New 944 S2 owner but the car has a couple of issues

[kcbart]

Hi Will

Regarding the seat control, the most likely cause of this is that one of the ball bearings inside the switch has come adrift. Take the main switch cover off and you can carefully pry the switch apart, but be careful as there are small springs, smaller ball bearings and a short metal rod which can all easily be lost as it comes apart. Might be a good idea to place a plastic bag over it to catch anything. Probably worth cleaning the contacts while they are accessible. Getting it all back together with the seats in place can be tricky as the ball bearings need to be held in a horizontal position as you push the parts back together - some people have glued the ball bearings onto the springs or used grease, I replaced mine with map pins with the pin cut down to about a centimeter and a bit of blue tack in the spring to hold it.
To temporarily get the seat into the desired position you can always swap the wires to the motor to reverse direction.

 

[willbowles]

Thanks for the reply on the wheel bearings David, good advice and no doubt I would of done exactly what you said is not good to do! It'll be good to change them anyway so I have a record of when they were done last.

Cheers Keith also. I did take off the seat control cover and unscrewed the switches. I couldn't get them out and didn't want to pull too hard in case I did some further damage... Are the wires normally just long enough?

Thanks

Will

 

[kcbart]

Will

No, the wires are not long enough to pull the switches out - it would certainly be a lot easier if they were! They could be disconnected under the seat but I think you would need to take the whole seat out to reach the wires and connectors.

 

[willbowles]

Hi all,

Could anyone point me in the right direct for S2 wheel bearings? I've been reading on Clarks Garage how you change them so I'm clued up on that but not sure where is best to go for 944 parts.

Thanks

Will

 

[944Fripp]

Hi Will,

Welcome to the forum, good choice of car!

I changed my front bearings about a month ago, seems to really make a difference and the only tools I didn't have were a decent gas torch and a big set of pliers to pull the pad off the disk.

This is the kit I got for mine:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-944-S2-3-0i-Coupe-RWD-1989-1992-FRONT-WHEEL-BEARING-FBK628-/270973028097?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f17404701#ht_627wt_1397

Make sure you buy extra grease as there wasn't enough in the packs and also make sure you have an M8 (I think, could be M6 so maybe have both!) bolt on standby in case the disk is seized onto the hub. There is a threaded hole in the disk that allows you to push the disk away from the hub.

Watch this video on how to do it (don't know about you but I'm more of a visual person!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjFY7-IHgvQ

The only difference I found is that the calliper is bolted to the hub with 2 large hex screws and not an allen head bolt....be prepared, these are bloomin tight and I had to use a piece of steel pipe to as an extension bar for the ratchet! I guess they're tight for good reason though!

Best of luck with it.

 

[willbowles]

Hi Tom,

Sorry for the slow reply!

Thank you for your reply. I've got 2 bearings on order. I thought I'd replace both fronts at the same time. That YouTube link is priceless, makes it look like quite a simple job which is good news.

Shall report back if it cures the problem or not.

Thanks

Will

 

[david924s]

ORIGINAL: 944Fripp

The only difference I found is that the calliper is bolted to the hub with 2 large hex screws and not an allen head bolt....be prepared, these are bloomin tight and I had to use a piece of steel pipe to as an extension bar for the ratchet! I guess they're tight for good reason though!

From memory when I changed the discs on my 91 S2 the calipers were mounted to the hub with bolts something like 14-16mm not too sure but easy enough to get the socket on but as you say can be tight, make sure the car is well supported before heaving on the wrench or you could pull it over, also clean up the hub face behind the discs while they are off if you are changing them to make sure the new ones go flush to the hub. Although if you are only changing the bearings you may be able to do it without removing the discs as they are accessible through the centre of the hub, however getting the inner bearing race may be difficult depending how long they have been in.

I let my local garage change mine cost me around £130 so not worth trying myself in the middle of Winter.

 

[willbowles]

Just an update, I changed the wheel bearing but unfortunately the vibration is still there. Could it be a ball joint? I'm going to get the wheels properly balanced but the vibration is too much and the noise... There is some serious noise, I'm not going to drive it until the problem is sorted.

Any clues or ideas anyone?

Cheers

Will

 

[david924s]

Could be ball joints and you should be able to see any play in them with the car jacked up and a wiggle of the wheel (make sure the car is securely lifted) I haven't thought about this before but I wonder if it could be the drive shafts or more likely worn engine mounts.

 

[willbowles]

Drive shafts and engine mounts sound expensive and probably something I can't replace myself... I'll check out the ball joints later on.

 

[david924s]

Drive shafts unlikely to be the problem just trying to look at all the rotating areas, engine mounts tend to show up as causing an issue when changing gear or on off throttle, but maybe if really worn could cause your problem again just looking at all common areas. From memory they are not too expensive and can be changed eaily enough with the proper guide (Clarks) but are a fiddle to do but not too bad on a none Turbo car (exhaust routing).

Have you swopped the wheels in case it's a buckled wheel or even a lumpy tyre if the car has been standing they can develop flat spots.

 

[willbowles]

I will do that later. I gave the wheel a thorough looking over and it seemed true.

 

[willbowles]

Once free thing I haven't checked is swapping the front discs with one another. That should show me if it's a warped disc I think.

Are there any recommended discs to get?

Thanks

 

[zcacogp]

Will,

Disks; anything but Zimmerman (which is what Euro Car Parts sell a lot of!) They are reputed to warp quite readily, but I have never used them so can't speak from first hand experience.

This may sound direct, but I think you need to diagnose the problem with the vibration rather than just change parts. As I understand it, you have changed the wheel bearings and don't quite know where to go from here. I suggest you get the disks (all four) checked with a Dial Test Indicator. You can buy these for £30 or so (and it's an easy job), or you can pay a garage to do it for you. This will tell you whether you have a warped disk. Look closely at the surface of the disks as well; if they have debris on them (commonly from a pad that was clamped on for too long) then this can give all the symptoms of a warped disk.

Other things to check are the tie rod ends and the bottom ball joint, where the wishbone connects to the suspension upright. You can check both of these by jacking the car up (there is a jacking point in the middle of each side, on the sill - DON'T jack the car on what looks like the jacking point just behind the front suspension - you'll bend the chassis!) and giving the wheel a really good wiggle to see if there is anything loose. Wiggle up-and-down as well as left-to-right, and if you find some play then carry on wiggling until you have found where the play is. And don't assume the problem is at the front of the car; vibrations (and noise) can travel very well around a car chassis and be deceptive about where they originate from.

Let us know how you get on.


Oli.

 

[willbowles]

Hi all,

A better late than never update for everyone. I need a bottom ball joint. Had the car jacked up the other week and 2 of us found the problem. I jacked up the other side to compare movement and it was clear then.

Now the house move is done I'll be ordering the part and getting her back on the road.

Cheers

Will

 

[zcacogp]

Will,

If you mean the ball joint on the end of the wishbone then you may find that it's a bit more expensive to buy a replacement part than you expect; that ball joint is a part of the wishbone and you will need to replace the whole wishbone. Hartech have the ability to re-build those joints, although you will need to supply your old wishbones as exchange parts.

DIY rebuild kits are also available, but stories as to their effectiveness abound. Google is your friend ...


Oli.

 

[willbowles]

Hi Oli,

It is the part you mentioned and the price tag is £200 more than I was expecting! Never mind, I need to get it fixed and back on the road. A Virgin Media chap who fitted my broadband this morning commented on how nice my car looked. Great start to the day with a Porsche compliment!

I noticed the other night that my dashboard has lost all illumination'when the lights are on. Is this a common issue? It was a bit flickery before so I'm not certain it's the fuse. My low fuel light has always flickered.

Thanks

Will

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: willbowles
I noticed the other night that my dashboard has lost all illumination'when the lights are on. Is this a common issue? It was a bit flickery before so I'm not certain it's the fuse.

Sounds like a classic bad earth. A purist would say you need to track down the bad earth connection and fix it. A realist would splice an extension into the earth wire in the dashboard loom and connect it to a newly-made earth point somewhere on the chassis (probably on a steering column bracket or somewhere like that.)


Oli.