A few Q's about the 944 N/A

[flmont]

Looking at a 86' 5spd,..That sat a while,..The seller said it runs great, idels fine but when he runs it hard on the interstate,..it ends up smoking,..but never at idel and quits when he gets back to surface street driving.it does not leak oil or anything,..says its dry where he parks it,..is there a valve job coming or even rings etc...he said it had aprox 70K on it ??? also is there any way to up the HP,..diffrent cam or something,..and finally can u update the 86' with the auto belt tennsioner???? Iam so new to these cars but wanting to own one soon,.. Thanks Guy's Frank

[AaronM]

Any significant power increases for the NA 944 cars run into serious money. The best solution is a chip like the MAX chips sold here on Pelican and leaving it at that. Intake and exhaust modifications aren't going to give meaningful changes in power and a cam will be expensive since there really aren't aftermarket companies making cams for these cars.

The auto belt tensioner is overrated. It does not maintain tension while the car is running; it merely helps you to set the tension when changing the belt. You still have to re-adjust the tension 1,500 miles after a belt change and at 15,000 miles as well. And, since the auto tensioner is just a spring, you still should check the tension with a proper tool. Ultimately, the auto tensioner doesn't actually save any effort.

Smoking while running hard could be any number of things; have it checked over by a mechanic before buying. It's worth the expense.

[John_AZ]

Frank,

The easy Q.
No, you cannot update to the spring auto tensioner.
Why? you would have to drill holes in the block for the 3 hold down bolts on the bracket.

70K on the odometer. ALL odometers fail due to the plastic gears inside. It could be 170K

Yes you can get a couple more HP with a cam------For a heafty price. PorscheDoc has a great page on this
944 HP Questions/Answers - Porsche Forum - Porsche Enthusiast Forums

Smoking, Pull a couple of plugs. If they look steam cleaned it is the head gasket leaking coolant.
If he lets you do a compression test it may be the rings or scored cylinder walls. If it is the walls-----your block is shot. Thousands of dollars to resleeve--better off getting a $700 used engine.

Yes, you could cross your fingers and hope it is the valve guides and seals leaking causing the smoke. Machine work and parts if DIY $800 or so.

GL
John

[dryslick13]

Best $'s spent on performance would be on suspension mods. You can squeeze a little more out of it with a replacement K&N filter. Buy a $40 throttle cam to get better response and enjoy it on the twisties. Motor is nice an torque so still a blast to drive.

[wild man]

If there is no smoke after sitting and idling for at least 15-20 minutes, not likely to be the valve seals.

[porsche4life]

Unless it can be bought for a song I'd run fast... You can buy nice NAs for 5k any day of the week and twice on Sunday...

My point is... There are LOTS of nice ones around... You're better off buying one thats been loved...