Quick Check - "normal" belt noise?

[Diceman]

Hello. New 944NA owner here.

Obligatory photo:



Very clean car, 100k miles, a couple of issues. One is an oil leak or two, another is a bit of uneven tire wear, but the one that I'm wanting to sort out first is as follows:

Cold idle is about 1400rmp, and warm idle is 2000rpm. And, as a new 944 owner, I'd love to have some input as to whether my belt whine is what is considered within the realm of "normal" (see video, linked below). In the video, the car was already warm, and as a result, you can hear it start at its usual 1400rpm and then climb up to 2000rpm, prior to my revving it.

I'm getting the maintenance records for the car in about a week (I knew the previous owner, who had already retired/moved to AZ, and the records had been shipped in advance of my buying the car). I'm hoping that it has had a timing belt done recently, based on what I've learned about the 944 since I bought one.

Thanks in advance!

Porsche 944 whine and idle - YouTube

[aj951]

It sounds like the balance shaft belt is not tensioned correctly. It could be too tight or too loose. Does the whine go away after the car is warm? It's possible that if the belts were recently changed by the PO, it could go away after the belts have a few miles on them. Check your service records, when you receive them, and see how long ago (Time and Mileage) they were changed.

My belts make this noise for the first 5-10 minutes of driving and then goes away after the car warms up. I adjusted the belt tension numerous times and could not get it to go away when the car is cold. It's also possible that it could be one of the tensioners or rollers making the noise. Confirm form your records that the tensioners and rollers were changed when the belts were done.


AJ

[Gawernator]

Damn that's a high idle, sounds like your 944 is ready for take-off xD Remember what I said about doing that idle adjustment. Idle Speed Adjustment

You haven't mentioned what year it is, btw.

[WolfeMacleod]

Dice, welcome to the fold man. Good to see you over here.

I "know" Dice from a guitar forum we both frequent

[Diceman]

OK - I adjusted my idle (idle adjustment screw - the Haynes manual says that you cannot adjust your own idle... well, properly, anyway). I screwed it down tight and ended up at 900rpm without AC, 800rpm with AC. After the video, I bumped it up a little to 900rpm with AC, 1000 without. I'll be driving in the summer w/ AC most of the time, so I figure that is appropriate.

I still have my belt whine, of course.

Is the consensus that my idle is properly adjusted at 900 w/ AC and 1000 without? In the video, the AC seemed to bog down the engine a bit more than I felt comfortable with.

Thanks again everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_ZZAXQlU68&feature=plcp

[Diceman]

AJ - the whine is constant, rpm variable, and doesn't go away at all.

Gaw - thanks again for the link.

Wolfe - its good to see a very very familiar face here at the Porsche forum. I've "known" Wolfe on some guitar forums for many years now - since 2007 I suppose.

[Norm101469]

Diceman welcome to the 944 world and that idle is where mine is set and it should be good there. And wishing my AC worked lol

[Diceman]

Thanks Norm! As I mentioned, I'm still waiting on maintenance records, but I do know that the dealer I bought the car from did a new AC compressor on the car within the past year for the prior owner. So, ice cold air.

[Gawernator]

You shouldn't have such a big fluctuation between A/C on and off.

[Slam]

Keep in mind that what you're doing with the idle adjustment is actually compensating for false air because there's a good chance the car has vac leaks. You can get away with this, but eventually you'll need to go hunting and killing vacuum leaks. Then you'll tweak your idle back up.

Welcome to the board. I, too, am a guitarist. Studied jazz in music school and have gigged from Houston, TX all the way to Dawson City, Yukon, as a vocalist and guitarist. Cheers!

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by Diceman

Hello. New 944NA owner here.

Hellloooo fellow red '88 owner, fellow guitarist...!

Your 2nd video is indeed better idle
I keep my pre-AC idle at 1000 and active AC comes down to 800 rpm...

I was struck by your 1.5 bar on the oil gauge at idle with temps running at 180F..
And the shuddering sound when you first activated the AC.. ?

Lovely paint job!
What did you pay for her?

Wilkommen

[Gawernator]

Your idle drops 200 RPM? What did I do to my car? After setting my idle the normal RPM is 950 and with the A/C on it either drops to 900 or even adjusts itself back to 950 RPM.

[Diceman]

Lets see...

50 or 100 rpms on AC - and it is a new AC unit, so I'd suspect that it isn't an issue, but I have no idea what I'm talking about. It does pretty well adjust back up after a few seconds.

I will hunt down some vacuum leaks at some point.

I paid a bit over $5k for the car, from a good friend who owns a dealership.

Tried hunting down some leaks today, and can't tell quite where they're coming from. Front end of the engine, but behind the belts.

As for guitar, I play blues for the most part, although I did play in a gigging punk band for a few years up until a couple of years ago.

These are some of my favorites, although there are some gems which aren't pictured.

[Diceman]

Side note - the brown doublecut and natural finished Tele were both built by Roman Rist, who is a luthier and Porsche enthusiast out of California. I believe that Roman sold his 911 a couple of years ago to fund a new shop location and equipment, but I suspect that he'll be picking up another Porsche again soon.

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by Diceman

Side note - the brown doublecut and natural finished Tele were both built by Roman Rist, who is a luthier and Porsche enthusiast out of California. I believe that Roman sold his 911 a couple of years ago to fund a new shop location and equipment, but I suspect that he'll be picking up another Porsche again soon.

Wicked axes man... soap bars on a LP!
I shuda gonna law school.. )

I'd only suggest keeping an eye on the low idle oil pressure..
( I know the manual states that low idle pressure is fine but just make sure it kicks above 3bars as you're driving..)

Rock on..
mikey

[Diceman]

It does get above 3 bars for certain.

The guitars were largely a very unwise (objectively, anyway) use of my GI Bill money! I obtained most of those guitars during law school, and borrowed my way through school - as a result, I am certainly paying for it now. Average attorney salary for a first year is $35k/yr in my state. I'm doing quite a bit better than that (I own the law firm - my partner and I have an associate, and a semi-retired attorney who works on contract in our office). If I landed an "average" job out of school, I'd be selling the guitars and wouldn't have the car!

The Les Paul with P90s is a 1969 model which has been refinished. It originally had min-humbuckers which were replaced with the P90s prior to my getting it. I had it refretted... Great guitar - one of my favorites, if not my favorite. That '69 Guild Starfire in the middle is another winner, as is the '67 Fender Coronado (the hollowbody up front). And the Rists - they're amazing.

I sold a bunch of stuff to fund my relocating my family after school. '64 and '65 Fender Jaguar, '65 Fender Mustang, '75 Fender Bronco, '67 Gibson ES335, and a few other non-vintage guitars.

Now that I'm not gigging and not playing as much as I used to, I may end up thinning the herd a bit in order to keep the Porsche properly maintained. I'm spread thin between student loan debt, mortgage, wife's car payment, business expenses, etc.

Anyway - too much about me. I appreciate all of you guys' help re: the car. I'll have a few more issues to get my hands around once I get my belt tensioned. Is this belt adjustment something that I can do myself? I'm a complete moron when it comes to mechanical work - so I'm a bit nervous about taking this one.

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by Diceman

It does get above 3 bars for certain.

The guitars were largely a very unwise (objectively, anyway) use of my GI Bill money!

Love the Guild too..
I too am a mechanical newb but pair up with my car's previous owner and for $100-$200 get to watch him do the more complex things to learn.
He has his own lift at his home so no feeling of rushing things..
Timing / Balance Belts and Water Pump are October goals with him..
Finding a nearby teacher here on Peli should prove viable for ya.

Looking fwd to your future threads..

[Diceman]

I'm planning to take my boys up to the regional Porsche club's monthly breakfast meeting next month. With any luck I will find someone who can give me some mentorship/guidance w/ the 944s.

[WolfeMacleod]

Dice, if you're not careful, you might find yourself "thinning the herd" of them all and buying a 911... lol.
Or maybe just to upkeep the 944. They can get pretty expensive if they weren't well maintained. Keep us posted on the service records and let us know how they look.

When I bought my 911 in '07 (from a dealership) I lucked out and found the previous owner's name... contacted him, and got service records all the way back to the beginning...records from all previous owners!

[Gawernator]

Hope you don't end up like me fixing pretty much every small thing here and there on the car. Or even worse Greenwater who has had seized water pumps to engine failure... eek