My current project

[orlisk]

1984 Porsche 928S 96,116 miles 4.7L V8

My first Porsche I've finally got to get even though it's not in the best condition.

Pretty good shape of the body, but the interior needs to be completely redone.. so far I have yet to get it running, hopefully next week I can finally take it out on the road.

[Danglerb]

84 US AT has to be the least expensive and most reliable model, great choice.

Whats the non running history?

Make sure its safe before getting too far down the make it run road. Old hoses and high pressure fuel injection are a dangerous mix.

[orlisk]

They told me it had water damage to the fuse box which ended up corroding most of the relays... but as I see it only some were damaged, the headlights still go up, I had replaced most of the main relays so far. It is still not running since I turn the key and all I hear is a click from the starter, Tuesday I am getting it lifted and going to remove the starter to go have it checked, the flywheel also seems rusty and doesn't want to move. I am not quite sure of the problem yet never really worked on a porsche before so it's all quite new, but my dad has owned a 87 944 and will be helping me when I get it towed to his place. I love the car even though it doesn't run, but once I get it running I'll be replacing everything in the car.

[Mrmerlin]

First remove the top passenger side cam belt cover, then get a 27mm deep socket half in drive and a big ratchet place it on the crank bolt and turn it CW as you face the engine this will let you know if the engine is seized.
Since the starter is CLICKING then it is getting power, it may not be able to turn a seized engine.
If the crank does turn then you can move the crank to its TDC position and check the timing belt. ( note if the crank turns and the cam doesnt, then stop turning the crank) . the belt may be broken

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by Stan Kolen

First remove the top passenger side cam belt cover, then get a 27mm deep socket half in drive and a big ratchet place it on the crank bolt and turn it CW as you face the engine this will let you know if the engine is seized.
Since the starter is CLICKING then it is getting power, it may not be able to turn a seized engine.
If the crank does turn then you can move the crank to its TDC position and check the timing belt. ( note if the crank turns and the cam doesnt, then stop turning the crank) . the belt may be broken

Follow Stans advice, plus remove your Spark Plugs as this will make it easier to turn. If in fact it does turn over fine and cams gears are also turning and you get your starter issue sorted. Now is a good time to start taking compression checks in each cylinder. First squirt a little bit of light oil or Marvel Mystery Oil in there, let set overnight, then do compression checks and report back with your readings.

[Danglerb]

+1 on pull the plugs and squirt in some oil overnight, but make sure nothing falls down the spark plug holes.

I think I would pull the CE panel and "work", wiggle around, remove and replace, all the connections with a good dose of contact cleaner and preservative.

[orlisk]

Alright thanks for the advice. I'll be working on it next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Dozman]

Definitely look att all electrical connections and relay contacts. Usually removing and reinserting fuses relays cleans up the contact points, but electrical contact cleaner helps. Good luck with your initial start on your project. Keep us updated.

[orlisk]

Ok well I am still working on the car going to be replacing the starter. But now I got a problem with the alarm going off, it just has a beep sound when I turn the key in the car and the headlights go up and down and beeping just goes on, also when I open the hood it does it too. How do I turn it off?

[lfausty]

disconnect battery? vs cutting alarm box wires or yanking any out, i dont have alarm but there is relay/fuse ? until you can find out routing of alarm manufacturing if professionally installed or what someone installed and how they did.

928specialists.com at home page scroll down to relayfuse chart at least would get you the layout, leave alarm relay out?

[Danglerb]

Old aftermarket alarms are such a pain. My guess is that I was in over a grand before all of my old alarm was gone, and all the associated damage to my wiring was repaired. I paid a good price, three different times to get it all done. First place disconnected the keypad etc. so I could not turn the sob off once it armed (half the time battery reconnected), second removed stuff but didn't get everything, last one was my Porsche mechanic, at Porsche mechanic rates when the car started honking and wouldn't start after I left it at his shop for some other work.

We are talking hours of work by a good tech with a full set of wiring diagrams pulling apart the dash etc. tracing wires that were intentionally disguised.

Just loads of "in hindsight" type humor.

Ya know, if that CE panel is nasty, maybe you should consider buying a good used one, they often are less than $100.

[Landseer]

I like your car. Engine bay looks pretty complete from the pictures.

So you know before you read this diatribe, I got all this information here and mainly on Rennlist and applied it. 2 years of obsession.


For the alarm, with a fresh battery, close up the car. Lock both the passenger and drivers side with the long key. Lock the hatch. Then unlock the drivers side with the long key. That should reset the factory alarm. . There are ways to jumper the alarm with a single wire on the panel if needed later. The alarm, BTW, also disables the car from running.

Don't replace anything. even the starter, until you have removed and meticulously cleaned the contacts on the panel and all grounds. I would only buy a replacement panel if yours was burned/melted. They are year specific and must be for USA if you have a USA non Euro. Getting panel out and back in is really easier than it looks at first, but will take some time.

You must also clean all the ground wires (there are a series of them strategically located around the car). Polish each surface of the wire terminals and bolt and washer and car itself with a dremel with a wire brush end. Buy a few of the wire brushes because they will not last long.

We are finding cars that won't turnover and won't run for giveaway prices...resolved by cleaning grounds. If you think this is overkill and don't believe it is necessary, sell the car now and run, Forest, run.

Here is where to find them, usually brown wires, plus a couple are big cables.

--Two sets of brown wires on the firewall above the fuse panel.

--Cable leading from frame to block bolt, passenger side, under the car, down low.

--Cable, Battery to body, in trunk area.
(cleaning these above seem to solve most problems)

Next ones:
--Tucked under the edge of the hood, rt and left sides, infront of radiator. One is near the headlight motor, the other is near the a/c drier canister.
--One under the pod(instrument panel, inside car) lay on back where the drivers feet go and look up under there with flashlight to find it.
--Another, also hard to get, under passenger side valve cover. Follow the injector harness wires to find it. (might be 2, I forget).
--Lastly, related to rear lights, behind the inside quarter panel cover, which is very time consuming to remove and requires some study, in vicinity of the tailight on pass side, but behind that interior panel, is a bunch brown wires on a single bolt. Some times these panels are broken in this rearmost place as somebody takes a shortcut and pries it.

So, now you've cleaned CE panel and grounds.

Two more things.

--The positive little wire on the big positive battery lead needs to be clean and mounted right.

--And the 14 pin connector needs to be disassembled, fully cleaned and checked for broken wires. Its located on passenger inner fender, just near the mounting point for the crossbrace. Fragile brown connector box. Actually is a plug. Each of the backs of the plugs comes off to reveal the soldered wires. Lots of times the plugs corrode and the solder connections corrode and the wires break.

I have 2 84 cars, both rescues, and have rescued an 86 and 85 as well. These are the fundamental, must-do items. The 85 a few weeks ago would only muster-up starter clicking until grounds were cleaned by this process. It appears that the previous owner did several things to try to make it start, including overuse ether and melt the intake tube. Should have cleaned the frickin grounds. Will take a first timer non-mechanic about 2 days to do correctly. If you do it, then you have a solid base of reliability going forward.

I've mapped most of the wires on the colored plugs coming out of the CE panel on the USA 84 on an excel spreadsheet. That might help you later, but for now, clean the connections.

[orlisk]

Thanks appreciate it Landseer and Dangler. I had just replaced the starter in the car so now the engine is trying to start. I think I need to replace the spark plugs but hopefully I'll be driving it around soon enough..

[Landseer]

Good news on the starter. Be sure to hit your grounds and panel, though. Important.

You really should want to replace he fuel hoses also.

We've seen two 20-something young owners nearly get cooked in their 928s in the last 3 months. Scary stuff. The lines crack from heat and age. Ethanol content isn't helping, either. Big V8 gets hot, a spray of pressurized gas gets sprayed on top...you know the rest.

Stay safe!

[Danglerb]

Bad plugs are rare, pull them and take a look first.

OTOH wires are often pretty bad, often original. If your cheap like me you can get an econo set from 928Intl.com for I think $75, but you need to reuse your plug ends, and loom parts. Check all the plug ends with an ohmmeter to see if any need replacing (about 2.9k is normal).

[DMRK]

Nice to hear you are getting close!

I'll 3rd the fuel hoses, very important. I'm in the process of replacing all mine. They were really brittle even though they looked ok. In your caes they are probably 25 years old, order a kit from Roger before it goes up in flames.

Do you know how long the car sat without running? You could have old broken down dried up fuel clogging your lines and fuel injector screens like I had. Another reason to just do your hoses and clean all the lines while your at it. Good luck and keep us posted.

[orlisk]

Well I found out one of the pulleys is seized, it's the one all the way on the left above the air conditioner compressor I believe.. can anyone tell me what it is exactly so I know what to replace?

Here's a picture of where it is.

It doesn't move at all, tried to move it but it doesn't when the car tries to start, the car suddenly shuts off, could this be why? and if someone can tell me what it is and how or what to get to fix / replace it.

[SharkTech]

Originally Posted by orlisk

Well I found out one of the pulleys is seized, it's the one all the way on the left above the air conditioner compressor I believe.. can anyone tell me what it is exactly so I know what to replace?

Here's a picture of where it is.

It doesn't move at all, tried to move it but it doesn't when the car tries to start, the car suddenly shuts off, could this be why? and if someone can tell me what it is and how or what to get to fix / replace it.

That is your smog pump, for emissions, would NOT keep the car from running, the main pulley on the crank would just work the belt around the main pulley/fan pulley/smog until the belt snapped. Those are easy to replace, and even easier to just delete with a smaller custom belt running from the main pulley to the fan diverting the original smog pump altogether. I have a good smog pump that I would give ya cheap if you want it, just say the word.

Call it $40 + ship costs, hope this helps...

[orlisk]

Thanks Tech I'll let you know, but guess I still need to find out why it won't start.. thought it was that.. any ideas what it could be? Should I get a video of what it sounds like when it tries to start if that would help?

[SharkTech]

Originally Posted by orlisk

Thanks Tech I'll let you know, but guess I still need to find out why it won't start.. thought it was that.. any ideas what it could be? Should I get a video of what it sounds like when it tries to start if that would help?

There are so many points of failure here since the car sat that long, and the guys have given you TONS of info so far, please use it all to your advantage. The fuel is by far the most important, and like they said especially to play it safe. A vid of it cranking would not hurt of course, you can post it to youtube/cardomain etc and link it here.

But, keep plugging at fuel/spark, for sure, if it seems to be cranking healthy...

Also keep in mind as that smog pump does not play that serious of a role in the engine schematics it is part of your cooling system(viscous fan) so it needs to be either deleted or fixed, ASAP, to allow your fan to turn correctly as this V8 will get HOTT, fast, this time of year...
Do not play around with that, it will cost ya!!!