Second opinion on my car, near Bristol?

[Sandspider]

Hi all

Just wondering whether anyone near(ish) to Bristol would be able to listen to / see / drive my car and give me a second opinion on a few things?

As mentioned in a previous thread, an independent garage (who I no longer totally trust) replaced my belts, waterpump & thermostat, and since then the car has behaved quite differently.

1) It runs much hotter (~95C, formerly 70C)), and the fans kick in a lot more, sometimes when I don't think they should, and sometimes when I've stopped the car. The temp gauge also jumps around a fair bit, and it used to be steady as a rock. I think the temp is probably OK, and the car just used to run too cold on the old thermostat, but I'm wondering if the thermo fan switch needs replacing.
2) The gear lever vibrates a lot more. At idle revs it does it a bit, quite dramatically at around 4000rpm, then stops again at around 4500rpm. (I'm hoping this isn't clutch related).
3) The engine "sounds" different - not just the whine of new belts, but it idles a little roughly and sounds different (harsher) under load and I just don't feel totally sure of it.

I've mentioned the temp and the sound of the engine to the garage that did the work, and they say I just need to get used to the new waterpump, belts and thermostat. They may be right, and I'm being paranoid, but it still doesn't feel right & I'd like a second opinion. My trusted 944 mechanic is currently ill, so if anyone local ish to me would be able to have a look / listen and compare it to their car and tell me if I'm just being oversensitive that would be great, and could save me going further afield to another 944 garage. (I've got to go back to the indie to have the belts checked and adjusted after 1000 miles, but it would also be nice to have more of an idea if there's something wrong with the car before I go back there...)

Happy to bring beer / 10w40 oil if that helps?!

Thanks in advance,

Giles

 

[zcacogp]

Giles,

I'd happily offer, but I'm in London. A bit far. Sorry.

How long will your trusted 944 chap be ill for? Are there any recommended indies in the area who would be able to help?


Oli.

 

[DavidL]

Giles,
There's a place just north of Bristol - Woodwards I think who have a fairly good name.
The Wheel
Hill Rd, Rockhampton, Berkeley GL13 9DZ
01454 261 067

They may be able to offer an opinion.

 

[Sandspider]

Thanks for the offer Oli. I do get up to West London fairly frequently, but I think my girlfriend might be a bit peeved if I came to London to see her then headed off to talk about cars! Not sure how long my mechanic will be ill for, but it's not sounding too good I'm afraid [&:]. There is Brian Woodward as David mentioned (thanks David) - he checked my car over before I bought it and seemed to know his stuff. But I've never actually been back to him, as he's a bit of a mission to get to and his opening hours never match my available time (or never used to - I will check again).

Having written all the first post, car seemed better today. (Though the resonant whine from the belts seems to be back again).

 

[zcacogp]

OK ... the offer is open if you change your mind. Always happy to chew the fat with a fellow 944 enthusiast ...

If you can't get it looked at by anyone else then be sure to raise your concerns (again) with the guy when he checks the belts.


Oli.

 

[edh]

ask him to check the balance shafts - can sometimes be set up 180 degrees out I believe & can cause vibrations at certain rpms.
I found this

 

[Sandspider]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

OK ... the offer is open if you change your mind. Always happy to chew the fat with a fellow 944 enthusiast ...

If you can't get it looked at by anyone else then be sure to raise your concerns (again) with the guy when he checks the belts.


Oli.

Thanks Oli - likewise. (Whenever I see a parked 944 I want to loiter near it until the owner comes back so we can chat!) Whereabouts in London are you? My girlfriend lives in Sunbury on Thames, so I'd guess you're all the way across London away...

 

[zcacogp]

Sunbury is only just in London ... and yes, I am way over the other side, in the East End.

Unfortunately, the journey from Bristol to Sunbury is both quicker and easier than the journey from Sunbury to where I am.


Oli.

 

[Sandspider]

ORIGINAL: edh

ask him to check the balance shafts - can sometimes be set up 180 degrees out I believe & can cause vibrations at certain rpms.
I found this

Ah hah! That seems to be pretty much what I'm experiencing. Will investigate further (and certainly mention it to my indie at belt retensioning time), thank you.

If that is the problem, would I be right in thinking it won't damage the car if I use it for a few hundred miles in this state? (I don't use the high revs that much, hence only noticing the vibration at 4000rpm recently...)

 

[david924s]

I have heard before of snapping the oil feed pipe to the cam area caused by vibration from balance shafts not being aligned correctly, however I have also heard some people remove the belts altogether to race so not sure what is true. I know if you can set the car to TDC then remove the belt cover it is supposed to be easy to check if the balance shafts are aligned by the marks on the cogs and housing, there is a good video in the technical section of this forum about removing the water pump and it starts by checking the alignment of belts to TDC so might be worth having a look. http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=592490

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: Sandspider

ORIGINAL: edh

ask him to check the balance shafts - can sometimes be set up 180 degrees out I believe & can cause vibrations at certain rpms.
I found this

Ah hah! That seems to be pretty much what I'm experiencing. Will investigate further (and certainly mention it to my indie at belt retensioning time), thank you.

If that is the problem, would I be right in thinking it won't damage the car if I use it for a few hundred miles in this state? (I don't use the high revs that much, hence only noticing the vibration at 4000rpm recently...)

Shouldn't be a big issue for a few hundred miles.

 

[DavidL]

Hope you get it sorted Giles. Plenty of stuff to go on it seems.
You're welcome to swing by on your m4 trips - I'm just between j16 and j17.

 

[barks944]

I'm in Gloucester, my experience with 944's is pretty good. I've done belts a load of times, done engine swaps, currently rebuilding a 944 turbo engine. Also pretty savvy with the 944's injection system. Could have a look for you some time if you want.

Tom

Edit: I've got a 1984 Lux on hand for comparison too!

 

[Sandspider]

Thanks for all the help, gents. (I didn't even know we had technical videos!)

If I can't figure it out and I'm going anywhere vaguely near any of the offers of a second opinion, I will certainly pop by. Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Giles

 

[MRGT]

ORIGINAL: edh

ask him to check the balance shafts - can sometimes be set up 180 degrees out I believe & can cause vibrations at certain rpms.
I found this

This happened to me recently when I had to have my water pump and belts replaced at short notice by a local garage rather than my trusted indy. I went back to the garage armed with a copy of Clarks manual and they fixed it straight away. Car was like silk afterwards

Howard

 

[frankydoom]

Spot on

david924s

ORIGINAL: edh

ORIGINAL: Sandspider

ORIGINAL: edh

ask him to check the balance shafts - can sometimes be set up 180 degrees out I believe & can cause vibrations at certain rpms.
I found this

Ah hah! That seems to be pretty much what I'm experiencing. Will investigate further (and certainly mention it to my indie at belt retensioning time), thank you.

If that is the problem, would I be right in thinking it won't damage the car if I use it for a few hundred miles in this state? (I don't use the high revs that much, hence only noticing the vibration at 4000rpm recently...)

Shouldn't be a big issue for a few hundred miles.

 

[Sandspider]

Just a quick update on this - I've driven the car some more, and its definitely running too hot. (Coming back from London on Sunday night, higher mark on the gauge (102C) with the fans going on and off, at 70mph, 3,000rpm - occasionally the temp gauge would drop back down to a couple of mm below the top mark, but they would gradually rise up again)

I've spoken to my (ex) indie again, and the car's going back on Thursday. However, he swears that the timing was set up right (my vibrations beg to differ, though I suppose it could be something other than a misaligned balance shaft pulley). When I asked again what temp thermostat he'd fitted, he said 90C. I said shouldn't it be 82C, and he said 90C was close enough, it was only 10C different... [&:] That's not what I thought, and may explain why my car is running around 10C too hot. So, I am unlikely to be using him again, but just hope he doesn't try and sting me for more money to fix (or even to not fix) a problem he's created. I'll take a print out of Clark's garage on how to align the balance shaft pulley (though I shouldn't have to do this!). If he tries to do anything expensive, I think I'll have to cut my losses and take it to another garage. Grr.

 

[Indi9xx]

I doubt it, but if your passing by Bournemouth on your travels feel free to pop in.

Sounds like the wrong thermostat and a mal aligned balance belt (vibration) and the balance belt has not been set to the correct tension (the whining) or the tensioner has been set in the wrong direction (as per the scanned manuals out there from 1982, rather than the mailed out update pages of 1983)

 

[Sandspider]

Belated update! Car is now running like a sewing machine, the temp stays at sensible levels and I have a smile on my face []

My indie replaced the thermostat with another one, and rotated both balance shaft pulleys 180 degrees. He did say he put them back on the same way they were when he took them off, but... He also said they were non-standard pulleys, possibly from a 968!

Anyway, all is working again [] Many thanks for all the help.

 

[barks944]

Balance shafts are a tricky one, what catches most people out is that each of the balance shaft pulleys has two keyways. For the top pulley the keyway marked O should be aligned with the woodruff key on the balance shaft. On the bottom pulley the keyway that is unmarked (or marked as U) should be alined with the woodruf key in the balance shaft.