank. You can siphon the gas out and then unscrew the filter to get an idea of the condition of the tank.

I haven't had a problem yet but the water pump is a common failure point. When reviving an old 944 it seems like a standard item to replace.

[originalowner]

Originally Posted by dstudeba

I haven't had a problem yet but the water pump is a common failure point. When reviving an old 944 it seems like a standard item to replace.

And if you replace it, it should be upgraded to the turbo water pump if has not already been done. I had absolutely no idea about this until I took my car to a Porsche only specialist last year for a refresh. The turbo, and later cars, have a water pump which includes a boss for mounting a guard which prevents the timing belt from contacting itself while traveling in opposite directions, thus stripping the teeth from the belt and causing camshaft slipping with subsequent valve to piston damage. This upgrade significantly reduces the chances of this happening.

This upgrade needs to be done by someone that knows what they are doing as it requires removing some metal from the engine block, and a change of several components including the tensioner pulley.

You can tell if it has been done already by checking the water pump for a dork looking blocked off 90 degree hose fitting with no hose on it. If it is not there, pony up to have someone knowledgeable do the upgrade, otherwise someday you may be standing on the side of the road with the hood up on a dead 944, staring at several thousand dollars of repair bills. BTW, the upgrade will be several hundreds, but worth it for peace of mind.

P.S. The shop owner told me he has difficulty getting mechanics that can work on these older cars, so don't be shy to shop around and find someone competent. Fortunately for me, back in the the day he had made an aluminum copy of the paper factory documentation template for the block modification, and he still had it laying around. Thank goodness for my car. He told me that most cars had this done ages ago. Again, I had no idea this existed.