How tough are 944 turbos?

[andyslade]

My 89 turbo has done 131k miles,and seems to be in good health.The car is totally standard,and i intend to keep it this way.How many miles are these cars good for ,before you need to start spending lots of money.The reason i ask this is that i had a 911 turbo that had done 140K miles,and when i bought it ,it needed lots of money spending on it,and i dont want to make the same mistake again.Most of my other porsches i have owned(11 of them!)have seemed pretty bulletproof,but is the turbo the same?
After the 911 turbo,anything with a turbo worries me!
Cant make my mind up if to keep the 944 and get it really nice,or get another 911(non turbo!)
Andrew.

 

[Guest]

The 'T' doesn't stand for Turbo, it stands for Trouble. And nowt but. And that's on ANY car, not just the 944. I think they're all well and good if you are prepared to keep on top of them, ie, spend the time and money. But if you can't be bothered or just don't want the extra expense and associated headache, then stay well clear.

That's just my opinion though, some will know what i'm talking about whilst others will probably disagree. I've never had a 944T but i would love one and i'm working my way up to it. And when i get there, i'll only be getting the best, and off an enthusiast who has loved it. I wish you the best of luck with yours Andy. If i were you i'd keep it and get it good. Then when you've spent a fortune and got everything sweet, sell it, preferably to me.

 

[sawood12]

I would say that 944 turbos are just as bullet-proof as any other Porsche. If you take the turbo out of the equation by modern standards you have a pretty basic and robust engine and the turbos have been proven to be pretty bulletproof themselves. There is no complication of a 16v head to worry about (which in themselves are bulletproof if the maintenance is kept up). So I would say unless you particularly want a 911over a 944 then keep the 944. I'm not saying that you wont get any expensive bills - you will, all the maintenance i've carried out on mine so far have been due to old parts wearing out and nothing to do with the car not being robust or unreliable. In fact the mechanicals and electrics have been bulletproof for me so far, all i've had to replace are the odd old and tired seal (though getting to the seals in the expensive part of the bill), an old and tired radiator temp switch, a 2nd hand alternator and a clutch master cylinder. Not bad for a 20yr old car that's just turned 113000 miles - and i'm not particularly easy on the car either.

Although I have found that the car definately runs better the more you drive it. During periods where I don't drive the car that often I seem to get niggly problems that go away as soon as I start to use the car more.

I have a 911 itch I must scratch at some stage and about 12 months ago I was very close to buying a 993C2, however (apart from my wife falling pregnant) when I really analysed the situation I realised I would be spending alot more money on a car that wont handle as well and wont feel as fast (and arguably wont be as fast in real terms). I've come to the conclusion that the 911 worth trading my 944 in for in order to get a step increase in all-round performance and handling i'm looking at a £30k - £40k car, which is way out of my price range. So i've decided to keep the 944 and tweak it and track it and turn it more into a play thing rather than a daily driver so when I eventually take the plunge with a 911 in the future the car wont owe me anything and i'll probably keep it as it will be too much hassle to sell on.

Hope you decide to keep the car. Sounds like it's a good one.

 

[andyslade]

Thanks for the replys.
I do really like the 944,it goes well,and handles better than my previous 911s.It is just the experience of the 911 turbo that has me a bit worried about turbo cars.
I did manage to get the 944 rather cheap,so at least i have got a fair bit of money to spend on it to get it spot on.
I must add that everyone should try to own a 911 turbo at some point,mine was a 82 model,and although i did have to spend a lot of money on it ,it was a real animal of a car!
Andrew.

 

[Fen]

I'd agree with Scott. While I take on board what you say, Darren, I have had 3 more 944 Turbos than you and I don't think they need to be money pits.

In fact I'd say it's probably the same as for a 911 Turbo; buy one that has been owned by an enthusiast who understands (and can afford) the maintenance they need and has the mechanical sympathy to know when not to cane the 'nads off the thing (doing it frequently is good for it, just not when it's cold for example) and you will probably get a good car that will not bankrupt you, but it will cost more to service than a Ford.

Conversely a normally aspirated 911 (or a 944 for that matter) can still turn into a money burning machine if you buy wrong.

Buy what you want then, and look at each car on its individual merits. If you think your 944T is a good one then stick with it unless you really want a 911, because while both can be fairly bombproof and both can be a money pit also, but a good 911 will be slightly more expensive to run than a good 944T and a bad 911 will be more expensive to try to put right than a bad 944T (you can always break a troublesome 944 and realise its full market value in parts if nothing else).

I also understand what Scott is saying about the 944T vs. 911, but to be honest while I like my 944 and look forward to the day it's running again I'm under no illusions it's the fastest or best handling car I could have for the money. That being the case there has to be some other reason to keep it (in my case it's probably no more than I bought it a few years ago when it was the best option I could afford and it's pretty much rammed up my backside sideways now in that I'd get so little of what I have invested in it back that I may as well keep it; that and owning it grants me "membership" to a select gang of pretty cool people I have got to know through it).

It's actually easier in my mind to justify a 911, which is not the fastest nor best handling car available for the money either. There is a lot more that's unique about driving a 911 than there is about driving a 944 of any flavour and it's the experience of driving one that people buy them for.

 

[Diver944]

Coming back to how tough is the 944T, I can only personally think of two cars that I know the turbo itself wore out and that was Mr Sims and Mr Foote on this forum, both at high mileage and both tweaked and driven hard. Obviously there will be others but of the several dozen Turbo owners who post here and on Titanic, a catastrophic failure is rare []

The engine itself is fairly simple, not overly stressed and unless some foreign object is introduced (like with mine) it will last a very long time. The main things that will lose you power are boost leaks from old rubber tubing which is very minor compared to worn valve guides, worn rings or a top end rebuild like you hear with some older cars.

Of course anything can go wrong at any time and it can have the potential to be very expensive, but this is where a good Specialist can save you shedloads by advising which things to replace before they become terminal.

 

[944Turbo]

Mine (Mr Foote) was foreign object damage as well - something small that started a cycle of tiny bits of metal going round and round the intake system slowly chipping bits off the blades. It was still boosting fine when a hose split and I discovered it. It was relatively cheap to get rebuilt and not much more to replace half of it with something bigger. Eddy on titanic did have the nut come off the end of his turbo but yes very rare occurance, the extra coolant pump helps.
Tony

 

[John Sims]

In fairness, my Turbo was up to 180K miles but still seemed to be OK.

I changed it because I had heard they were good for up to 160K and therefore I was 20K into borrowed time. At least that was what I told Belinda so that I would be allowed to replace it. [] The main reason was I wanted something bigger as my poor old 220 blower couldn't move the amount of air I wanted it to.....but don't tell Belinda.

 

[944Turbo]

yes, they never last beyond 181k []

[]

 

[333pg333]

In fact the 944t's, especially the later models, were overenginered in many cases and suffer much less than the rear engined turbo's in the reliability stakes. These cars were, and still are, undervalued which is a pity in terms of their resale but you guys are lucky that your initial purchase prices are approx half of what we pay. It's was unfortunate that they were just victums of bad timing which led to their demise and the fact that Porsche didn't bank on public opinion of the 911 when they thought they were going to kill it off and pursue the better designed front engined products.

 

[Guest]

I would say there farely bullet proof. My standard 1989 944 Turbo has now done 172,000miles. I brought the car 3 years ago and have used it as my every day transport averaging about 10,000miles a year.
At 155,000miles it made 213whp (254bhp) at the dyno day and it doesn't feel any slower today.
The longest it has been off the road is for 2weeks whilst I replaced the brake lines, refurbished the callipers, and replaced the front supension bushes all would apply to a NA car. I then when to the US for 4weeks, Kim (better half) took it for its MOT. 2 days after my return from the US the car effortless completed a trip to the Le Mans 24hrs.
Just have to top it up with oil every now and then and stay on top of the servicing.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: JaseB

I've no comment on the turbo but just to say that Mr Bewley you've a top choice of second car[]

I grew out of my Caterfield []

http://www.2ta.co.uk/petrolhead/slug/index.html

I further concluded that I would rather someone ran into me in a 944 than a plastic bath with wheels and a moosive engine. Has to be done though []

 

[Davyboy]

Mines just done over 30k miles in the 4 years I've owned it, and that includes over 6500 miles of the Nurburgring on R rated tyres. Try doing that in any car and see what your bills are.

I'd suggest they were pretty tough []

 

[andyslade]

Thanks for all the replys.It has given me a lot more confidence in the 944,but i have to admit that i have just purchased another porsche,this one having its engine in the back!
Andrew