One of the local pawn shops has a 944 parked out front. According to the clerk, it belongs to the store owner, won't start (reportedly due to a sensor or sensors; maybe crank position?), appears to be all there, doesn't look rotted out, ratty interior. Didn't get a chance to pop the hood last time, but no badging, so I'm assuming its a non-turbo. Asking $1000, clear title. What kind of deal-breakers I should be looking for upon a more thorough inspection?
If the timing belt hasn't been done, expect it to snap and RUIN the motor. They are supposed to be changed pretty often and require some pricey special tools. There are work arounds but I didn't do it when I had a 944.
Next up: There are two main types of 944. Pre 1985.5 and Post. The later has aluminum suspension (vs steel), better interior design, and uses a modern offset Porsche rim. Cool cars that are very fun when they work. Not really unreliable at all if you keep up on the maintenance. Alternatively, swap in a LS1 using a C5 Vette bell housing and call it a day.
Read Clarks-garage.com to get a primer on the cars. You can buy or borrow a belt tensioning tool, which is the only real specialty tool needed other than a good set of metric tools. Belts and water pump kit is about $500 and you should probably refresh the radiator and other belts while you're in there so add another $100 and the fuel hoses tend to fail causing engine fires, that's another $125 for the kit. That should get you about 3 years or 36,000 miles of reliable driving (once the no start is solved)
Common no start issues are: DME relay (main relay) or the crank reference sensors. Fairly straightforward things to check and change.
The non-turbos don't feel very fast, but they'll maintain a lot of speed through corners and handle quite well. Of course since they have been raced since inception there are literally tons of upgrades available to improve and tailor the car to your desires. A throttle cam and a reprogrammed ECU can improve the feel of the motor a bit and add a few more ponies under the curve.
Plan on towing that home, changing the belts/hoses and sorting out the no start. Sort out a few other minor problems (clean it, check the cv joints, the shift linkage, check the power window switches and sunroof gears, etc) at that point you could probably sell it and make a few bucks on it or drive it around and enjoy it for a bit yourself.
Visit www.944online.com
maj75 wrote: Visit www.944online.com
I wouldn't, but then I tend to avoid the "kids" and there are a lot of them there. To each their own of course. I prefer Rennlist or Pelican when I'm not here of course. Lots of good tech info on RL, Pelican and the 944spec racing forums.
The most expensive cheap car you'll ever buy is a neglected Porsche. Doesn't matter what model it is.
These are very balanced cars, have plenty of storage. Deal breakers are the clutch and oil pan gasket. Both take a long time to change. All belts/rollers/water pump should be immediately changed if you buy this car...
I DIY'd the job after my timing belt ate all of its teeth.
Including the machining work and new valves, I had the whole thing done for under $1100. Still running strong, sold it to a friend when I moved away from Ohio.
Take pictures, ask questions. It's pretty hard to go wrong with a 1000 dollar 944, but it certainly is possible.
GRM did a feature on the 944 in the past year. I'd recommend getting the back issue.
if it smells at all musty inside pull the battery out and inspect the battery tray. Battery is located over the passengers foot well. acid rots out the seams and water drips in down on to the heater and fills the passenger foot well. T-belt and water pump as said above and some crack head of an engineer thought it would be fine to run a rubber hose (power steering line) between the t-belt cover and the V-belt.... often times this hose weeps do to being rubbed by the belt. Rear hatch glass is big $$ and if your in a hot sunny area like my 944 came from the glass can slide out of the frame work and not seal well.
I've heard clutch changes suck bad. Friend of mine has an 89 944S and I crewed for him at a PCA race, but that's the extent of my experience with them.
pawn shop only asking $1000, I'd assume the worst case of snapped timing belt and a dead clutch. If it were a $100 sensor, why wouldn't you replace it and sell the car for $3000? That said, if it looks decent, how hard would it be or how long would it take to recoup $2k in parts?
Will wrote: I've heard clutch changes suck bad. Friend of mine has an 89 944S and I crewed for him at a PCA race, but that's the extent of my experience with them.
About the same as any other RWD car, the damned clutches are just stupid expensive and it can be daunting the first time since it doesn't look like your buddies T-5.
Bodies are galvanized so rust usually isn't an issue, unless it is damaged. Hatches are a stupid design, if the seal fails (usually the wrong hatch shocks are installed) grab a hatch off a newer car and move on. Battery trays are also annoying, but fixable with some liquid nails and a little sealing paint.
Power steering doesn't run through the belts, not sure where that came from. The return line to the tank is huge, runs into the front quarter panel area and is meant to reduce foaming, etc. They do use ATF in the power steering and using regular power steering fluid will cause leaks in short order. Also the power steering reservoir should be changed periodically since they have a built-in filter and they are cheap as they have been used on many euro cars (MINI, various BMWs, etc)
I'd assume any non-starting 944 has a busted timing belt until proven otherwise.
Will wrote: I've heard clutch changes suck bad.
Nah it's cake, you just have to pull the trans and then pull the torque tube and then it's right there. Book time is only 20 hours.
(This is sarcasm)
When I was bored and young enough that our labor time guide was on dead tree, I looked for the longest labor time I found find. It was a 944 head gasket at right about forty hours. That's one entire work week dedicated to removing and replacing a cylinder head.
Don't care, still want a 944. Actually a 931. But either way it is a watercooled Porsche so therefore valueless to the Porsche hipster community that values ass-backwards design like rear engined aircooled POSes. (disclaimer: thinks 911s are pretty nice driving cars but DAMN did they do a lot of engineering to get around the fact that it's just a plain stupid design)
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