Newbie would like to say hi...

[Scorpio.72]

Hello All,

I have been floating about in this forum for while and decided to make my first post.

After 35 years of saving my pennies (and feeling really old driving a Renault Espace MPV all the time), a couple of weeks ago i purchased a Porsche 944, the car i had always dreamed of owning as a child. The price was fair or so i thought, costing a pound short of a grand for a Y reg 944, 1 years MOT, bit tatty inside, but no rust on outside (i'm not a mechanic by any means).

The initial test drive before purchase had the steering wheel flapping about like a scared magpie, but i was re-assured by the owner that 'just needs a wheel balance mate'... So i purchased the car, the deal was made and i took it to the local tyre garage who balanced all the wheels for £50... and nope, that didn't stop the steering shaking at all. I can tell you i was a little worried at this point.

The garage suggested i tried replacing the front tyres and to my surprise it solved the problem (did i mention i know nothing about cars?). No more shaking whatsoever.

Apart from needing to buy 2 new tyres, the cars great. Everything i expected a Porsche to be. Sticks like glue in the dry, comes alive in the wet. I still haven't stopped smiling and even the wife loves it.

However, after a trip out today we returned home to hear a grinding noise coming from the passenger rear wheel. Its not all the time, just intermittent as the wheel goes around (like something has buckled maybe?). It doesn't matter what speed you are going or if you have the clutch engaged/disengaged.

Any ideas what might be causing this as its going into the garage tomorrow to get this fixed and i need to work out if i need to remortgage my house! []

 

[Fen]

Welcome Jeff.

You were lucky thus far I have to say. when I got to the point where the wheel balance didn't work I was sure it was going to be expensive for you. Tyres might not have been cheap in the grand scheme, but they are consumables just like fuel and they last a lot longer.

The noise from the back on the other hand I expect isn't major. It could be the backing plate for the brake disk rubbing (perhaps it's corroded and has moved) or the brake itself, either the main pads or the parking brake. If you jack the rear corners up individually and spin the wheel you will be able to tell which side it's coming from and then pin it down to something more specific. Worst case I expect something is binding and needs to be freed off.

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello Fen,

Thanks for the welcome.

I forgot to mention its the passenger side (does that make any difference?).

 

[Fen]

Nope - except that now you only have to jack up one side to see if you can pinpoint it more closely.

 

[swright]

Hello and welcome[]

I had a very similar noise on my old lux when the lining from one of the handbrake shoes came loose!! It ended up locking the wheel up and bringing me to a sudden halt in the middle of the road!! Thankfully when i rolled the car back it freed itself and i managed to gingerly drive the car home.

Anyway, the car looks nice do you have any more pics?

Stu

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello Stu,

Thanks for the welcome.

I am hoping to upload some more pics shortly (as soon as the rain stops, silver seems to attract dirt faster than "flys to something nasty" for some strange reason).

From what advice you have all given me so far, it sounds like it could a brake/pads problem, i will keep you posted.

 

[swright]

The handbrake works independently from the rear brakes in that it uses brake shoes inside the drum of the rear disks rather than using the rear disk pads and calipers to hold the car on the handbrake like golfs and audis etc.

 

[Fen]

ORIGINAL: swright

The handbrake works independently from the rear brakes in that it uses brake shoes inside the drum of the rear disks rather than using the rear disk pads and calipers to hold the car on the handbrake like golfs and audis etc.

[pedant] Except the RS2 [/pedant]

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

One simple thing to check - are the wheel nuts tight on that wheel?

 

[DavidL]

I've spotted a silvery blue lux in the cul-de-sac next to the Marriott roundabout in Swindon.
Wouldn't be you would it?
David

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello all,

Thanks for all the advice.

Ok to be honest, i took one look at the DIY approach and i well ummm... errr.... handed it to the garage. I'm afraid that DIY isn't my strong point. I always end up with bits left over which isn't too reassuring when you talking about brakes!

So there's good and bad news (i will start with the bad as it makes the good sound better).

The guys at the garage took the rear wheels off and told me that i needed new rear discs and pads. Apparantly the drivers side rear disc was burnt and warped in one place which had destroyed the pads. I'm still confused about this as the sound was coming from the passenger rear side? As the handbrake works ok, they said those pads wont need replacing. This is costing £270 to replace both rear discs and pads.

However, as it was up on ramps, i asked them to have a good nose about underneath to check if anything else might need replacing (well, in for a penny, in for a pound) and they told me that underneath its 100% solid and the car has been coated in a black tar like substance (sorry, i'm not very technical!) to help protect the underneath.

So the Porsche is in their garage overnight waiting for bits and i'm back to driving the MPV for the next 24 hours...

Sorry David, its not me but i will keep an eye out for that one. I haven't seen many 944's in Swindon yet.

 

[DavidL]

There's one or two about. A white S2 cab, a K plate S2 and a red turbo - that's me!
So which bit of wilts are you in then?

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello David,

I will keep an eye out for you on my travels.

I'm currently living in sunny Swindon (well thats what they tell me, seems its always raining here!).

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: Scorpio.72

Hello David,

I will keep an eye out for you on my travels.

I'm currently living in sunny Swindon (well thats what they tell me, seems its always raining here!).

Same here Jeff. I work in Swindon daily so if you see a red one wave!

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello All,

Final update, i now have my Porsche back from the garage and every things fine. []

As promised here is a few photos, (taken on a mobile phone and the cars actually silver, not sure of the colour code will need to find that out). If you click a photo it will show you an enlarged version.

 

[Diver944]

Very, very nice. Especially the wheels [8D]

If you pull up the boot carpet and look in the spare wheel well you should see a white sticker with all the option codes and the colour code. It's possibly L97A Diamond silver, LY7Y Zermatt or LM8U Platinum

 

[944 man]

Are they Fondmetal wheels? I had a set of black centred 8" and 10" sixteen inchers on a sprinter that I built. They were obsolete in 1994, but I managed to buy the last remaining wheel (8") from the old importers when mine went out of round.

 

[Scorpio.72]

Hello Paul,

Ok, couldn't resist a quick 5 minute skive off of work to go take a look. []

This is what it said,

Paint No./Interior LY5V/LY5U



Hello 944 Man,

I'm still new to Porsches, so not sure of the wheels as they were on the car when i purchased it.

 

[Diver944]

Ah - LY5V is Sapphire which explains the slight tinge of blue in the photo's (which I put down to your camera phone when you said it was just silver [])

 

[Alpine]

The wheels look like those that came on the old Rover SD1 Vitesses - looks good