'87 944 no spark, not surprised Speed sensor?

[924CarreraGTP]

I thought I had seen it all, but I have a question for some of you seasoned 944 guys. The speed and reference sensor bracket on the bell housing has another wire that comes off of it coming up to a round connector with three internal prongs. What is this and where does it go? It is unplugged and I cannot find the connection.

Next, I need my head examined for buying an '87 NA 944 with a very beat up, but fixable body for $650. The owner said it was running a few weeks ago, but when I came to look at it, he had switched the battery and it wouldn't start. His wife confirmed that they had just driven the car a few days before. I got it pretty cheap and it has new tires.
1) I jumped the DME relay.
2) Fuel pump works consistently when jumped and I hear the fuel in the fuel rail.
3) The coil has primary power, but the spark plugs are not firing. So no spark.
4) Car turns over fine
5) Timing belt looks good, and all the teeth are there

Here's something strange. When I turn the key on, a noise comes from the passenger floorboard/radio area like a very weak alarm. Would this alarm shut down the spark? I plan to disable it tomorrow via Clarksgarage info.

So what do you guys think? Is it going to be the DME or the speed/reference sensor? Or is it the alarm?

[John_AZ]

The round connector 3 hole (at the rear of the valve cover) is a factory connection to determine TDC and is not used.

The alarm on many cars is the cause of a no op. Many threads and I am unable to offer assistance since neither on my 924S had an alarm.

IF the PO had the car running but switched the battery, he may have fried the main DME computer thinking he wanted to keep the good original battery and put in an old junker .

Just thoughts.

J_AZ

[924CarreraGTP]

I'm inclined to think the same thing. I'm going to go try to score a used DME tomorrow and a used speed reference sensor out of a wrecked car.

[924CarreraGTP]

Hey guys, just thought I would conclude this post because there are too many people with problems and nobody posting their solutions.
The speed reference sensor bracket was broken. Speed and reference sensors were not reading. I thought this was the problem so I replaced the bracket and then sensors. Still no fire, so I swapped out the DME and the car fired right up. Not bad for a $600 car and it's a heap of fun in the ice.

[Pauld_94S2]

Nothing like a "pre-wrecked" car to go sliding around in the ice!

[924CarreraGTP]

Totally, that way if you wreck it. Well... It's wrecked. I'm thinking about building a stripped out race car out of it anyway. One of the rear rims is from a Turbo, but I'm not sure why. Previous owners... (shakes head).
It's so much fun in the ice and snow, and harder than you might imagine to get stuck. You just have to know how to keep one rolling, and it's a blast! Here's my red 85 stage one in the snow.

[yundar]

My 400 dollar special had an intermittent no spark problem too. Among a host of other issues the sensor bracket was mounted too high when the PO replaced the reference sensors. I used the .8mm washer trick and moved the bracket down. I went through the entire list of things to fix a no spark situation. The car had multiple issues which I think is what was frustrating the PO. It is always the last thing you check!

On another note... I noticed your one turbo wheel on the back. I started a thread a few weeks ago asking about the turbo wheels on an 87 NA. That one wheels looks like an 86 turbo wheel with the deep dish... and it looks like it fits pretty well on a late offset car!! I only bring this up because the phone dials look so right on the 944 and the 86 deep dish sixteens are the coolest of them all. Are you noticing any problems other than the mismatch?

[4 or more]

Don't forget that IF the car had an alarm it kills the DME. Sorry I cannot remember if it just grounds a line on it but I seem to remember that it was a relay or module by the DME, so pulll the passenger carpet and check it out.

[924CarreraGTP]

Yundar, mine did end up to be the DME after all was said and done. The sensors are now new though and the car starts up every time. I'm working on getting the front valence right now. The turbo wheel on the rear feels pretty normal. I may just try to dig up another one and put it on the other side. It does look pretty good on the car.
The alarm was jumped right after I started fooling with the car. I'm not sure if it was the problem or not, but I eliminated it. I'm pretty sure it was the DME. It didn't fire until I swapped out the computer. I do have an extra computer to be rebuilt though now. The car seems to run and drive pretty well. It needs some pretty extensive body work, but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the car or sell it at this point.

[924CarreraGTP]

So I got a used valence from plyhammer and installed it today.