Car ownership epic fail

[Electric Leyland]

Hello Shiters. It's been a while, have I missed anything?

 

Now then straight to business. Over a year ago I stupidly bought a car off eBay I didn’t really want but we all know how that story goes.

 

White 1983 Porsche 924, the Autoshite of the fancy sportscar world, with 124k and 12 months MOT, full history, removable roof panel, tidy nick, the biz for those tragically scares hot summer days.

 

Anyway I got used to having it and sped around happily in it for 6 weeks until one day along to A50 from Stoke to Leicester it died. Broken crankshaft. Prior to this it had a few electrical issues to say the least – previous owner(s) had fitted central locking, stereo (taken out), retractable aerial, things like that.

 

Plan b:  bought another engine of eBay and my mate who’s a lot more mechanically minded than I agreed to fit it for a bargainous fee (he often helps me out on old cars). My problems were over!

 

One hoist, one new battery, a relatively easy transplant, and the result? Tried absolutely everything to get the bugger started, hours of trying. Not having it. He reckons it’s either a timing issue, or the thing has an immobiliser fitted we were never told about (there is a strange extra wire he can’t figure out what it is). Maybe this engine is a dud as well? There was some issue with it prior to fitting (details to follow) but it would still turn over ok. But from memory it was turning over but just not kicking in.

 

Also the original battery it came with died quickly (in fact it was being charged up by the seller when I bought it), and a new top of the range battery I bought also didnt last long. I think the add-on central locking (which packed-up after about 3 weeks) had something to do with that.

 

Anyway I’m being sketchy with the details because this was middle of last summer. Since then it’s been sitting there. What a rubbish attempt at classic car ownership you cry, pathetic!

 

I probably need to add a lot more info before I ask this, but what would you do now?

 

1. Throw yet more money at it to try and fix and then MOT, and keep for the summer?

2. As above but then immediately flog it on to cut my losses

3. Get rid of it ‘as is’,  and take that as a lesson learned* (yet again)

4. Other

 

*as if 

 

Would appreciate your opinions.

 

EL

 

 

[Lankytim]

That's the spit of my old one. That never ran either!

 

Is there,

 

A, a spark?

B, fuel?

C, compression?

 

Bet it's something pretty simple tbh.

[Stixy]

Does the fuel pump  buzz when trying to start ?

 

is there a spark ?

[Parky]

Bit naive perhaps but is the old engine with the broken crank totally trashed internally?

 

If not, crank swap perhaps? Or maybe the good block mated to the original head or something similar?

[Skizzer]

DA MANAGEMENT IN DA HOUSE!!!   

 

(I have nothing useful to contribute but couldn't help myself.  Sorry.)

 

 

Me, I'd probably worry about it for months but do nothing until someone rang the doorbell and offered to take it off me for a small amount of cash.  That's exactly what happened to my motorbike in not dissimilar circumstances.  That turned out to be a small plastic connector that had dropped off somewhere.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

A flipping crank swap?????

[Mr_Bo11ox]

You've got to find out if the non-start is due to sparks, fuel or compression first of all and work backwards from there. Where is the car now?

[anonymous user]

Little of any sense to add, but on one of the times my 928 failed to proceed it was the fuel pump relay (conveniently situated under the back of the car).

 

Also I remember someone I know who acquired a car cheaply that wouldn't run after an engine swap, once he refitted the engine earth lead it was fine.

[hairnet]

fa rag

 

spend money on audi <3

[dollywobbler]

If you read Practical Classics, you'll know that Keith Moody has had all sorts of fun and games with his 924 too. As Boll says, should be pretty easy to work out if the non-starting is fuel/spark related, then you can plot the next steps. My bet is on fuelling, but only more tinkering will say for sure.

[Danblez]

Stick at it, should be fairly easy to sort. Post in the new owner technical forum on porsche924.co.uk, knowledgable and very helpful bunch!

[Asimo]

Check timing marks / cambelt etc. Check compression is there with thumb over plug holes. Check sparks present at plug. If ok and fuel present in tank then Involve Bosch fuel injection guru.

 

Do not give up now!

 

Has it got Pascha interior?

[Cavcraft]

Yep, go through the basics first and see what happens. Is there a 924 forum somewhere, might be worth asking to see if it's a common problem?

[Electric Leyland]

Right, this is giving me fresh incentive. I'll put these Q's to my mate who did it and hope he remembers. Battery still under warranty so will get swapped and start over.

 

He has done a few engine swaps before and spent a long time going through the options but concluded either hidden immobiliser or timing issue. Keith Moody told me he had loads of grief along timing type issues DW, took an expert about a week to sort it out in the end. I need to get the final story from him about it, see if that helps.

 

Bol, car is down in Stevenage, salvaged on the day as I had to eventually get myself to work.

 

DB will try that as well as here, thanks. Here first though, rude not to! Hasn't got the chequered interior sadly just standard with the usual driver seat tear.

 

Changing the subject, Audi has new bumpers, winders and mirrors! And fixed a fuel leak this weekend using spanner/duct tape so a less pathetic picture overall.

[dollywobbler]

More Audi pics are needed. Is it still with DaveRapid?

[Electric Leyland]

Audi is my daily driver, most reliable classic I've ever had. DaveRapid indeed still gets it through the MOT every time, the legend. Each time it does go wrong it's always a simple and very cheap fix that makes you feel so proud. Love that car. In love with it even. Needed 3 areas of the exhaust welding last week, making a horrific noise. £50 later from Bobs Tyres in Stevenage and good as new. That raspy exhaust note is the best feature, especially through tunnels, window wound down every time. Aaahhhh old cars!

 

Will post some new pics up avec plus vitesse.

[inconsistant]

Plan A: What Danblez said ^^^. 

 

https://porsche924.co.uk/forum/

 

Very helpful, supportive bunch of chaps. Forum is very active, and questions get answered in minutes/hours rather than days.

 

 

Plan B*: it's been a while since GarethJ had all those starting problems with his 924. He might be a bit bored and fancy a challenge?

 

*This plan is a bad plan

 

 

These are supposedly straightforward cars, but their Achilles heel is electrics. Anyone in their right mind would be removing electrical stuff, not adding extra complication with alarm & leccy windows. Looks like a non-sunroof one... their other weakness is leaks, to the extent that non-factory sunroof cars are more sought after.

 

Get it fixed, get it enjoyed, keep it for a year or 2 and enjoy the slow increase in interest & value that the basic 2.0 924 is currently enjoying.

[Barry Cade]

Porch 924's are a pain in the arse. I bought a cheap one a couple of years ago, and it took me to the ragged edge of throwing spanners around. It ATE spark plugs, the fuel system had a mind of it's own and the fusebox and wiring were hilarious..When I got it running and driving properly,I was pretty dissapointed   Lesson learned. Looked great though!

[Station]

Mine had fuel pump failure. A common problem.

Check fuel pressure by removing fuel pipe into bottle and crank engine.

[KruJoe]

Good to see you back Richard - stick around!

 

I can't offer advice over what the others said, but I hope you sort it soon enough. Run it for a bit and see if you enjoy it.

Good luck.

[Junkman]

K-Jetronic?

Could be fuel distributor and cold start valve.

[rml2345]

Can offer no more than encouragement to get it sorted and enjoy it for a bit. Although, my experience of 80s injection systems are that it's worth checking the fuel pump relay and making sure all the engine electrics are good.

[Des]

You could spoon feed it some fuel down its gullet, or inlet, while someone cranks, if it then fires it would suggest ignition ok but fuel not so, if nothing happens then maybe ign fault and maybe fuel fault as well, check for things like the sound of relays clicking and a short pszzzzzt from the fuel pump when you turn on ign, if the things sat then there could be all manner of relays gone sticky and begging for a wriggle or a twatting, some of the little feckers have electronics in them that like eroding solder joints, sometimes they like to burn the sockets they're plugged into, same with fuses, although I do suspect this is a wind up because German cars never go wrong phact!

It is still petrol in the tank and not gone off and turned into that Essex bird coloured slop yet?

[garethj]

Somewhere on the 924 forum there's a guide to checking the fuel pressure.  You need a fuel pressure gauge, some hose and fittings and I made one for about £20.  It's here in my garage if you want to borrow it, it lets you check fuel pressure on cold start, to see if the pump runs properly, to see if the pressure accumulator is good etc.

 

Next thing is the spark.  I had loads of fun* with mine because it was actually making a spark with the spark plug grounded against the cam cover but it was too weak when the plug was in the combustion chamber.  This was down to the ignition coil being the wrong one, but mostly down to faulty wiring.  When you open the bonnet to the right of the ignition coil as you look (towards passenger side) there's a 3-pin white connector.  Some wires go from there to the driver's side across the bulkhead and down to the alternator.  Those wires get toasted because they run past the exhaust.

 

Jack up the front of the car and look at the wires as they come out the back of the alternator, if they look at all crusty they'll need to be replaced.  You can wire up something temporary to start with and see if it helps, then get in there and route the wires nicely when it runs.

 

I found the 924 forum a bit crap for getting my car running; lots of people who said "yeah, these cars are dead easy mate" but not much in terms of specific help.  Have you got a Haynes manual?  There's an unusually good bit in there for checking voltage to ignition coil and all the fuel pressure tests are in there too.

 

Where's this spare wire from the new engine coming from?  They changed the number of pins on the K-Jetronic module over the years so you need to make sure everything connects up.

[Bobthebeard]

DME relay possibly. If fitted of course.