New 944 Owner needing advice!!

[bigbadtez]

Hi to everyone on the forum!!!! Iv'e just recently bought myself a very tidy 86' Porsche 944 2.5 manual 8 valve beastie!!!She is in very good nick with nic cup alloys and the interior is absoloutly mint! She's also got a full history starting with the first MOT's to the last.Hartech have also played about with her in the past judging by the mass of invoice bills she's had!!! Anyway i love her she flys and doesnt smoke at all.But this morning i noticed a slight water leak under the front bumper on the passengers side.Now im very new to Porsche's and even though im very good with mechanics its all new to me!! I popped the bonnet and traced the leak to what looks like the water pump.In front of the "water pump" is a white plastic piece which looks like it should have a pipe joined to it. It seems to be leaking from behind this plastic pipe bit.Could anybody shed any light to what this is for??? I know i need a manual for her too so anybody with a second hand one they dont want please get in touch! Im giving her a service tomorrow but im just worried about this water leak! By the way does anybody else service their own 944's or does it always have to be by a reputable mechanic?Iv'e always done my own services with my cars and i dont skimp on price. Thankyou for reading my post and very nice to have found this forum
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[Fen]

That is a blank. The water pump is standard across the 8v engines and the Turbo has a pipe on there to feed a pump that cools the turbocharger. From memory it's held on by 2 screws so you could reseal it. You are not missing a pipe.

In terms of manuals you can download them free from Rick's site www.cannell.co.uk, but he's been having issues with his hosting provider recently so they might not be up for a little while.

 

[TTM]

Welcome.
I guess the leak comes from the gasket between the white plastic pipe and the water pump which usually ends up leaking on cars that aren't used enough.
Your car being a non-turbo '86 I believe it is normal that there is no pipe connected to it.
That might mean the waterpump was replaced previously as they are now all supplied with this white plastic part (the original part as black). On a 944 turbo, 944 S2 or 968 it has to be drilled because these three models have a water pipe connected to it.
If I remember correctly, if this gasket is original it will be green, if more or less recent it will be pink.

Fen my friend, the type of water pump depends on the type of engine block ; the one for the 100 mm bore block has a 68 mm large impeller, the one for 104 mm bore block has a 78 mm large impeller.

 

[bigbadtez]

Ok thats great guy's and thankyou!Your right about the car not being used.It was stood for two months prior to me buying it. I paid 1500 quid for it but as i said its got no major issues other than the water leak which i will repair tomorrow weather permitting!!!! Oh i also have another gripe (got a funny feeling i'll be on here quite alot LOL), the passengers,window and electric mirror has stopped working. Brother says it may be the wiring from pillar to door.But a moor experienced answer would set me in the right direction. Are the fuses the same for the electic mirrors and doors?? Thanks again and sorry to be a pest

 

[Fen]

The standard comment really was a simplification of the reason they have the blank. What I wasn't aware of was that some NA cars have a pipe connected.

 

[Fen]

It won't be a fuse if the mirror and window work on the other door as the sides are not fused independently. The window and mirror may be on the same fuse, but I think more likely separate.

Both window and mirror are wired in a circuit that passes through the drivers side (there is a switch for both windows there as well as the mirror control) and if you disconnect one window switch it can stop both windows from working. I'd start by checking the window switches have not corroded up. They come apart easily, but careful you don't lose the spring arms. The mirrors might be a duff motor or the switch in the centre console would be my guess.

 

[homesea]

My window, mirror and locking on the passanger side stopped working on my old car. It turned out the plug had fallen out. The door wiring harness plugs into the main wiring loom on the passanger side bulk head. If you pull the fuse box out it will let some light in, then stand on your head in passanger foot well and look up you should see it.

 

[graham.webb]

My S2 has had a similar persistent leak, but on the S2 the blank is drilled out and there's a hose that takes the overflow up to the expansion tank. Not exactly the same as yours I suppose, but FWIW it's one of the endearingly optimistic uses of plastics on the car (remember we're talking about the '80s when manufacturers did this in pursuit of manufacturing economies). On the S2 it relies on an O ring to make the seal.

I had mine changed and re sealed at last years service, but it quickly leaked again (in spite of my Indie having used a silicone gasket sealant too). I got hold of a new one and re seated it myself.....the flange on these plastic elbows is not necessarily flat (both mine were about 0.5mm low in the middle) so I carefully rubbed it down on wet and dry over a block of wood to bring it down flat and level right across the face (check with a steel straightedge).

After cleaning off the residue I re made the joint with a new O ring and Hylomar, and it was fine.

Back to square one now....the last belts & rollers service changed the water pump as well (complete with another new elbow), but at least I've kept the modified elbow for when the new one leaks!!!

 

[bigbadtez]

Hi guy's just a quick post to let you know how i got on! I managed to do a 3/4 service on the car today comprising of all the filters,plugs and oil change. Had to remove the dizzy cap to get to the oil filter properly so checked out the cap and rotor arm which looked fine.Then i got on with the plastic elbow on the water pump.Turns out it was a pink seal on the elbow and didnt look retarded in any way. I gave the mating surfaces a good old clean and put a liberal smear of silicon sealer on the surface of the elbow.Bolted the assembly down and had a pot of coffee and a fag! Anyway with all that i took it for a spin round town after the service and let me tell you the benefits are tremendous! The car pulls alot stronger and feels loads smoother.But the added bonus is no more water leak (yay). But its all a bit short lived.The ignition leads do look a little old and are starting to perish.I decided to wait while dark and check for arcs from the leads.Turns out its like Blackpool illuminations with arcs popping out at every given earth point. I did have a VW Polo that did the same but ran fine.Which brings me back to you begging for advice!Is it a normal thing for arcs to show or am i gonna have to buy new ones? Also do i need original Porsche ones or will i get away with Pattern ones? I just want her right for next summer!!!

 

[mike220]

If they're arcing - get some new ones. Even if it seems to be running right, the spark at the plug won't be as strong as it can be if you're wasting energy earthing itself on the way there [&:]

Mike