You Sir, are a genius. I'm getting a 1984 944 NA back on the road and rebuilt all the injectors, new reference sensors, new fuel lines, fuel pump... you name it, I've probably replaced it. Car would start with a DME relay bypass, and idled perfectly. Once a new, good relay inserted, car would not start. Your insight at about the 15 minute mark is what was wrong with my vehicle. As soon as I pulled the under dash relay panel, I saw the tiny connector hanging out the back. After reinsertion and bending the microscopic locking tab, car fires up on first crank. Thank you doesn't cover it. New subscriber.
Hey !!! I bought a 87 944 yesterday !!!! Once I get it home i may run into the same problems! ! My biggest concern is that it was parked with the hand brake on !! Hoping it will roll !!!😄😄😄😄😎😎😎😎🍺🍺🍺
As a proud owner since 2006, of a 1990 944s2 cabriolet, I cannot tell you how impressed I am with your knowledge.....but more than that, your tenacity!
Can't thank you enough for making this video , I also just purchased a 1983 944 that's been sitting for 15 years. This is the best video and so helpful and well done I've seen. Going through many of the things you went through and what a help to me this is to watch. You are the man !!!! Thank you !!!
Hi, I have my father's 944 in Monterey California. It has been sitting about 10 ten years and I want to restore it this year. These are great tips. I am hauling the vehicle to my home in Mexico and pulling all the rubber off and having the car repainted. Then start working on the mechanicals. It is a 1984 944
Hoping i dont have to ever use this video as a resource but glad you made it. Thanks for taking the effort, and congrats! excited to see whats next for the old girl
Just a couple of button up items, rear cam tower gasket, charge the AC, make sure the cooling system is 100%. I may have a weak (new) thermostat it wants to run at the 3rd mark. New tires to replace the 25 year old ones. Then finally a full detail job inside and out. The paint looks good but I know it could look better.
I'm finding as I get older, the more info I get out there, the more likely it is I'll need it again somewhere down the road. I find myself answering my own questions with posts from 20 years ago. Cracks me up every time.
@@budgetoutlaws9978 as a younger car enthusiast i really appreciate these detailed videos and documents you more seasoned DIY'ers do as it makes it easier and more accessible for guys my age to own a vintage car. Thanks again
Thank you Quincy. I'm still getting used to the whole RU-vid thing, so I missed your comment. But I do appreciate the kind words. Good luck with your builds.
That "ground guy" on Rennlist was probably Dan Wray aka "Iceshark." Saved my butt a number of times. He designed, manufactured, and sold a premium quality ground kit along with an upgrade lighting kit. RIP Dan.
Excellent! I bought a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo new in 1986. I used it until 2007, but had to park it at that time due to some tough life issues. I'm not looking to try and get it started after 15 years. It only has 86,000 miles on it. I'm hoping it can be brought back to life! Thanks for sharing your experience and advide!!advice!!! Mike
This sounds familiar. Friend bought a 944 that sat for 20 years. Motor stuck and would not soak and free up. We swapped motors with new timing belts, water pump etc installed. No crank, replaced ignition switch now cranks, no start. Fuel pump was seized up, replaced it, drained & refilled fuel tank, fuel pump now works when jumped but not with key. No spark or fuel but would fire on ether with a hotbox so mechanically it seems fine. Speed sensor tested open & reference sensor was damaged on end, replaced & gapped both of them, luckily we had a spare bracket because they were seized and bracket broke trying to pry them out. Cranks but no start still. Tried DME relay & computer out of not 1 but 2 different parts cars, no change. Tracing wiring now and remembering why I like old GM cars lol. I just dragged a rusty 83 GMC out of the woods where it sat for 6 years, cranked it for 20 seconds and it runs great on old gas.
@@budgetoutlaws9978 Thank you. I have been going nuts looking for a pinout for the DME. All I can find is turbo diagrams. DME relay has power, ground, ignition on trigger power & I can power the fuel pump , ignition & injectors from the relay & 3 wire jumper works but still no run. Tried 2 different DMEs no luck. Thinking witing to DME has an issue. Car supposedly ran 20 years ago then motor stuck in storage.
I had similar issues with my ‘86 when I bought it none running, it had sat for a few years. Dead battery, fuel pump and reference sensors did it for me. I’m not as adept as trouble shooting, especially electrical, I just started replacing stuff and got lucky. I was concerned about starter switch and DME, especially since mine sits under passenger floorboard and I have the classic rusted hole in battery tray. My DME relay and starter both worked, at least for a while. Both died not long after getting it running.
I'm glad you got it running. So many just sit after someone tries a couple things. I had several 86 turbos, I know the passenger feet well thing. I defiantly like the fuse/relay on the 85.5up better. Much easier for these old bones.
It took a while, I didn’t have a garage at the time. Oh, I forgot the fuel leak I had too. Looked like a chemical burn on line coming from in-tank strainer. I had read that the tanks like to rust (I didn’t realize early tanks were metal and mine was not), so before I found the leak, I planned to take the tank out, which requires removing the trans axle. So I had that 80% disconnected when I found the leak. Ended up removing the transaxle anyway. Much easier to replace shifter linkage while out and has to take it to a machine shop to get the drain plug out. I also had to make a tool to get my reference sensors out. I only paid $400 for it, needs everything. Been great fun to work on though. Currently working on pulling motor to rebuild.
Great video!I have a 84 944 and I’ve done everything, it runs if I use starting fluid, I changed the fuel pump and dme and reference sensors and had the computer rebuilt, still nothing. It used to run for about 4 seconds and shut down and before that the car ran really nice all the time but slowly started to act up once and a while until now.
Fuel Filter? Have you checked fuel pressure? The Regulator or dampener may have failed. Or possibly a blockage, Especially a slow build up of problems. It could be a bad fuel line flapping on the inside causing total blockage. Or a rusty tank. Just trying to give you some ideas. It sure sounds like a fuel issue if it runs with starting fluid.
Good job. It's almost like somebody pulled that plug to make sure nobody nicked it from storage. I would have knocked that fuel pump back to life as you did with the injectors..
Man that was near to shake a rubber chicken over it stage. My own non starting S2 problem was tracked to a degraded cam drive cover. Caused by years of exposure to sea air. $670 worth of magnesium.
It's easier now with the internet. Back when I started, queue the old fart talking, I had to go to the library to look up things in the shop manuals. For your future purchase... make sure you find the best example you can afford. Cheap isn't always best.
@Art Mchugh I did! I found a 968, but the mechanic I hired to do a PPI advised me against it for a few reasons. Then, a month later, he found an '89 S2 that I ultimately bought. I haven't driven it yet, as it's overdue for the timing belt and cam chain tensioner service, which I'm getting ready to do myself in a few weeks.
@@rrassoc well done !!!! We have had a few water cooled cars !😀 my wife has a 87 924s, I have a 951 track unit and we just got a 83 944. I really like these cars !! Can send links if you would like video of them !!! 😁😁😁🚘🚘🚘🏁🍺🍺
Dealing with same problem in my 964... Still haven’t found it yet and just changed the speed sensor and only 2 volts at pin 86. Jumper works fine and guess I am heading to the wire block next. Where were you 3 weeks ago?
So you can jumper the relay and the car runs. You may have a bad key switch. Or wires from the key switch to the relay. Did someone install a stereo and connect it to that key on hot wire from the key switch? That might be a problem area. Wait,, I just realized that you have a 964. You will need to check a wiring diagram to see what feeds the pin 86. Also, remember that on my fuse block the pin 86 wire fell out of the back of the block, probably from me messing with it so much.
@@budgetoutlaws9978 Why yes they did several months before the failure and not sure where he connected the hot wire to the radio... Hmm, yes the alarm system and ignition switch to block is about all is left. I had tried a different DME, but it refused to start regardless of jumper or not. They (parts dealer) are having it checked prior to reinstall and may have been bad in the first place. I have been suspecting the ignition switch prior to getting tangled up in all these different paths of possibilities...
So - I had a perfectly running car and insec’d some thing in the realm of the fuse box. Now. Now tach bounce and can’t get it running. I’ve tested my DME relay in my 944 T. It starts fine. Any thoughts?
I'm not sure what you did with the fuse block. Can you test that you are still getting power to the DME/ECU? There are some great troubleshooting videos on RU-vid. See the links in the description. Spark, Fuel pressure, Timing, Compression. I'd start with the first 2.
i had a 924 s and it fired fine to begin with i left it a few weeks then it never fired again, i found i had no spark? how did you manage to get a spark back?
The most common problem are the speed and reference sensors. Could also be the relay or connections like in this video. You'll need to do some testing or it could get expensive swapping parts. Check out the links in the video. There's some great information there.
It actually belonged to my neighbor. We actually looked at it with a friend that was looking for a car. That was about 8 years ago. That didn't work, but my neighbor new my hobby was cars and especially old Porsche's so when push came to shove, he called me first.
Good afternoon. I just recently acquired a 1984 944 from and Uncle who bought it new. it's beautiful, but it's sat for many years. I got it running and managed to get a new timing belt on it. runs great now. But I'm over heating. my fans kick on once and not the second time. I have replaced the Temperature sensor on the top of the engine so now it actually shows the temperature in the car. it only over heats when i get home from a drive, it leaks out fluid. any ideas? Is there another sensor to turn the fans on even without the engine on?
When you say it only heats when you get home can you expand on that (when you turn the engine off?)? How full are you filling the reservoir? And how hot is it where you live?
I live in New Mexico, it was a hot day. i drove the car for around 30min parked it and a few minutes later it was leaking antifreeze from the over flow. the car didn't appear to be over heating while i was driving, but i'm not 100% sure the temp gauge works, another feature of the car.
If the overflow tank was overfull recently the system was just pushing water/air out while hot. 5 mins after running the engine builds up heat and the water often pushes out to the overflow, that's how the system is designed. When it's cool the system will suck that water back in and will be purged of air. There are two levels on the overflow, a high and low. When the engine is cold it will be at the low and when the engine is hot it will be at the high. Fill it up to the high when cold. Drive it a few times ignoring any "puking" and watch your temps. It should stop puking out the overflow.
@@budgetoutlaws9978 thank you i will keep an eye on that...and make sure the fans are working properly...gauge was just left of center, but i didn't notice if the fans running. KJ
Im thinking of buying a 1983 porsche 944 with "fuel system issues" was wondering how much it cost you to get it back running, trying to figure out if it will be worth the effort of fixing.
