restoring a 944 - ignition issues

[aaronhab]

Hey there folks, this is my first time here.

I used to restore mustangs when i was younger but recently ive taken quite a liking to 944's and have been looking for a great project car.

I found the right one, for 500 bux, and it had been sitting for 10 years. no accidents, stright body, and seemingly everything weas in great condition before it was parked. the guy blew a radiator hose (leas that's what i was told) and parked it. he got sick afterwards and died a few years later, which is why it has sat this whole time.

i had the car towed to my house and over the last few days i've done the following:

bought 4 new tires
drained the old oil, added in new oil with 1 quart mystery oil
put in 2 gallons of gas with 4 ounces mystery oil
replaced all the plugs
put in new battery.

The electrical system is in pretty good shape - windows, headlights, radio, mirrors, A/C/Heater Fan, cigarette lighter, dash clock, all work. headlight motors also work

the sunroof, windshield wipers, compartment light, glove box light are broken.

I ran the RME relay jumper test to make sure that the fuel pump was working and this lead me to discover that the RME relay is busted. with some fuel going to the engine, however, i tried to start the car while the jumper was in place.

before i turned the car over, the plugs were worn, but clean. i sprayed some WD40 into the plug holes before i reset the plugs to lube up the pistons and now that ive turned the car over several times, i took out the plugs to change them and there was black gook on them. I can't tell if this is oil, garbage gas that was in the gas tank, or the burnt wd-40 i had sprayed in the plug holes. it doesnt really seem like oil.

i tired to remove the gas tank to clean it out but i quickly realized that i would need to drop the transaxle, and i didnt have the equipment for that kind of job.

should be worried about this?

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by aaronhab

Hey there folks, this is my first time here.

i tired to remove the gas tank to clean it out but i quickly realized that i would need to drop the transaxle, and i didnt have the equipment for that kind of job.

should be worried about this?

Welcome,

If this is the only thing you are worried about, flushing the gas tank, I can help you. You can be certain you will have many more important things to work on soon.

At the bottom of the tank where the fuel hose is you can unscrew the fuel screen (# 27/28) and flush the tank from the opening. You might want to get a new fuel screen gasket. My guess is that the fuel screen is torn and should be replaced. The cost for new is about $50 +- or you can just cut the fuel hose and stick in an inline filter if you want.





Your future projects may require the transaxle to be lowered. Takes about 90 minutes the first time. Most use a tall floor jack and strong arms. Actually a simple job. Practice part of the job by getting a grease gun tube of CV grease from Pelican and do the CV joints.

GL
John_AZ
1988 924S + 1987 924S

[porsche4life]

Do not start that motor without swapping the timing belt. Trust me you will regret it if you do not. This IS a contact motor and I have the bill to prove that a broken belt will cost you about 2k.

Checkout www.clarks-garage.com if you haven't already.

[aaronhab]

Yeah, i have been told about the timing belt - is this a danger even if i simply want to run thew engine at idle? I wanted to run the mystery oild through the engine to clean out all the gunk first and get a really good idea of what is working and what isn't but if the timing belt is that sensitive i will not start it again.

thanks for the flush tip - that's fantastic! I will flush the old crap out and get some fresh gas in there then.

[porsche4life]

I wouldnt be worried if it hadn't sat for so long. That is a lot age.

[aaronhab]

BTW, as far was what i was worried about, i was talking about the black guck on the plugs...

I've been to clark's garage, its a great site! and ive emailed clark about a few things as well.

looks like the timing belt moves to the top of the list then! ill get all the belts done before i do anything else.

do you guys think the alternator is a goner?

[HondaDustR]

The timing belts on these cars are allowed to be on the car for 3 years max, or 30,000 miles. That one's probably dry rotted by now and IS NOT worth taking a chance. Check clarks garage posted above for instructions on how to replace it. It's a pretty easy job.

[Rasta Monsta]

Timing belt can break and valves can bend just from running the starter. Foolish risk.

[aaronhab]

thanks guys, hopefully i didnt do any damage. now im pretty scared. haha.

[Grandad#3]

Hi Aaron, A Big Welcome to you. What everyone has told you already is where I started my 85.5 n/a project. The PO could not get it startd and his so called Porsche mechanic did not find what was wrong. On John-AZ's picture item #31 is the fuel check valve. I would replace it as it has set for so long or soak it in some carb cleaner to free up the ball inside. When you order the gasket for the in tank fuel strainer, get a new fuel filter item #13, as you will be right there. I only had to clean the tank filter with carb cleaner and put it back in the tank. I had to drain out 10 gal. of old fuel that smelled like old varnish and flushed with 2 gal. new fuel. I killed a bunch of fire ants in my fields with it. I sent the fuel injectors to Witchhunter to be cleaned, new orings and reconditioned. Once you get all the belts and rollers changed and can start the car I would run some seafoam in some cheap oil for a while to clean up the engine and drain it out. I would not put in a synthetic oil because the engine seals have dried out. I run valvolene 20-50 because it has ZDDP additive for the bearings. Happy wrenching.
P.S. Take the alternator to Auto Zone and they will check it for you free.
Cheers,
Larry

[aaronhab]

Thanks grandad!

So are you sayting that i should never put in synthetic? I just put in some cheap oil along with that mystery oil stuff in both the engine and gas tank so that i could clean out the system and then drain it. once that was done, i was planning on switching to mobile 1.

not a good idea?