New Toy 944

[J.C944TurboMan]

After a long few years away from the Porsche world , I have given into temptation and bought myself a really nice clean original 944 on a D reg 86.
2.5L Auto on the V5 but insurance said it is a LUX ? How can I tell if it is a LUX Model ?
I know what you are thinking , and for pottering about the auto is not to bad , I would have preferred a manual version.
I could not resist ! This 944 has been kept in a warm dry garage for over 10 years now and is time warped .
Both sills are original and both front lower wings are solid !
No rot or rust ! They do still exist .
It has 12 months M.O.T but does need a good service , so I have bought full service kit , new HT leads , dizzy cap , rotor arm and some new bonnet struts , 20mm spacers for the rear .
The 944 is white in colour with a light brown cloth interior , no seat wear and the two front seats are electric.
It has the later oval dash and 15inch Tele dial wheels.
Every thing works and under the bonnet it looks brand new .
I drove it home about 10 miles and the only thing I noticed was the oil pressure gauge was very low on tick over and then went up to about 5 Bar 2000 Revs or so . When I got home and it was ticking over on the drive , I could hear a funny sort of tappet sound , on and off ???
I know the oil need to be flushed and a new oil filter fitted , but could there be a blockage on the oil pump pick up ? Or could it just be that the tappets have drained dew to the car not been used ??
I think I can recall some one saying that this is normal for this type of engine ?
I remember my old 944 Turbo used to be a little lumpy till in was driven a good miles .
I also purchased a 944 S2 G reg and year or so ago and that had been stood for a year and the tappets were really sounding off .
This 944 is so nice I do not want to risk damaging the engine .
Any tips or advice is warmly welcome thanks best regards J

 

[944 man]

Lux is a trim level, not a model. Virtually all UK 944s are Lux trim models. I realise that people refer to the 'Lux' suggesting that it is a model designation but this is made-up nonsense.

HTH

 

[924nutter]

Congratulations on your purchase. On paper its sounds like a great car. If it has been standing for 10 years I would not even start the engine again before I had had the belts changed. I am a bit of a non-worrier regarding belts but even I would not trust 10 year old belts. For complete peace of mind I would have the idler and tension rollers changed at the same time simply because the rollers come with bearings, and really that it what you should consider. You could also help to confirm or debunk a myth that the belt material breaks down to the extent that they should be changed at five year intervals becasue they are redy to fall apart, so when you get the belts changed bend the old belts back on themselves and see if there are any hair-lne cracks in between the teeth.

 

[robdimond]

Oil pressure sounds normal. When hot the oil pressure should be approx 1 bar at idle and approx 4 bar above 2000rpm (sure someone will chime in with the correct figures from the manual!). When cold you'll get a higher oil pressure at idle. Not surprised if it sounds tappety after being sat for so long. I would change the oil/filter and if it still doesn't go away then try some Wynns hydraulic lifter additive. As others have said, change the belts ASAP!
No rust is the most important thing! I assume as a previous 944 owner you looked in the usual places! (through the vent hole in the door shut, and the rear wells either side of the boot)

 

[pauljmcnulty]

You could also help to confirm or debunk a myth that the belt material breaks down to the extent that they should be changed at five year intervals becasue they are redy to fall apart

This is less likely on a car that's been stored, unused, in a dry garage. I think, from the stories I get, that the belts are more likely to fail on cars that have had contamination on the belt from a small oil leak, and been driven for years like that. I wouldn't trust a belt that old, regardless of the condition, but I suspect it won't LOOK bad when it comes off. Get it changed!

 

[944 man]

The tick I would expect to be the noisy fuel injectors and nothing to worry about. Many, many people have been concerned about the noice though, as it is unusually loud, even on new cars.

A brown oval dash? Ive probably seen three in the flesh (and Ive looked at 944s for 20+ years) and that included at least one, maybe two LHD cars. Brown looks very nice in a white car and even better still if you can find leather seats to match (quite a challenge though).

 

[J.C944TurboMan]

Thank you all for your advise .
I think there is an invoice for new belts water pump and rollers just before it was laid up .
I will do a visual check of the belts , just to be on the safe side .

I want to upload some pictures but forgot how to ??? Do you have to upload them to photo shop and then copy them over ??

I think the interior is more of a beige than brown ? But it is in mint conditions with no wear on the drivers bolster .

I have a thick folder with great service history and all the M.O.T's from new ! All the tax disc.

The only thing missing in the original bill of sale ! Shame .

There is a letter from Porsche for a recall potential engine bay fire from the fuel lines ! My 944 Turbo fuel lines were right over the Exhaust manifold , so I bought special sleeves from the US to fit over them .

Going to get some road tax today , then just waiting for the rest of the service parts so I can get out and about

Best regards J

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I think there is an invoice for new belts water pump and rollers just before it was laid up .
I will do a visual check of the belts , just to be on the safe side .

Hi,

The reason we raise it so often is that the belts have a 4-year life MAX, regardless of mileage. There have been enough failures of belts over the years that are under 5 years on the car to make it a concern. Ten years or more would be a risk too far IMO.

As I said before, I'd expect failure to be down to contamination as much as age, as most 944s suffer oil leaks during their life. But, a belt that's ten years laid up, plus whatever time it was on the shelf before being sold, it might be three times over Porsche's limit. Bearing in mind that you'll have to change it one day, I'd do it know and have peace of mind for four years.

 

[J.C944TurboMan]

I hear what you say and for what it's worth I will replace both belts .

Paul can you refresh my memory on how best to upload pictures please ?

Thanks best regards J

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Paul can you refresh my memory on how best to upload pictures please ?

Best way is Photobucket or similar. Click the "image" button, and insert the direct link. If you do it manually, it's "image", not "IMG".

Reason for this is that the pics are hosted on Photobucket, not the PCGB server. It cuts the costs dramatically, and keeps it free to non-members. []

 

[J.C944TurboMan]

Thanks Paul , I think I remember now ! here goes .
There is a very minimal surface rust inside the rear vents that I will tackle and blast with more Wax Oil to prevent any further rust in there .

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[J.C944TurboMan]

Got the hang of the pictures ! Here goes some more 944 Porn !

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[944 man]

I thought that it was brown inside? That is split colour black & grey beige!

 

[924nutter]

Paul I concede that you may have a wider data base than me regarding belt failures, but John Frith with the fabulous 968 changes his at 5 years and indeed just had them done at his local indie, on age not mileage.

 

[Hilux]

ORIGINAL: 924nutter

Paul I concede that you may have a wider data base than me regarding belt failures, but John Frith with the fabulous 968 changes his at 5 years and indeed just had them done at his local indie, on age not mileage.

Belts age/degrade - regardless of mileage - if the belt is 4 years old change it (is my personal view)

If a classic car does 1000 miles a year over ten years it may be well under what the belt life is rated at but the materials within it age.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I don't know what the 968 interval is, but if Porsche specify 4 years on the 944, what's the point of stretching it to 5? It saves you one belt change every 16 years......[8|]

If people think the time limit is some scam from Porsche to get people in having belts when they could go on for ever, why not treat the mileage limit the same way? 48K miles, rubbish. A belt should easily do 60K, 100K: where do you decide to set your own, arbitary limits once you ignore the official guidelines? With the amount of front-end oil seals weeping, 5 years or more without attention seems insane to me.

Whilst it's rare for belts to be reported failing over 4 years old, you have to factor in the sort of people who post here. Most are sensible about servicing, so it's rare for anyone to risk their engine. I'd bet there are more failures we don't hear about, where the car is just binned. Even if it's rare, we've seen what the results are and it's cheaper to change a belt than rebuild an engine.