Porsche 944 Options

[florin83]

am vazut anuntul asta si ma cam bate gandul.. :unibrow:
Stiu ca a fost destul de blamat la vremea lui 944 din cauza ca avea motorul in fata, dar mie mi se pare printre cele mai frumoase porsche-uri de pana in 1990 (alaturi de 928 si 959)

masina asta o stiu de ceva vreme, prioprietarul are 40-50 ani, deci nu cred ca e asa alergata..
ma intereseaza intretinerea la o astfel de masina.. se gasesc piese, sunt mult mai scumpe decat cele de bmw, am unde sa o repar?

[florin83]

am gasit si problemele frecvente

Possible Problem Areas

Engine - All the variants have special surface cylinder bores - very tough, but if you run them low on oil virtually impossible to repair, no simple rebore is possible on these engines. The engine is fed by a fuel injection system though 8 valves on the Lux model, most other features are straightforward making for relatively simple maintenance. The engines are otherwise very long lived, certainly capable of 200,000 miles plus.

Fuel lines - These are steel, and run from the rear of the car to the fuel injection pump. A new set from Porsche is about £500, but some specialists have a cheaper replacement option which brings this down to £200 ish.

Oil seals - The engine is fitted with a balance shaft to eliminate vibration, unfortunately this has an oil seal that fails with age or use! The crankshaft end oil seal also fails, so whilst the timing belt is off for one do the other. The seals are cheap but the time to do the belt is costly.

Tailgate leaks / rattles - This is very common on these cars, and is fixed by fitting new catches on the boot. Not cheap, £100+ from Porsche, £50 from a specialist.

Heater sticks on - Boil yourself away if the heater sticks on, if combined with the tailgate leak can proved dangerous as the car will suck exhaust gas in from the tailgate if driven with the windows open to let cool air in. The part that fails is a simple solenoid motor that moves a flap in the heater, relatively cheap to fix for someone that knows where to look. Expect £40 from a specialist.

Valve stem oil seals - The seals can harden over time causing the engine to smoke and use oil. This is not to be confused with bore wear that is much more terminal! With the valve seals the problem can be rectified for around £250-£300, most specialists will be able to do the job without removing the cylinder head.  

Engine damage due to low oil - All Porsches of this age use oil, they all did when new. Change the oil frequently, and check the levels regularly. If the level drops too far below the bottom mark on the dipstick the engine will be written off, with no economic possibility of repair.  

Clutch - Clutches wear on all cars, but on the 944 a clutch replacement can cost £500. I've seen 40,000 miles quoted as typical, although mine with 149,000 miles on the clock has only had one. Recently the clutch master cyclinder failed, this left the pedal on the floor with the clutch still engaged. Not good. The master cylinder was £70 from Porsche and easy to fit. This is apparently relatively common and can be confused with a failed clutch - a potential bargaining lever

Exhaust - As with all cars the exhausts rot. If planning to keep the car it may be worth investing in a stainless pipe, but the pattern part distrubutors all carry pipes to fit.

Wheels and tyres. The standard for the Lux model are 15" wheels, but many have later or optional extra 16" items fitted. The offset for many of these wheels can be wrong for the 944 and the fitting of spacers is common. This had been done frighteningly badly on mine when I bought it, I had to buy a full set of wheel studs to correct it as the originals had been hacksawed to fit.
Tyres last well in most circumstances, abnormal wear may be a sign of crash damage

Interior trim. The drivers seat wears badly if cloth covered, Porsche can still supply the original material and a trimmer can repair the seats. Most models have an electric drivers seat, at least one of the motors will have failed by now! Not a big issue as long as you can get comfortable either manually or otherwise. The 944 was not fitted with rear seat belts as standard, these are available at extra cost. Most models did not have air conditioning fitted either, although this was a common optional extra.

Electrical. Age again comes into play, these cars will ave electrical problems at some point simply down to age. Nothing specific to watch for except for perhaps the heater controls which are all electrical.

The 165bhp is more than enough to kick the back end out in the dry, let alone on a greasy wet road.
:unibrow: :unibrow: