just picked up an 87 944. i have a full size truck for bad weather but was looking for something with decent mileage that wasn't too boring or expensive and i dont mind working on it "a little" now and then.
i found this car and was blown away with how good of shape it was in. outside and inside are in great shape and it was only $1500. seemed like a good deal to me. after driving the car for a couple of days i really like the car.
now for the bad. about 1 out of 10 times it wont start. today i was able to roll start it and it fired right up. it cranks fine but just wont fire. 9 out of 10 times it fires right up. just reach in and turn the key and it fires right up. cap and rotor look good, plugs and wires look to be in good shape. fuel presure is around 40psi cranking and 30psi at idle.
the idle is prety rough but mostly steady. there is a big flat spot off idle and aproaching mid range but it runs good when reved up a little. cruises down the highway great at any speed. also has an oil leak that looks to be the pan gasket.
now for the big one. compresion from front to rear is 165, 175, 90, 145. put presure to it and most of the air seems to be headed into the crank case.
i dont think the compresion is to blame for the not starting but it might be the flat spot off idle and midrange.
should i bother keeping the car or is it going to turn into a big project. will the mileage suck with the low compresion. is there any point in changing the timing belt if the rings are shot? belt has 37k on it but is 7 years old. if i was to do the work myslef is there a cheap way to fix the lack of compresion?
thanks for the help and sorry for the long first post.
Jim