Distributor problem?

Adam944 · 07-22-2001, 09:56 AM

I have a high mileage 1984 944. The car runs fine but every once in awhile it will either not start, or will shut off while I'm driving it. Then, if I pull the one spark plugh wire off, the one closest to the front, start it up again and let it run for a little while, put the wire back on and restart it, it runs fine for awhile. Is this a problem with the ignition wire, distributor or what? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am on a budget and this is my daily driver and needs to get fixed ASAP. Thank you!

Adam

Cake944 · 07-22-2001, 01:02 PM

Take off your distributor cap and look at the contacts for wear and corrosion. Also look at the tip of the rotor for the same thing. About the only thing that you could do with it is to sand the conmtacts, but you will most likely need a ned distributor and rotor. I have seen then on the net for aruond $55-$60.

Adam944 · 07-22-2001, 01:10 PM

Ok was i wrong? Does my 1984 944 N/A have a distributor or an alternator?

Porsche 951 Fanatic · 07-22-2001, 01:13 PM

both i hope

CrazySOB · 07-22-2001, 01:25 PM

Both

Adam944 · 07-22-2001, 02:09 PM

oh yeah duh

SoCal Hobo · 07-22-2001, 06:59 PM

Replace the computer.

My computer is under the steering housing just above the pedels. I had dying problems and found that leaving the car in gear (if crusing on the freeway) and pulling the computer plug off then pluging it back in the car would start back up. A real pain to do this in an intersection though!

Replacing the "brain" stopped all this. The racing fellow that I bought the "brain" from said that bad spark plub wires usually fry the "brain". The car did have bad sparking bolt wires on it when I bought it.

Adam944 · 08-02-2001, 09:17 AM

OK I pulled off the distribotor cap and it was all wet inside with oil. I cleaned it up and dried it out, and it ran well for a while and then started acting up again. Any ideas why it would be oily in there and how should I handle it?

Also, I know that my car was not originally orange, but did they make any orange ones in '84 because I saw some posters on this site with orange ones in them.

My Porsche 944 page:
www.angelfire.com/mp/porsche944

08-02-2001, 09:26 AM

oil residue inside the dist cap. Buddy, ya got some oil seal problems on the front of your block. Pull the timing belt cover off and bet you will find an oil mess. Yer gona need some belt's and a front seal job done soon.

Adam944 · 08-02-2001, 09:32 AM

What all does a front seal job entail? (parts,labor,time,etc.)

FRANKYDOOM · 08-02-2001, 10:28 AM

I had the same problem on my Audi 80s - and I changed the ditributor and it wroked fine until the missus crashed the car ....... It kept stopping and loosing power for no reason ( I thought). I did changed the comp bit tooo - but the final was the distributor - mind you they normally dont go wrong .... hope it helps

Regrads

Frankydoom/Reading /UK

EugeneYu · 08-02-2001, 10:29 AM

My experience.
Parts: new timing/balance belts, front engine seal kit, rollers (4), and a water pump. The total cost is from $300-$400 and $600 or higher depends on brand new water pump vs. rebuild one and where you buy the parts.
Labor: On the book, it says 8 hours which I don't think it will take that long. The labor costs, I've seen, are from $300-$600.
If you want to, you can do yourself. There are whole bunch of articles about that. If you've done any timing belt job, I would suggest get somebody do it for you and watch how he does. Then you can do next time.