My first 944's out front - now what?

[Eiger]

Hi All,
thankfully I took the advice given in my newbie post in the 924 forum and held out for something without a "thunk" in the rear - which is why a sweet 1986 944 Lux is parked on my drive this evening. I had the pleasure of driving it up from Somerset to Southants this afternoon under a glorious blue sky - what a day to bring home my first Porsche. Pics will follow soon.

A few things need doing but it's nothing more than I expected really and the drive up certainly revealed a very solid car mechanically - no thumps, thunks or knocks even when hitting a couple of small B road potholes. I'm very happy about that. It does feel a bit "Rolls Royce" if you know what I mean so that's going to need sorting - new dampers?

The only real downside to my purchase was that the car failed MOT because of a 50p size rust spot behind the stone chip protection on the passenger side sill within 12 inches of the seatbelt.... personally I think the tester was being a bit pedantic as the rest of the sills are solid - the rust is not visible and not even apparent from under the car. But, at least I know exactly what I'm dealing with & the MOT only showed two other items that needed attention:
a) leaking power steering pump (which I hope a tightening of the bolts will cure); SORTED
b) unbalanced braking due to the front OS caliper being a bit sticky (cos the car hasn't seen a lot of use in the last year according to the tester) SORTED

A couple other things that need attention are:
c) the electric windows stopped working after I had opened and closed them a couple of times on the way home (they'd been strong before that and other electrics work - sunroof, mirrors, stereo, wipers, washer); SORTED
d) no heat from the blower - only cool fresh air; SORTED
e) after a couple minutes of working fine the temp gauge goes ballistic and then sits at max (even tho the car doesn't overheat or use water - I topped it up before the journey & checked it on route)
f) the passenger footwell carpet is a bit damp - I haven't pulled the battery out yet but initial inspection doesn't reveal any rust; SORTED

Your sage advice on sorting the above would be greatly appreciated!
Steve

 

[Flick]

How much did you pay for it?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

1 -Join the club!
2 -Welcome
3 - Ill look through post at home later
Mike

 

[Eiger]

Anybody know where the "heater tap" is in the engine compartment? Apparently this may be the reason I'm not getting heat in the cabin.
thanks

 

[944 man]

The heating system is a little more complicated on series two 944s. The vacuum unit can fail but itl more than likely be a very cheap plastic clip thats failed. Someone else will be better able to advise you, because most of my series two experience was gained when the cars were newer (ie: didnt break).

 

[Frenchy]

Check the vacumn valve (Blue/Black) has not lost a pipe it is situated near the bulkhead this recently happened to mine,could be the famous clip whic costs around a quid you need to take the glovebox out to get at it properly.
On a 2.5 8v lux there is a bleed point for the cooling water on the housing at the front of the engine where the top hose goes on to the engine, better to have the car raised at the front.
Crack it open slowly when the car is running and warm watch for air bubbles being released close the bleed pointbwhen theybstop if air is present.
The windows will probably be a fuse or relay if they both stopped working together.
Temp guage could be the sender unit situated at the front right hand side of the cylinder head.
Welcome to our forum.

 

[sawood12]

If the clip has failed then the system fails hot - i.e. you cannot get anything but the hottest air out of the system. In the skuttle under the plastic cover that covers up the wiper linkage and the blower unit there is a small diaphragm unit with a rubber/plastic pipe going to it. This can cause problems also but I can't remember what the specific symptoms are. A search on this forum should uncover others' experiences.

 

[Eiger]

thanks guys I'll try these things tomorrow and do some more digging around the forum.

As for the window relay - are they readily available general issue ones (ie Halfords/GSF) or do I need to go to an OPC?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Relay is pretty standard I think.

Heater - check that the heater water pipes haven't been "short circuited" to take the heater matrix out of use if its leaking.

Guessing that it it an early car (pre Oval dash) with the battery under the bonnet and lots of holes for wires in and out over the passenger footwell, check inside the wing some early cars dont have plastic inner wings and can leak thru' side repeater groments also check the A post trim cover - mine was moved to instal an alarm, the wire trapped and made a quick route in for the water!

Mike

 

[Eiger]

It's an oval dash 944 - I've downloaded the manuals from Rick Cannels site but it's missing the part on the Heater Ventilation system - anyone know a link for that section of the heater manuals so I can see where the Matrix is?

 

[Eiger]

Update on my 944 after 2 weeks of tinkering:
I've sorted the windows with a £36 relay from Porsche in Guildford;
rebuilt the Power steering pump and fitted a new seal from an industrial seal supplier for 70p - which cured the leak;
unsiezed all the brake calipers (the result of only doing 1000 miles in two years) and copperslipped the pads & parts, plus checked all the brake lines (brakes were tested by my friendly garage and now they're apparently all good! Although I'd like to replace the brake fluid now);
I also sorted the handbrake with a bit of an adjustment while the rear wheels were off - and she passed the rolling road test with "that's as good as it will ever get" comment from the sparky;
thankfully my damp "problem" wasn't actually a problem afterall - a day with the doors open in the sunshine and there's been no hint of damp since;
and finally, I got her back after a week at the body shop, who did an outstanding job on the sill - jubbly!

All that "needs" doing now is the NS wishbone (and perhaps some new bushes) and my 944 will be ready to be enjoyed fully with a new MOT!

The heater not working is a minor inconvenience at this stage but I'll give that another look now that my neck has recovered from craning under the dash a week ago...

 

[ChasR]

The heater could be down to air in the system but IMO it could also be the heater control unit. If you can find the vacuum diagphram, put the end that goes to the vacuum pump onto a syringe, and when the car is warm have an assistant sit in the car, and see what happens when you go to one extreme to the other. But from what I understand if the vacuum system has leaks, it will default to full heat (although I guess the valve could go bad) as it did in my case (I cured it with a bit of fresh hose).

Regarding the temperature gauge, does it get better if you repeatly tap the plastic of the cluster in front of the temp gauge? If so this is probably down to a bad connection at the back of the clocks. Using Clark's guide, carefully take out the cluster and do the following:

1: Clean the ribbon connectors where the 3 plugs go in. I used Super 10 switch cleaner and relubed them with Vaseline (I used Cotton buds, you can probably use a cloth).

2: There will be 4 oval plastic pieces(like the French Tabac signs shape if you know what I mean) in the back of the clusters (1 each for the Voltmeter, Oil Pressure, Fuel Gauge, and Temp Gauge) which you will see pictures of soon. Where they go in will look like this. Remove the 8mm nuts and remove the 'Tabac' prongs (some reckon you can pull them out via fingers (I couldn't and was scared of breaking something. I used very carefully a set of small pliers and slowly and carefully pulled them free. You will be left with two holes either side of the thread. Where the copper is, clean with Super 10 and relube with Vaseline (I put the Super 10 cleaner onto a cotton bud and then used that to clean the contacts):

Even if the copper prongs looks clean, clean it with Super 10, give it a light going over with sandpaper (very light) of 1500 grade, and relube with Vaseline. The above one was from the Temp gauge.

The one below was from the fuel gauge:

This one required 800 grit to get the worst off (it was going a little black).

I did the other two as a precaution (Oil pressure and voltage) and reassembled the clocks back. From having a temp gauge which would flicker and then max out, the gauge behaves itself now, and the fuel gauge most of the time didn't work, or flickered a bit like a dodgy speedo when it decided to work. Now that gauge also gives a good reading.

 

[Eiger]

Thanks Chas! I'll give that a go - couldn't hurt and looks a reasonable DIY job eh

 

[DivineE]

Bugger it didn't work! I just wrote a full description of how to bleed the coolant system on here and my crappy internet connection crashed as I sent it!

Ok basically 944 system is horrible to bleed, previous owner may have done it badly if he had to replace a hose or something could be an airlock somewhere causing your no heat problem. Worth trying by emptying the coolant out and starting again.

Park the car on a flat ish surface, undo the bleed screw on the top of the engine block (where the highest coolant hose enters the block) empty system. Then jack up the front of the car as high as you can and re-fill until coolant comes out of the hole in the bleed screw. Tighten screw, lower the car back down and top up, drive 10-20miles and top up again. Could solve problems if not its still a good job done before winter because 944 radiators have a tendency to crack, where the plastic ends meet the metal middle, if they're filled with water and not enough coolant.

Lastly good luck with the car. WELL DONE on your choice. Whatever happens I guarantee you wont regret having owned one

 

[ChasR]

Another way is to put a bit of cloth on the expansion cap aperture and blow through the header tank to force the remaining air out when the bleed screw is open.