1990 944S2 problems

[morris944s2john]

I thought I might post the ongoing "niggles" with my car- any advice or ideas welcome- I allready searched the forum without much luck on a few of these. The other problems I have identified and can fix- these have me a bit confused, here they are

Recent- A clonk from the right rear when moving off or going over speed bumps. Also noticed a quiet snick/click noise when driving at parking speed with window open that sounds like something rubbing/ catching on the drive shafts. I'm thinking driveshaft CV joints.

Ongoing- when the car is started from hot, the 2nd or 3rd time the idle speed is unstable to the point of stalling sometimes. I have to keep my foot on the pedal for 2-3 mins running then it clears and the car will idle again although with a slight "wobble" in the idle speed. This problem does not manifest when starting from cold. I tried putting the car into a few garages in the past for this without luck. I am thinking air or fuel rather than ignition problem- most likely air? The car runs fine apart from this and fuel economy is very good for a 3L car.

Rear hatch rarely opens from the key, I have to open the door and push the button. dodgy connection /switch somewhere?

Vibration from about 3000rpm, felt through the gear stick. Torque tube? Clutch? engine balance problem??

any ideas??

The car recently passed the MOT and runs well apart from these problems, any suggestions welcome- preferably something I can work on myself. (DIY).

 

[homesea]

Sorry can't help a lot, but for the click/snick noise you're probably right to say it's the CV joint.
But interested in finding out about the vibration as mine is the same. I read some time back that it the exhaust is not hooked up in the middle then it will vibrate. But I put a new exhaust on mine only a month back and noticed at the time the old one wasn't hooked on. Putting the new one on right has made no difference.
I been thinking I might have a problem with the balance belts but I guess it would vibrate at different speeds with engine speed so my last idea is engine mounts. I haven't got round to changing them yet, but might give it a go.

 

[944cabby]

For the erratic idle try spraying some carb cleaner inside the Idle Speed Valve which is under the intake manifold - it's a bit of a pain to get to (i cleaned mine by disconnecting one of the rubber hoses and spraying the carb cleaner inside as i couldn't get it completely off).
The ISV gets gummed up and causes idle fluctuations.

 

[peanut]

vibration might be one of the engine mounts gone and the rear ckick clonk could be any part of the transmission or suspension frankly. I would shove it in a garage and get them to check the wishbone bush inserts and suspension mounts . You could jack the drive wheel and check the axle and CV joint yourself by sticking it in first and turning the wheel back and forth. If it is the drive side its probably as a result of racing starts and tramping

 

[georgethackray]

ORIGINAL: 944cabby
For the erratic idle try spraying some carb cleaner inside the Idle Speed Valve which is under the intake manifold - it's a bit of a pain to get to (i cleaned mine by disconnecting one of the rubber hoses and spraying the carb cleaner inside as i couldn't get it completely off). The ISV gets gummed up and causes idle fluctuations.

Hi, is there any chance of you posting a photo of where to spray please? I've got a very similar problem in that the car is superb when started from cold, but when the engine is switched off when hot, and then restarted after less than 15 minutes the revs are erratic for about 30 seconds. If I keep the revs above 1500 for this length of time, it's fine.
Thanks.

 

[944cabby]

On the right of the pic there's a hose that goes into a plastic elbow that connects into the "boot" on the airflow thingy (the other end of the hose goes under the intake manifold into the back of the ISV).
I removed this end by the elbow so that i could "manipulate" the hose sufficient to spray in a good amount of the carb cleaner.
It wasn't the best way to do it but i just couldn't undo the clamp around the ISV and the larger hose that goes through the top of the intake manifold was also sealed down with some sort of glue-like substance and i thought i'de damage it if i removed that one.
I connected the hose back up pretty smartish as the carb cleaner evaporates quite quickly and ran the car for a short while - it ran lumpy for a bit but soon cleared.
I did it a couple of times the same day and it cured the erratic idle.
Mine was dropping to 600/700 rpm then hunting to 1300 or so if i remember rightly.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9584/isvnc1.jpg

 

[georgethackray]

Thanks for the photo - I'll have a go at that later today.

Cheers.

 

[morris944s2john]

Thanks for the tips guys! Much appreciated.

I'll be trying the carb cleaner trick this week (when I can get the S2 in my garage- currently another one of my cars in there).

I will have a look at the CV joints-I have heard that over time the grease can "dissapear" from the CV joints giving these symptoms.

I will give the rear wishbones a good pry to check for play in the bush- there is only one bush in there? BTW, the rear ARB bushes are fine.

As for the engine vibration I will check the mounts, the engine runs fine apart from that. BTW, my car has done 164,000miles. Racing starts! LOL, yes in the first few years of ownership but it has had a relatively easy life since then.

 

[morris944s2john]

"the car is superb when started from cold, but when the engine is switched off when hot, and then restarted after less than 15 minutes the revs are erratic for about 30 seconds. If I keep the revs above 1500 for this length of time, it's fine. "

yes, that sounds like my problem, except its more like a couple of minutes after the warm start.

 

[stevep2000]

I've got an '89 S2 & get a vibration back through the gear stick around the 3200 mark - nothing major, but noticeable. Balance belts checked, changed mounts, but still there, and after digging around on Rennlist think the most likely cause is the clutch rubber donut breaking up, so living with it for now.....

 

[Guest]

The clunk you might be getting could be caused by the caliper plates lifting, there is a steel plate between the pad and the aluminium caliper, corrosion builds up behind and you get a clunk sometimes, especially just as you apply the brakes and pulling away, its not cheap to have fixed at a specialist, its very common. The vibration is probably the clutch rubber breaking up, depends on how bad it is as its £1000 to have done at a specialist. Its alot of work to do yourself as it requires remoing the exhaust, gearbox and sliding the torque tube back to get access.

 

[morris944s2john]

Good idea about the caliper plates, except I removed all the callipers this summer, stripped the plates down, cleaned off the corrosion, painted the callipers and re-fitted the plates with Stainles steel M6 dome headed bolts, pads, then callipers back on the disk. Pistons were all free, as were the pads in the callipers.

As for clutch break up- it could be- good suggestion, as the clutch was last changed a long time ago. Clutch is not juddering yet, which it did badly before it let go completely before.

 

[Guest]

When the clutch was replaced last did they fit O.E. with the rubber donut or did you have a modern style clutch with internal springs in the plate?

Just thinking about having mine done at the moment! Need to do some saving or speak nicely to the bank!

 

[morris944s2john]

May have been rubber centre- as it was done in 1998 by an official Porsche centre (at great cost!). Next time I'm under the car I will remove the inspection cover and have a look!

 

[peanut]

if the rubber doughnut is breaking up you should get plenty of warning. When mine went I had a noticeable clunk on over run. Checked all my bearings and cv joints suspension etc nothing It got worse over the next 5000 miles or so and a whine started as well with some vibration. One dark night in the middle on nowhere in the middle of a snowstorm I finally lost all drive . Of course I knew exactly what it was then ![]

 

[Neil Haughey]

ORIGINAL: stevep2000

I've got an '89 S2 & get a vibration back through the gear stick around the 3200 mark - nothing major, but noticeable. Balance belts checked, changed mounts, but still there, and after digging around on Rennlist think the most likely cause is the clutch rubber donut breaking up, so living with it for now.....

How fresh is your distributor cap and rotor? I had a similar problem a few years ago, car was always a bit rough, garage said it felt normal for a S2. The mounts etc where all fresh. I checked the cap one day and noticed it was worn but also noticed that the rotor arm looked original! This was on a car with full OPC service history before I bought it. I believe that some ppl just never replace the rotor arm or just leave it to long. IMHE the cap never lasts more then about 20K miles and the rotor arm perhaps double that. With fresh ignition the engine should spin as smooth as a six. It will not feel like it inside the car but with the bonnet up you can rest your left hand on the cam cover and rev the engine (cold so gently) up and down past 3K rpm, it should feel like a hairdryer i.e. amazingly smooth with no knocking about like one would expect from a 4 pot motor.

 

[morris944s2john]

Neil, thats a great suggestion, AFAIK the dizzy cap and rotor arm have NEVER been changed on my S2. Its something I do on my Morris Minor cars every year as part of the service, new dizzy cap and rotor. I have to admit, it didn't occur to me to change the cap and rotor on my Porsche.

My car gets serviced at an OPC every year, but I'm considering doing the service myself. Is it really worth keeping the book fully stamped, when the car has done 165,000 miles, is 17 years old and only worth a maximum of £3-5k (depending on condition).

 

[Guest]

That clicking and knocking coming from the rear wheel might be bearings. I had the exact same noise and it took ages to find out what was wrong. At low speeds it sounds like something metalic catching doesn't it, but speed up and it goes. I checked and changed everything, brakes, pads discs, pipes, outer bearings, cv joints and drive shaft, greased and oiled everything. It was doing my nut in because it was undriveable at this point. The only thing i hadn't done was the inner bearings. So took it all apart for the umpteenth time, got to the inner bearings and found they were smashed to bits.
And I do my own services, it's not at all hard, it's cheaper, you get to know your car better and you know for sure it's all been done. Garages, official or independent, are just too untrustworthy for me. I hate the feeling of going in and knowing they're going to shaft me. Asking nearly a tenner to change a bulb says it all for me.