Porsche 924 Scheiße - the wonderful* everyday

[N Dentressangle]

I forgot one of the coolest parts of this journey.

On the way over to Cambridge on Sat, on the A14 around Thrapston, one of these gorgeous things loped down the slip road and joined behind me:

Not this exact one, but a silver X reg, same year as the 924!

We growled along at a steady 80 in our little early 80's convoy until he peeled off onto the A1. Much waving, and his passenger got a few shots of the 924 on his phone.

Very pleasing.

[N Dentressangle]

Emergency bolt had already worked loose, and the bottom bracket shows why... Time for some welding 

[N Dentressangle]

Job jobbed 

[Zelandeth]

My latest patient arrived on the workbench this afternoon.

Which contains this lot.

Soldering actually all looks okay, but I'll reflow everything just to be sure.  It's such a simple board it would be daft not to.

I suspect this is the cause of all the problems though.

It's really hard to tell in the photos as this camera really doesn't like close ups, but the relay contacts are really tarnished.  I reckon just cleaning these up will get it working most likely.  Will dig the points file out and give it a good clean and then see where we are.  I'll check the caps while I'm in here as they could also be well past their best and causing issues.

[N Dentressangle]

Well, that's service! 🍻

The good s/h one packed up after 2 days, so might need similar tlc. The vendor is suggesting something on the car has caused it...

[N Dentressangle]

A pleasing pairing at Aldi this morning 

So what else is new?

The car has been sounding throatier and louder since I thrashed it back from Cambridge 10 days ago. Full disclosure - I overtook everything offered between Cirencester and Stroud, and may have redlined the poor thing several times. It's a hoot to drive, to be fair: just enough power to be interesting, plus brakes and handling which make the effort worthwhile. However, I did wonder if I'd maybe been a bit cruel to the old bus and asked a little much of something only 10 years younger than me. On way back from Aldi the rumbling growl was accompanied by some clanking on the corners, and I had suspect #1 - the exhaust. Up on stands in the garage, the downpipe was loose at the manifold despite me having torqued it all up a month or two ago when I replaced the gasket. All tightened again and we have peace and nice smooth engine. Phew.

The other day the inlet tube did its trick of popping out of the rubber hose again. Bastard thing. On inspection the rubber hose is starting to crack and probably past its best, so I handed over another £50 odd to Design911 and a new one is coming. In the meantime I've re-seated the pipe very firmly in the rubber hose, and I think we've got the K Jet as leak free as it's ever been. It even hot starts properly! Plus idle and running is now really smooth, thanks to the lack of air leaks and the newly adjusted valve clearances.

Just got to sort the intermittent wipers now. I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with the relay and the chip inside is bolloxed. Which is a PITA but hey ho...

[N Dentressangle]

The 924 has an oil spray bar to lube the OHC, plugged into the oil galleries by a small black plastic elbow. They're known to disintegrate over time and I noticed when I set the valve clearances the other week that mine had behaved to form. Here's what was left of it:

I think it still worked, just, but there's a guy on one of the Porsche forums who makes a brass replacement for cheaper than the new plastic one comes from Porsche or VW for that matter. £18 delivered, so it arrived this week and I fitted it this afternoon:

It's rather nice, and worth a close-up:

Took the opportunity to blast the pipe through with carb clean too, as the holes at the end had predictably clogged up with sticky crap so I got everything squirting freely again 😉before re-fitting.

Very satisfying.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Very nice!  I like the  brass fitting, it'll last forever.  I will say the genuine (plastic) part from Porsche only cost me £4.30 last year!  But it's still going to fail...

I've given up having intermittent wipers on mine, I just can't find a working early relay

[N Dentressangle]

1 minute ago, Rusty_Rocket said:

Very nice!  I like the  brass fitting, it'll last forever.  I will say the genuine (plastic) part from Porsche only cost me £4.30 last year!  But it's still going to fail...

I've given up having intermittent wipers on mine, I just can't find a working early relay

Interesting - that must have been the last of the old stock. It was definitely about £20 odd quid when I checked a week ago.

D'you reckon only the genuine early relays will do the trick then?

[inconsistant]

Enjoying reading your enthusiasm for the 924!  Got mine out today for a quick wash ready for tomorrow’s German car breakfast meet in Forest Row. Looking forward to a gentle blast tomorrow.

[Matty]

4 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

The 924 has an oil spray bar to lube the OHC, plugged into the oil galleries by a small black plastic elbow. They're known to disintegrate over time and I noticed when I set the valve clearances the other week that mine had behaved to form. Here's what was left of it:

I think it still worked, just, but there's a guy on one of the Porsche forums who makes a brass replacement for cheaper than the new plastic one comes from Porsche or VW for that matter. £18 delivered, so it arrived this week and I fitted it this afternoon:

It's rather nice, and worth a close-up:

Took the opportunity to blast the pipe through with carb clean too, as the holes at the end had predictably clogged up with sticky crap so I got everything squirting freely again 😉before re-fitting.

Very satisfying.

Its giving me pinto vibes pal. Seriously though what a lovely little future proof mod. 👍

[inconsistant]

On 31/12/2025 at 13:05, N Dentressangle said:

A pleasing pairing at Aldi this morning 

 

I had a similar pleasing pairing this morning…

What are the chances?!

[N Dentressangle]

We're being stalked by bearded, corduroy-trousered Geography-teaching Volvo owners, hoping for a sprinkle of our Porsche stardust and massive sex appeal.

It's the only answer.

[N Dentressangle]

On 10/01/2026 at 16:56, Rusty_Rocket said:

Very nice!  I like the  brass fitting, it'll last forever.  I will say the genuine (plastic) part from Porsche only cost me £4.30 last year!  But it's still going to fail...

I've given up having intermittent wipers on mine, I just can't find a working early relay

I've ended up ordering this: https://ebay.us/m/yauLcK sent to a pal in Germany as thanks to our brilliant Brexit deal they don't ship to the UK, so he'll forward it to me. Fingers crossed it works.

Having had working intermittent for a few days, plus the feature where it wipes automatically when you pull for screenwash, I'd really like it again. It's a PITA without.