Recent Purchase

[ss911]

I recently purchased a 86 944 with 76k miles on it. After driving this for the past 2 days, noticed a couple of things.


the sunroof, doesnt close completely and on high speeds opens up slightly letting air inside. my steering is a little tight. the interior light does not work.


I just wanted to get an idea how much these things are going to cost me to get it fixed.

thanks

[early_944]

...cough

[AaronM]

Clark's Garage has a procedure for checking the sunroof. It's a fairly simple repair, or at least it was for me. Took about 45 minutes for me to replace both gears, set the lifting arms, and get the microswitches into the right place on my 1987 924S that I had before the 944 I have now. Do _NOT_ continue to drive the car without fixing the sunroof's rear latches or you _will_ end up playing "freeway frisbee" with that roof panel. The front latch is meant to keep the panel vertically in place, and it can slide backwards off the front latch even if it's latched in the front.

What do you mean by "the steering is tight"? The 944 has much heavier steering than a family car, yes, but it's not over-tight. If you've never driven a car like this before then it's going to feel over-heavy to you. If you're used to Hondas or Fords then you're used to steering that's lighter.

As for the interior light, have you checked the bulb, the fuses, and the connections? Very simple and easy to check. Should have been the first things you did.

Aaron

EDIT: Early_944, you're in round town eh? Former Ohio guy myself. Have a good friend in Chillicothe, still miss the area.

[sayporsha]

I assume you turned the key to position 1 & pressed the sunroof button to "lock" it in place? What you describe is as if it is in the "unlocked" state, that is, ready to be removed.

[ss911]

i have been getting home late the past 2 days, its really bad after buying your car you cannot get to see it during daylight.

I checked out the clark's garage and it looks like i may not be closing it properly. I will check it out saturday morning.

The steering, is yes heavy. I have not driven a porsche before,(but have driven other german cars). This could be a little getting used to i guess.


Thanks guys.

[Z-man]

Your sunroof issue sounds like your microswitches for the unit are toast. Typically the teeth on the gears will strip, causing the problem you describe.

-Zoltan.

[ss911]

Z-Man, How can this be fixed? is this a do-it-yourself or should i have to take it to the technician?

(more importantly how much is this going to cost?!)

[Z-man]

You'll need to buy some new parts (I belive Pelican has most of what you need), but you should be able to repair it yourself.

Check out clarks-garage the web, or a do a search here and on Rennlist's 944 forums - there are detailed instructions for doing this.

-Z.

[scottmandue]

Your car should have come with power steering standard however our cars are notorious for P/S leaks. Check to see if there is any fluid in the reservoir.

[AaronM]

Originally posted by scottmandue
Your car should have come with power steering standard however our cars are notorious for P/S leaks. Check to see if there is any fluid in the reservoir.

If the PS is dead, the steering will be more than just a little heavy, it'll be damn near impossible at low speeds. Then again, the only 944 I've had to steer with the engine off is my current one and the tires are just a wee bit wider and stickier than stock, which makes it much harder to turn without PS. The 924S wasn't too bad without PS when I was steering it with the engine off I guess.

Aaron