Overheating 944

[daxdog]

Well, I did it. I finally purchased my first Porsche. I have been wanting one since I was 10. Last Sunday, after coming back from a 700+mile, 24hr road trip to look at a junker 944 that someone was selling, a 1984 944 with only 74k mi on it showed up in the local paper. I called and someone else was already on the way. The car happened to only be a few miles from my house. I came, I saw, I drove away with my first Porsche.

Living in Memphis where temps reach over 100F in the summer with 99% humidity, you do not want to drive without a/c in a car with black interior. The only mechanical issue that this car had was that the a/c did not blow cold. I drove around Sunday and Monday in my new ride. On Tuesday morning, I took it to the shop because the car had started another issue. The electic cooling fan would never shut off.

The shop where I had taken my two VW's for years said they also would work on my Porsche. Yesterday I finally picked it up. They replaced the coolant temp switch, fixed leakes in the a/c, charged up the a/c, and "fixed some wiring issues."

On my way home, the temp guage went just high of 1/2. I thought it was a little odd, but I attributed it to the a/c running. I only live about 5 miles from the shop. My wife and I drove to blockbuster and the guage almost got to the redline. I parked the Porsche and raised the hood. The cooling fans were not turning at all. At the end of one radiator hose, there was a place where it looked like something was to screw in. Out of the hole there was some steam. Anyway, I left the hood raised, checked out some movies, then walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

When we came home from dinner, I had to stop and raise the hood about 1/2 way home because the temp guage got over 3/4 again. We waited 30 minutes and drive the rest of the way.

Coming from the air-cooled world of old VW's, I am not familiar with these water-cooled, computer-controlled Porsche engines. Is there anything that I can check myself? I hate it that I have had the car a week and have only driven about 50 miles. If I do not get it fixed before Monday, I will have the car towed to the mechanic's shop for repair. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

George

[bearone2]

they might not have connected the wires to the temp switch.

close to the engine it might have been the bleeder screw for the cooling system and you may be low on fluid or have an air pocket.

get a haynes book or check threads here on how to bleed the cooling system.

[rammstein]

Welcome to the forum. I don't know anything, but someone here will help you. I'd be nervous too if steam was coming out of my engine. All I get is smoke.

[idontknow]

Do you mean part 9 , 20 and 14?

http://www.pelicanparts.com/944/944_parts/944_83-85/pic4.jpg[/IMG]

[idontknow]

Okay, so my image pasting dowesn't work so well.

[daxdog]

It seems like my car is a little different. I think that 14 may be missing.

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/daxdog/DSCN0349.jpg

"62 - VW Karmann Ghia, never ending restoration" - I just sold my project '71 Ghia vert that was a 5 year project that was never completed.

[svandamme]

as for the temperature , i have the same on my 924 in traffic jams

while driving, even hard driving , the temp never get's more than slightly above 1/2 , when in a jam , it goes up to a little above 3/4
that's when the fan kicks in , and keeps it inbetween 1/2 and upper 3/4

in a jam , this would be pretty normal , you could hotwire the fan with a switch, so you can turn it on permanently when you're in a jam
(it will not be on all the time, that's why the temp fluctuates between 1/2 and 3/4 when not driving)


that bolt can't be out, the water would be spewing all over the engine if nothing would be there... btw , what year is your 944?

older types had the plug in the hose, later types have it on the engine itself, the above diagram is for a earlier type... before 85.5

[svandamme]

[svandamme]

just reread your initial post, you mentioned steam .. woops , didn't see that...

[daxdog]

It is a 1984. The diagram that svandamme posted looks like what I have. I wil check to see if it is laying around. When I first brought the car home, I found an 8" adjustable wrench in the engine compartment. I got the car and wrench for one low price!

I will try hotwiring the fan. It is killing me that I have had the car a week now and have only put 52 miles on it!!!

[svandamme]

dax, FR Wilk had a good point about that bolt, if you see steam coming out there, don't run your car without something in it.

like i said , i missed the initial post and didn't read about the steam...
don't go hotwiring anything jus yet

make sure you have enough water
screw a bolt in that hole
then run the car on without driving it
it shouldn't take to long (10 minutes) before the heat comes up
then you'll see of the Tstat turns on the fan

if your cooling system isn't closed, the pressure is lower than normal
because of that, water will boil at 60 degrees C , instead of higher ( remember, pressurised water boils at higher temps.. ) an the T-stat never turns on...

[bearone2]

Originally posted by daxdog
It is a 1984. The diagram that svandamme posted looks like what I have. I wil check to see if it is laying around. When I first brought the car home, I found an 8" adjustable wrench in the engine compartment. I got the car and wrench for one low price!

I will try hotwiring the fan. It is killing me that I have had the car a week now and have only put 52 miles on it!!!

have you ever checked to see if the wires to the fan switch are connected.

it's under the hose on the drivers side.

[daxdog]

It's fixed!!! The dumbbunnies at the mechanic's shop apparently did not add antifreeze back to the system after replacing the cooling fan switch at the bottom of the radiator. I found the plug for the cooling system on the engine just as someone had suspected I would. I put a little over 2 gallons of antifreeze and water into the system following the guidelines in the owner's manual. However, when I first cranked the car without the radiator cap on (as the manual instructed), I got antifreeze on my garage floor. Other than that, everything is hunky-dory. I let it run for about 10 minutes in the garage and then drove a couple of miles around the neighborhood. The temp guage never got above 1/4.

Thank you all for your help. I am sure I will be staying on this bbs asking questions and reading many posts.

Thanks again,

George

[bearone2]

the fan switch is under the hose near the top of the radiator on the drivers side.

2 gal of af is too much af as it's only a little over a 2 gal system and a 50/50 split is recommended.

[svandamme]

Good to hear that ,

now you can get jiggie with the 44
Njoy

[bearone2]

you still might want to look at threads here about bleeding the system if the temps start to get high.

[daxdog]

Well, I ran around the block a few times showing off the new ride. When I finially decided to actually go somewhere, I headed to Blockbuster to return some movies. Part way there I smelled antifreeze and so I headed back home carefully watching the temp guage. The temp never got above 1/2 way, but I was losing antifreeze quickly. I pulled in the garage and threw a big bowl underneath the car, popped the hood and discovered that the hose connecting the coolent reservior to the radiator was leaking right beside the air filter box. I cursed and got in my wife's Saturn and headed for AutoZone. They did not have the right hose, so the guy talked me into buying some 3/4" heater hose. I put it on, but could not make the bends without the hose crimping up. I placed my first order for Porsche parts on PelicanParts.com. I ordered the hose and some other junk I've been wanting. Oh well. I guess everyone at work still won't believe that I bought a Porsche for another week. ;-)

[daxdog]

Originally posted by bearone2
the fan switch is under the hose near the top of the radiator on the drivers side.

2 gal of af is too much af as it's only a little over a 2 gal system and a 50/50 split is recommended.

It requires 2.2 gallons of coolant. I followed the directions in the manual by taking out the screw and slowly filling the reservoir until the af comes out the screwhole. It took a gallon of af + around a gallon of water. The system was apparently totally dry.

[daxdog]

The garage didn't notice/fix the hose going from the resevoir to the radiator. Nor did they notice/replace the bleeder screw. I know of a strictly German shop here in town. Instead of it being near my house, it is near my office. According to the receipts that came with the car, the first owner always used this shop. The second owner only had the car a couple of years. I haven't seen any receipts with his name on them. I am going to use the shop the first owner used in the future.

[Buddy]

Just tell the guys at work you bought a car that needs constant maintanence and attention. They'll KNOW you really bought a Porsche!