High mileage 944. Any likely impending woes?

[Bobthebeard]

Having finally got my 944 on the road and in daily use after sorting out the rusted sills etc, I am now starting to wonder about what may go wrong mechanically. The current mileage is just short of 200,000, and the car seems great at the moment TBH but probably only a matter of time. Are there any known high mileage issues with these engines? Anything that I should be aware of or need to start saving up for? The belts have been changed recently but no further history. Never owned one before so still on the learning curve!

[Cheggers]

That's one of the joys of the 944, the engines are usually pretty bulletproof

 

Make sure you carry a spare DME relay as they go with boring regularity, symptom is turning over but not starting. Also keep an eye on front wishbones as the bottom balljoint is built-in and made of soft cheese. You can't replace the balljoint/ bush separately, so brace your wallet for a good old shafting if it needs doing.

[Bobthebeard]

Advice taken and spare DME relay just ordered! Many thanks!

[barefoot]

Mine is just heading towards 250,000 & it's the fragile 16V 944S.

[whitevanman]

personally speaking......you have answered your own question?? the real question is how many?...sorry

[John F]

I can't really comment about engines as the only one I've worked on was the fragile early 16v 944S, but the drive shafts can wear giving a very 'shunty' gearchange. It's quite an easy fix though (replace with good 2nd hand units at about 20 quid each).

 

Also, electric window motors can burn out if the runners aren't kept lubed. The passenger window motor failed on my mate's car leaving about an inch gap at the top. This allowed rain to get in, forming a pool that fritzed the ECU that lives under a piece of wood in the passenger footwell. £200 2nd hand for a replacement...!

[Bobthebeard]

Thanks for the helpful replies! Mine is the 8 valve 2.5 Lux so not as fragile as the 16 valve, however the drivers side window is slow to move so a strip down and lube of the runners and channels sounds to be in order to prevent burning out the motor. Probably best to strip and lube the passenger side also by the sound of things.

[M'coli]

One of the easiest ways to assist a slow window is rain-x both sides - ordinary wax polish should help if you don't have any rain-x.

[Cheggers]

Thanks for the helpful replies! Mine is the 8 valve 2.5 Lux so not as fragile as the 16 valve, however the drivers side window is slow to move so a strip down and lube of the runners and channels sounds to be in order to prevent burning out the motor. Probably best to strip and lube the passenger side also by the sound of things.

 

Also clear the crud out of the drain holes in the bottoms of the doors while you're at it. They're sort of letterbox shaped, so a large cable tie does the job as well as anything.

[barefoot]

I have found with mine that it doesn't go wrong very often but it's expensive when it does.

This shouldn't really be a surprise as they cost so much new.

I have an '87 price list and the base price of the 944S was 24K, mine has about 12K extras on it.

ABS, Sports seats, Sunroof, 16in wheels etc.

Back in 1987, my house wasn't worth £36,000.

You need to make friends with a specialist breaker then all the bits become much, much cheaper.

I've been going to http://www.phsportscars.co.uk for about 15 years.

Not very local to you, but I know that they post parts out.

& they used to service a 944 with 380,000 miles on the clock although I've not seen it for a bit.

[skattrd]

When I had my 944 I used http://www.porkaparts.com/index.html ... again not local to you, but he does ship parts.

He's a specialist 944 breaker. He saves what he can and breaks the others, nice bloke as well.

[John F]

Prestige Salvage in Leeds is pretty good, I've used them before & found them to be very helpful: http://prestigesalvage.co.uk/

 

And I've heard good things about Porsch Apart in Bury - not too far from you: http://www.porsch-apart.co.uk/

[Bobthebeard]

Thanks for the useful ideas/ suppliers guys! Mucho grateful.