New Porsche Owner...Help Please??

[wingz123]

Morning all,

I am complete newbie and last night purchased this >>"¦"¦.yes some will laugh"¦other's may cry for me"¦ and am planning on turning this into a track day car"¦..not a proper roll cage and all that but something to bring along with my friend who owns a Subaru and take to Brands Hatch etc. etc.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300817273393?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

LOL anyway"¦.would really appreciate some help on this one"¦"¦any ideas as to what the non-starting could be? Any common problems? What to check for?

Also"¦.the gearbox isn't engaging"¦..what on earth could this be? He mentions drive shaft failure"¦!?!? Not sure myself.

I'm not too mechanically minded so would really appreciate some help/guidance on this one"¦..go easy on me

Thanks in advance,




James

 

[ukmastiff]

If your post is a serious one then my advice is take a couple of thousand pounds and spend it on lottery tickets instead
, how much have you earmarked for this adventure ?
Sorry to sound negative but deary me a porsche for 495 is a big clue as to the quality of what you may have bought.

Mas

 

[wingz123]

ORIGINAL: ukmastiff

If your post is a serious one then my advice is take a couple of thousand pounds and spend it on lottery tickets instead
, how much have you earmarked for this adventure ?
Sorry to sound negative but deary me a porsche for 495 is a big clue as to the quality of what you may have bought.

Mas

Would just appreciate some advice on where to start looking please Don't wish to be slated for spending £495. I am going to keep this car and slowly get it back to a good standard. there is no rush but as I do with any car I own, I tracked down this forum so thought this to be a good starting point,

thanks,

 

[ukmastiff]

I didnt slate you m8ee my reply was actually a serious attempt to do you a favour !

Never mind best of luck with your endevour

Mas

 

[wingz123]

ORIGINAL: ukmastiff

I didnt slate you m8ee my reply was actually a serious attempt to do you a favour !

Never mind best of luck with your endevour

Mas

Bad idea you think then? Haven't yet picked it up....if I decide not to get the car I will do the good thing and pay the guy the EBay fees by way of apology for messing him about....

cheers,

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Hi

I think from the description in the ad it is too far gone to be a sensible restoration etc.

However, I bought a 944 for less than 900, unseen, so I do understand where you are coming from.

The starting issue could be many things - DME and crank sensors are favourites

Gearbox - broken linkage (drive shafts are pretty reliable)

Sills - not really difficult but quite expensive to get done and sills are vital to the strength of the cars and the main rear suspension mounts on to the rear of them, so for track use must be properly solid.

I would have to agree with Mas - not a good place to start.

 

[ukmastiff]

I actually had a bet with mrs mas that you hadnt picked it up and were ' testing the water'
I owe you one now as you just earned me a bottle of wine ( i joke not) [8D]

Seriously that cars a breaker and not even one that attracted one of us to buy it so .......... ?

Ta

 

[craiginuk]

Hi James,

The thing that would worry me the most on this one, even before looking at engine history, belts etc would be the sills. These can be very expensive to repair properly. The seller has said they will need doing.

No such thing as a cheap porsche I'm afraid. Especially one that's not running to start with. I think I would also walk away.

Craig

 

[JamesO]

I'm not too mechanically minded so would really appreciate some help/guidance on this one"¦..go easy on me

Thanks in advance,




James

This will be the biggest problem. If your buying it to learn how to work on cars then fine, but otherwise I'd start from a runner.

 

[Duffman502]

You could probably break it for spares recover your costs and buy better.
Thats the negative answer the optimistic answer is if you have time and are handy with a spanner its worth a punt.
Parts are reasonable for these cars and spare engines and gearboxes are pretty cheap so all is not lost.

 

[alwigley]

ORIGINAL: wingz123

I'm not too mechanically minded so would really appreciate some help/guidance on this one"¦..go easy on me

Bear in mind that those of us who are a bit more mechanically minded have struggled with 'no-starts' - 944's of that age can have a plethora of electrical issues to address with 28+ year old components (I know from experience......). You are also going to need a reasonable range of tools, and an awful lot of time..... following the replace parts route can get very expensive, but with a car in that condition you are going to end up spending serious money to fix it.

Unless you have the know-how to fix it yourself, then forget it and spend the money on a better car - £1500 can buy a much better 944 than that at present, and you will probably end up spending way more than £1500 just to get it through an MOT.

 

[robdimond]

OP, I'm sympathetic to your position as I really didn't do enough research or look around enough before buying. There are spares or repairs bargains out there but I would expect at least a running engine, working gearbox, decent interior or a sound body to make it worthwhile.

The good news is that you could probably get your £500 back just for the parts. My strong advice is cut your losses now as you will spend thousands getting something like this in a roadworthy condition.

Alternatively, if you have the space and access to the tools, it's an opportunity to have a go and get mechanically minded... the only way you can learn is by having a go. I suspect you want to spend your time and money on the track though, rather than restoring a car that for most people is beyond saving.

Personally I would feel I got value for money if the £500 gave me a few months of fun trying to get the engine to fire up... but then I am a bit weird!

 

[Jinxy]

The method for diagnosing any non starting issue is the same as any other car, you need to have some idea of what the components do in line, you need to mentally split the fuel side from the electrical side & work through them systematically, start with the plugs, if you have a strong spark then you have a source of ignition, so its got to be fuel related, providing the engine actually spins over, if you don't have a spark, then you need to work back from the spark plugs in turn & work out why there is no spark. If you have no mechanical knowledge at all ( and there is no shame in this, we'd all like to own eye candy cars, even if we cant change a light bulb ) you've picked a hell of a car to start on !. I'm with all the others on here, if you just want a 944 to sit on your drive & look good for £500, that's fine, but if you want to actually use it your going to spend a small fortune just to get to that stage, far better to get one that's at least half way there for £1500, than to buy one for £500 & spend another £2000 just to get it to the same condition as the £1500 car, it really is a no brainer. Its very easy to fall in love with these cars & let the heart rule the head, but you need to step back & be sensible about it, £500 is still a lot of money to most, either do the right thing & buy the car, then sell as is, which will keep the seller happy, or buy it & break it, you may learn something when dismantling the car, or piss the seller off & walk away, the latter is my least favorite as its happened to me, dont forget that if the seller has correctly represented the car in the ebay ad, then you are legally bound to buy it & he can take you to a small claims court, many dont, but a few like me do & win. good luck with whatever you choose to do, cheers, Jinxy

 

[Frenchy]

I Know of a very honest reasonably tidy E plate 944 lux that has 11 months mot and is mechanically sound bar a whining gearbox which will carry on whining for another 100k, tidy clean interior and loads of new replacement parts, a few scuffs and marks but as said generally sound.

£1400 would see you driving it down the road.

A far better buy.

 

[homesea]

£495 for a 944, why not?

Let's be positive, could just need DME relay and gear leaver re-connecting.

Get it home have a poke about if it's that bad pull a few parts off it and sell them, make your £495 back and weigh the rest in.

 

[chrisjcoe]

I was pretty much in your position, wanted a cheap car to work on. Partly took the advice on here and spent £2k on an S2. It was a runner, 1 year MOT, but needed work. Still needs a lot of work, but it's good to learn mechanics on a car you can drive at the weekend. If you take it, it might make a good donor car for a rough runner if you have the money for 2.

 

[ed325i]

I have still got mine which I need to sell, had new sills, belts etc ready to go.

ED