Was I right to walk away?

golfprorich · Jan 10, 2015

Morning all, first post so hello from me [

]

I owned a 944 square dash about 15 years ago and now in the market for another 944 after deciding to give up my bike.

I viewed one the other day and whilst is was cosmetically sound and had all the history, I was put off once I started the test drive.

Through the gears under load was quiet but soon as I let go of the throttle and went into over-run, the noise from either the box or torque tube was really loud and grinding. It was present from high revs all the way to low and in every gear. When taking up load from changing up a gear there was a momentary vibration which was like a misfire but was definitely transmission related.

Now I am mechanically competent on other vehicles having recently changed cambelt, clutch and DMF on my own car but have little experience on Porsches.

I felt I wasn't able to make and informed decision on what the potential fault could be and its associated costs or difficulty to DIY.

Did I do the right thing and what could've been the issue?

Fred Hindle · Jan 10, 2015

Hello Richard,

My suggestion would be when you go to look at a Porsche is take someone with you who is more familiar with the model you are viewing. Having another person helps to keep your head level, and if the seller is aware of the competence of the other person it stops a lot of the 'taurus excreta' that some sellers use.
Good luck with finding a good one, they are still available.

Cheers,

andy watson · Jan 10, 2015

Hi and welcome,

If you were not happy then You were definitely right to walk, nothing worse than a purchase that doesn't feel right
Not 100% sure but sounds like mine before I changed the CV joints, ok under load as the joints are under load

You can check the play in the CV,s by hand just try and rotate the drive shafts back and forth by hand
Hope you get one soon, keep us posted

pauljmcnulty · Jan 10, 2015

The vibration could be the clutch centre breaking up.

golfprorich · Jan 10, 2015

Thanks chaps. I did feel more relieved than disappointed when I decided to walk away.

Having done some research its possible the noise was torque tube related.

I'm not expecting to buy a fault free car and have no issues in getting my hands dirty but would rather do that with a bit of knowledge of the problem first!

Thanks for the welcome

golfprorich · Jan 10, 2015

Hi Richard,

My first thought was, like Paul's above, the rubber centred clutch breaking up. I'd suggest you read the full clutch change procedure, there are plenty of threads discussing it on this and other forums and elsewhere on the web. It's not hard, well within competent diy mechanic territory - just long due to the rear mounted gearbox & torque tube arrangement. If you know what's involved you can make a better judgement as to whether you want to invest the time and cash in a car that might need that kind of work.

Good luck finding the right one for you!

golfprorich · Jan 10, 2015

ORIGINAL: sr.944man

Hi Richard,

My first thought was, like Paul's above, the rubber centred clutch breaking up. I'd suggest you read the full clutch change procedure, there are plenty of threads discussing it on this and other forums and elsewhere on the web. It's not hard, well within competent diy mechanic territory - just long due to the rear mounted gearbox & torque tube arrangement. If you know what's involved you can make a better judgement as to whether you want to invest the time and cash in a car that might need that kind of work.

Good luck finding the right one for you!

Thanks Steve. I would probably tackle the clutch myself if it were required in future as it doesn't appear difficult technically and the time involved wouldn't be an issue as I would do it over a period of days. I just wasn't armed with the knowledge of costs involved hence me not proceeding with the purchase!

I have had the pleasure of using a friends 997 C4S for the last 5 weeks whilst he's been away, was a bit of change going from driving that to a 28 year old 944 !!