List of useful links for 944 and 944 turbo owners

Clark’s Garage :- An incredible resource and first stop for all 944 owners. It’s the bible for all things 944. NB:- It hasn’t been updated in over 20 years as the creator unfortunately passed away, leaving this incredible legacy for us all. So keep in mind that recent knowledge may surpass what was known then, like resetting trip meter when moving being cause of odometer failure, when it is now known that the one gear turns to mush and movement is irrelevant. Its a time bomb. Also of conjecture is new struts causing hatch separation(close with 2 hands evenly) as twisting forces on frame are probably a bigger factor. Equally upgrade advice on turbos is very outdated, etc. Also it is LHD USA centric, so some procedures maybe different for RHD and ROW(rest of world)cars.

Click here for Clark’s garage

Rennlist:- Rennlist is a forum that has been around for many years and another great resource and an alternative to facebook groups. Any question you may have, have probably already been asked, countless time on Rennlist and it will always show up if you type your question into google because of this. Well worth joining IMO

Click here for Rennlist

Ftech9:- Joe at Ftech9 (Focus 9 technology) was one of the people behind the original Rogue tuning upgrades and chips(with Joshua), and is the developer of the solid state DME relay(a must have upgrade for reliability). He has now developed solid state DME(ECU)with OBD, for the platform and with the age of original units, failures are becoming very common. In my opinion its not worth fixing a faulty DME as it’s another time bomb so replacing with these or another option is a far smarter course of action

Click here for Ftech9

VEMS:- Versatile Engine Management System. This a fully tunable plug n play system which replaces the factory DME and allows car to use a more modern ECU with all the benefits that provides. I personally use this system and am a big fan. I really like it has autotune. A feature that allows me to to tune the car, after making changes or modifications by driving it and it self tuning. Most alternatives require car to visit a dyno tuner after changes, so this a huge advantage for this car. It also uses VE type tuning, so allows removal of the aging and problematic Air Flow Meter, that is no longer available from Porsche. Note system will be even better(like any ECU) with proper dyno tuning.

Click here for VEMS

MAXXECU:- A recent option being primarily developed by the guys on the Facebook Premier 944 Turbo and 968 Turbo group(The best people with knowledge of all things 944 turbo IMO). The plan is too use this either with a custom harness or with a harness being developed with Kroon(see below). This option using either the MaxxECU Pro or MaxxECU Race, is currently being developed and should be the best option for the hardcore turbo owner wanting the absolute best tuning option with the support of the most knowledgeable community behind it. Once the Kroon harness is done, you will have a base tune and replacement harness to take the 944 turbo to the next level. Join the facebook group and stay tuned

Click here for MaxxECU

MegaSquirt:- This is another stand alone ECU that has a big following on Rennlist. This has pro’s and con’s. Pros are its fairly cheap and has a huge following, so a large community behind it to tap into. Cons are you probably need to know a lot about tuning and stand alone’s, as you will not only need to do a custom install and wiring, but also need to be pretty hard core into tuning.

Click here for MegaSquirt

Augment Automotive:- This UK based company has a plug n play upgrade(Augtronic) to the DME that allows 3D tuning, bypass of the problematic AFM, using a MAF or Map set up, and a host of other features. Check it out on their website

Click here for Autronic DME upgrade

Clewette Engineering:- I honestly don’t know much about this system but a friend online suggested I include it as he is using it with great success. It uses the Electromotive TEC-gt200 ECU and apparently it comes with a base tune, coil pack, wide-band O2 sensor, etc, and wiring for a custom harness. It also features autotune, and has good support from Clewette.

Click here for Clewette

Racing Dynamics:- These guys make a very high quality front strut brace. All the racing 924/944 versions had a strut brace in them, as the strut towers can flex when car is pushed hard and a brace reduces this dramatically. The racing dynamics strut brace is incredibly well made and fit and finish is amazing. I say this with a caveat as mine arrived with a wonky sticker, probably put on by a drunk work experience kid. I had to remove it as it triggered my OCD. Despite this I highly recommend this brace

Click here for Racing Dynamics

DRS Developments:- Jan at DRS only has a few products listed on website but also makes some very cool Carbon Fibre parts for our cars including a replica factory(RS) racing bridge spoiler, and a lower rear diffuser. Both are stunning

Click here for DRS Developments

Adjustable Voltage regulator:- I only found this recently and am about to fit it. The ordering set up on page can be a little confusing but you need to order the external adjustable voltage regulator. This allows you to set an exact voltage. I will be setting mine at 13.8 volts

Click here for adjustable Voltage regulator

Kroon Wiring Harnesses:- These guys have been making complete replacement engine harnesses for years and recently added the 944. The quality is amazing and if you need them to add wiring for other sensors they can add them in. Arguably better than the cars left the factory with.

Click here for Kroon Wiring

Upgraded head light harness:- Many complain of very bad performance from headlights and that is often caused by the original wiring harness to lights. If you measure voltage it may be as low as 8-9 volts due to corrosion and old wires. Thankfully you can buy an upgraded harness that takes it power directly from alternator and uses new relays. It plugs into existing harness(plug n play) to get control signals for high and low beam but will provide head lights with proper voltage and noticeable improvement in performance. Search on ebay for “Porsche 944 uprated Headlight wiring loom harness”

No link due to ebay relisting item every few weeks

Fabspeed Exhaust:- (TURBO ONLY):- Fabspeed make what is arguably the best exhaust system for the 944 turbo. The quality and finish is outstanding, and it sounds amazing. I have been using the cat back section for 10 years and it still looks brand new with only light polishing every 2 to 6 months using autosol polish. I have just ordered the front section with catalytic converter to have a full 3 inch system

Click here for Fabspeed

Hatch Pin Receiver Repair Kit:- The rear hatch on these cars is prone to rattle and shake, which is not only annoying, it could impact with de-lamination of glass. I tried other cures before with no luck. These ones from 944 online did the trick. Fitting these made all the difference and totally eliminated the rattle I had. The car is soooo much quieter once this is gone. I put it up with it for much longer than I should but fitting these was the cure. I needed to make a slight adjustment to the pins but was a simple install. I also cleaned and lubricated the release mechanism while I was in there

Click here for repair kit

Short Shift and shifter Kit:- Only 944 sell a great short shift kit and a replacement shifter that tightens up and gets rid of excessive play in shift lever. My car didn’t suffer from much play but the shifter still improved it. Note you’ll also want to add the new dampers made by 3D printed porsche parts sold on ebay. These parts are also a must have IMO and well worth doing. You’ll need shifter, short shifter, and linkage.

Click here for only 944

Turbosmart:- Turbosmart make several products that are great for the 944 turbo. One of the most popular is the 25mm Kompact Plumb back re-circulation valve. The re-circulation valve diverts the air away from turbo when the accelerator is backed off, like when changing gears and protects the turbo. The factory has a plastic unit that can leak when on boost. A well know vendor sells a shiny Chinese unit, that is available on eBay and various places much cheaper but shouldn’t be used at all as unlike the Turbosmart unit, it doesn’t have good seals, so although shiny, it has same issue as an old factory unit. Be careful though as the Turbosmart unit fits the opposite way to factory unit. See pic

Fitting this unit ensures no bleed off of boost

Click here for turbosmart

Wastegates:- There are only 4 options I would consider(although many more options on market). The issue with the factory wastegate is it its valve is forced into the exhaust stream, it’s slow to respond, and its limited in control options. A popular vendor modifies these to be dual port, which is good, as dual port gives better control, but bad as it still forcing valve into exhaust stream and still slow to respond. I would not use this type. It’s slow to respond and old technology, and hurts spool up speed. The 4 options I’d consider, can be separated into 2 types. Bolt on with common adapter plates, and ones that need some fabrication to fit. The 2 bolt on options are the Tial F38 which I am currently using, and the Turbosmart Ultragate38 which would be my choice now, as it is the very latest technology and IMO is the leading wastegate you can use(bolt on). The other 2 options require some fabrication to fit but will respond better again. They are the Tial F46 which is a great option if you can get fabrication done and the Turbosmart Hypergate 45. Tials are not sold directly from Tial, so no links provided but google will get you there.

Click here for Ultrgate38

Click here for Hypergate45

Manual Boost controllers:- The simplest and arguably most reliable adjustable boost controller is a manual boost controller. You can have them either in engine bay as a set and forget, or cabin mounted for adjustment on the fly. You can even get dual stage so you can swap between a lower and higher boost settings. The downside to them is they can’t react to throttle position, atmospheric conditions or RPM so are fairly crude by comparison to electronic, but are much simpler to set up and cheaper to buy

Click here for manual

Click here for in cabin

Click here for dual stage

Electronic Boost Controllers:- These are more versatile but also more complex to install and set up. The advantage they have over manual depends on the model but they can adjust how the turbo spools up, automatically adjust for atmospheric conditions, take into account gear car is in, and throttle position, rpm, and have multiple settings, etc. The downside is expense of not just units themselves, but also the set up, as they usually need dyno time to be set up correctly. Once set up they are vastly superior to any other type. I prefer Turbosmart as an Aussie company that is making the best products you can buy and constantly innovating and is now world famous for their products

Click here for turbosmart

Turbochargers Until recently, we have only had the same old vendors, selling the same old Turbos developed in the 90s. While a great option back then, things have moved on and improved a lot since then. The only option was to go it alone and get a trusted builder to make you up something custom, or doing lots of fabrication to get a modern turbo to fit. Now thanks to the hard work of a particular 944 turbo enthusiast we have the most advanced option ever. He basically has 3 variants that are then customised to your goals. That guy is Emanual Glasson, many of us know well from Premier turbo group on facebook. He has been developing his turbos for the last few years, and I am about to fit one to my car. The Turbos are the “Voodoo”, the “Ultraspool”, and a “Xona Rotor Billet”. He is also making flow matched down pipes, mounts, headers and exhausts. This has all been done through his own initiative wanting a decent option for our platform. You will not get a better option than this. His website is linked below but reach out on facebook, as he is still getting everything sorted. I am about to fit an Ultraspool and it is a work of art

Click here for M44performance Turbo’s

Radiator Drain Kit:- So many tasks in the engine bay require the coolant to be drained and for me, I did it once, got coolant everywhere and then ordered this Lindsey Racing kit and never looked back. It’s an issue on all 944’s but especially bad on turbo and S2. It’s a very simple product and you could probably source the parts to do it pretty easy but if like me then this is easiest solution. My mechanic loves it too

Click here for LR drain kit

M44 Performance:- M44 Performance first few products are now being sold through 944 online. I just bought the Billet Head Stud Super washers. These are designed to spread the load when clamping the head back down. In future they will be selling turbo’s, exhaust headers, full exhaust systems and more

M44 Performance on 944 online

I bought a used alcantara shift boot a while ago that had the shift pattern in red and always liked it. After trying various shift boots over the last 10 years and never being really happy with how long they lasted, I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a genuine Porsche shift boot. The boot comes mounted with the shift knob and I’m really happy with it despite the expense, as it should last year’s with proper care

While the shift boot and knob is awesome, the button with shift pattern looked bland compared to the Alcantara boot I had. I decided to fill in the indicator part with guards red touch up paint. I practiced on an old button I had and thought I could just swap buttons if it worked out.

It worked out perfect however I soon realised that I couldn’t get the new button out to swap them.

The problem was I didn’t want to damage the new leather and it soon became clear that I would damage it trying to pry it out. So plan B was to do it in the boot.

First step was to tape up around the edge. I could pry it up about a millimetre which was enough to get tape under edges. I then used some guards red touch up paint to fill the grooves of shift pattern

Basically it’s just a matter of over filling where grooves are. I needed to do it a few times as paint shrinks into grooves a little, when it drys, so to get it level took a few fills and sands

Then I sanded it down with 120 carefully, then 220 till I was happy. I then smoothed it with 1200. I wrapped the whole boot in newspaper to prevent getting any clear on boot

Once it was ready to go I gave it a coat or 2 of high gloss clear and put on a window sill, in the sunshine to dry

A few hours later it was ready to go into the car. I’m very happy with the result

Thankfully this is an easy fix. The resistor pack gets crud built up on it from being in engine bay, exposed to the elements.

First step is to remove the rubber strip that hold front of cowl over heater blower fans

Once that’s off cowl lifts up at from and you can access resistor pack and disconnect black plug for wiring

Then remove the 2 screws, one at each end.

Once out remove rubber gasket and put it to soak for about an hour in white vinegar. I used a toothbrush to give it a light scrub too

After it’s soaked for an hour let it dry(I used kitchen paper towels to speed up drying). Once dry, refit and you should have all fan speeds working 👍

My mission was to mount a boost controller as subtly as possible.

I decided on using a turbosmart e-boost street as it’s a compact unit, has 2 boost settings and can be switched between those settings with an external switch, and it’s red LED display would shine through smoked plexiglass.

First step was to remove front of eboost street. The panel is held on by the 2 small Allen bolts but the rotary controller was permanently mounted through a small whole meaning front cover was captured by it. So to take panel off required some delicate work with a cutting wheel on a dremel.

I then marked out on the Plexi where it needed to be mounted and where the rotary controller and display were and holes for Allen bolts. I then drilled the holes. I had to buy some special hole saws for the Plexi as it’s very easy to crack and ruin the piece. The hole saws worked perfectly and I was able to check fit it

The Plexiglass was then sprayed with black paint on rear except for the area of the display.

Once the unit is mounted the panel looks completely black and blank, but the display shines through the dark tint when working.

A single din trim panel with clips on the back, to hold it in place, was cut so e-boost controller would fit through it. I then used high strength double sided tape to secure the Plexi to it. It’s the same 3m tape used to hold trim pieces into the outside of cars.

I had to file edges to get a good fit into the console. I then decided to add a Porsche sticker in white to it and it was ready to fit

The final result below turned out great and I’m really happy with it

To make these I started with a new product I read about called Apoxie Sculpt. It’s a 2 part epoxy used for sculpting and making prototypes. You mix part A and B in equal measure and begin sculpting. It sets within 24 hours but you can scuplt it for several hours, so super easy to use. Once set it can be sanded, then painted etc.

The Pioneer Carrozzeria ribbon supertweeters TS-ST910 are only sold in Japan, so we’re sourced via eBay and replaced the much cheaper Sony set I was using. As my system is Hi-res, these supertweeters play from 18kHz up to 100kHz. Now most humans over 15 years of age are lucky to hear above about 16kHz so most would think these would be pointless but music is harmonic in nature and since the 70s and 80s we have known that reproduction of frequencies above our hearing range effect the timbre and tonality of the notes we do hear. If you hear a violin live these harmonics are produced but a recording limited to our hearing range would cut off these harmonics. Harmonics are sounds in higher octaves that resonate with the primary note being played. Yamaha introduced a CD player very early in CDs life that went up to 30kHz even though CDs were limited to 20kHz based on this knowledge of harmonics. Brands like Rotel also made amps that went up to 50kHz in the 90s for same reason, so although Hi-res is relatively new, the theory behind it isn’t. Many may argue it’s just marketing but all I know is my system sounds amazing and the ribbon tweeters lifted it to another level.

I started out by using the trims(cups) for flush mounting and added some plastic pieces to help seal off the back. The speakers are sealed so this was only to aid making the mount and not for acoustic reasons. I glued them on with some JB weld 2 part epoxy glue.

I then used the sculpting putty to seal the plastic pieces in. These bits had holes that lined up with the bolt holes in tweeters for securing the speakers into mounts.

Once I had the rear of mounts to a point I was happy with I began working on molding the mounts into position on the car.

This involved adding lots of putty and physically sculpting it in the car. I started making just one side as I find the knowledge gained makes second mount easier and any mistakes aren’t done twice, so only need to be rectified once. It also makes second one a quicker process.

Once I was happy with fitment and shape, pod was sanded smooth and shaped then sprayed in high build undercoat. This was then sanded smooth ready for top coat.

I then painted the pod in gaurds red to match the car. It’s pretty loud colour and I think I’ll respray them again in a matt black to not stand out so much, but for now I’m enjoying the splash of colour

Then it was just a matter of rinse and repeat on second pod. I wore disposable gloves while playing with sculpting putty but it really was a simple as using play doh. Really happy I discovered it, as it’s very workable and gives you a great finish when sanded and painted.

I see many people asking is the 944 reliable and the answer is yes and no. Mine had a few issues when I got it but got them sorted and daily drove the car for 6 years, mostly incident free, then had some more serious issues(hard to diagnose) but now its super reliable. The engines on these cars are incredibly reliable, so most issues come down to a few other causes, mostly electrical, but in this article I’ll address those issues, and what can be done to get rid of many potential reliability issues for many years. It is just a general guide based on my experience and not a technical guide for diagnosis of problems.

DME, the sensors, and relay

Speed and Reference Sensors

944’s have an engine management system made by Bosch called a DME(Digital Motronic Electronics). It is a fuel injected system the uses 2 sensors{on most models later that changed to one sensor) known as the speed and reference sensors. These tell the engine management system(DME) what the pistons are doing and when to fire the fuel in and when to to trigger the spark plugs, etc. Unfortunately when people get a “no start” situation, often the first thing people suggest, is replace these 2 sensors. That’s not bad advice, as it is a possible cause, but replacing parts that aren’t faulty, not only gets expensive but won’t fix the issue, unless you are lucky and that it was actually the cause. As the wiring harness is very old now, often its not the sensors but the wiring back to DME, from the connectors at back of engine, that then goes to the DME box itself. You can buy replacement harnesses from Lindsey Racing and I highly recommend this. Personally I have replaced all the engine harnesses, as it gets rid of all potential electrical gremlins related to old wiring adding massive reliability

Click here to buy sensor harness

Click here for instructions on how to fit harness

The testing procedure for sensors is at a site all 944 owners should have bookmarked, called Clarks garage click here to sensor test page. This site has so much information and apart from some advice written over 25 years ago, that’s now a little out of date, the site is invaluable. One of the things it suggests is glueing an 0.8mm washer to an old sensor, to set depth of sensor. Do not do this because if that washer comes off, you are in a world of pain, as it falls into a place that is expensive to open up and also we now have a cheap tool to do the job Click here to buy tool. The reason you need to set depth is, its critical the sensors are the right distance to flywheel, to get an accurate trigger signal for DME. If you can get sensors out without removing bracket, then you don’t need to set depth again. Unfortunately more times than not, the bracket needs to be removed to get old sensors out.

There is another alternative to fitting all new harnesses from Lindsey racing, which is what I did, and requires fitting them into factory connector at DME, which can be a bit daunting(but isn’t that hard, as long as you are patient and methodical), is to buy a complete harness. Recently a company called Kroon wiring decided to support the 944 community and is making complete replacement engine harness. This isn’t a cheap option but the harness is probably better built than when car left the factory, so will ensure reliability for many many years to come and just plugs in to DME and avoids the fiddly work needed with the Lindsey racing replacements to be fitted in factory DME connector, although obviously both still need to be hooked up to everything in engine bay. Its also possible for them to wire in custom integration for other non-original sensors, like to monitor intake temps or something, directly into the harness.

Click here to buy Kroon Harness

DME relay

The DME relay is used by the DME and ignition, to turn on fuel pump. For many years people often carried 2 or 3 in glovebox, as they are an old analogue relay, that’s prone to failure at the most random and inconvenient times. Quality of replacement vary and I had a lot of problems with ones I had, so genuine Porsche are the best but we now have an option that should mean the end of being stranded by these. It a solid state relay made by Focus9 technology and I was a beta tester for them and been using one since 2016 and highly recommend them. They have 2 versions, standard which I use and pump prime that activates the fuel pump for 3 seconds before starting, to make starting easier. If buying today I’d get pump prime but have no issues starting with standard unit. Some people re-solder broken relays and get them working again but as they are only putting off the inevitable, I think the solid state are way to go for reliability.

Click here to buy Solid state relay

DME(engine control unit)

With my car the DME box(ECU) had a random problem when I first got it 10 years ago, and the guys I sent it too couldn’t work it out exactly what it was, even though it tested faulty, so sold me a rebuilt unit. Now we have more options and I wouldn’t suggest getting the DME rebuilt as its very old now, and there are several better options. Even if fixed, the age means it may cause further problems later, due to age and construction, and technology available at the time car was built.

Which option is best depends on a couple of factors. If you own a normally aspirated(NA) car(a non turbo), or a turbo, whether you don’t plan to modify it or not. One option is the Focus 9 technology solid state DME(ECU) replacement. This is made with latest technology and will outlast most of us. These guys reverse engineered the DME and then made a new version that is built with 40 years newer technology. It does require a core exchange. They also have a version for “spec” racing version that is a control class of racing, so cannot be modified

Click here to buy F9tech DME

The more advanced options, for those who either want to do modifications at some point or want to improve basic performance, like throttle response, is to go a tune-able set up. These allow the fuelling, timing, and other settings to be changed and are essential on turbo models, if you want to improve performance by upgrading turbos, injectors, etc, but they will still benefit an NA(whether the expense is justified on NA’s is another matter). They also allow changes to be made at any time and can be retuned to accommodate the new changes

VEMS

VEMS(versatile engine management system) is the stand alone system I personally use. My factory Air Flow Meter(AFM) had begun to play up and couldn’t be fixed. I could have bought a refurbished AFM, but as they are no longer made, so how long it would last is unknown, and they are very expensive refurbished. Buying a used one, then it may not even work at all, a gamble I wasn’t willing to take. I decided on VEMS because although, like all stand alone systems, a dyno-tuner can tune the car, it also has an autotune function, that basically self calibrates the system enough for it to be very drivable without the expense of dyno tuning time. It allows removal of the factory AFM, which not only improves air flow into engine but adds reliability, as it uses an Air temp sensor and wideband oxygen sensor for precise tuning. Far more precise than the original DME. It’s also a plug and play system that plugs directly into factory harness. It does require IAT(internal air temp) sensor and a wideband O2 sensor to be fitted, but that’s not complicated or expensive, and any decent mechanic can get that done easily or can be done yourself if you can weld the bungs required for sensors in. I added wasted spark ignition too, as it takes distributor out of equation, that needs parts that need to be maintained.

Click here to buy VEMS

MAXXECU, MEGASQUIRT, Motorsport Engineering and other options

These ECU’s are known as stand alone units, as they are a complete management systems. Some like Motorsport engineering are packaged into a plug n play like VEMS is, and others require a bit more work to install. Some come with a raw harness that needs to be installed, which is a lot of work, some with base tunes to get you going, and some that will not only require a wiring loom to be built from scratch but require dyno tuning before car will run and drive. They do offer virtually unlimited performance upgrades, with monitoring at the highest level of anything possible and you can add features like boost by gear, traction control, anti-lag and more, easily.

The thing about stand alones is, without the community support, you are on your own and either need to know how to tune, wire and set up yourself, or are at the mercy of your tuner and mechanic. That’s ok too, but if relying on someone else to install and set up, it is very expensive. Megasquirt has a huge amount of community support on rennlist forum, Maxxecu(new option for turbos and in early days) on the facebook group “Premier 944 turbo and 968 turbo group” and Augtronic and Motorsport Engineering by tuners in UK and Europe, as does VEMS, so making a decision between them, can be important just based on where you live, or based on your tuning skills and fabrication and wiring skills.

Click here to buy ME ECU for NA and Turbo Plug n Play

Click here to buy Megasquirt Plug n Play for NA 944

Click here to buy Maxxecu Race(basic)

Click here to buy Maxxecu Pro(advanced)

Click here to buy Augtronic

Vacuum Leaks

These cars have vacuum lines running all over the place in the engine bay and even in the car for the heater control. The original lines often have leaks that can cause all sorts of problems. These should all be replaced and you can get kits or just buy silicone hose yourself. Although you would think that replacing them would solve any vacuum issues, there is one other place a leak can cause an issue, and that’s the throttle body. The throttle body is meant to be sealed and a leak can mean the DME is getting the wrong reading of air going into engine, so car will have incorrect air to fuel ratio, and can run poorly

Click here to buy throttle body reseal kit

Click here to buy vacuum lines

Fuel Lines

More than just a reliability item, these are a safety item too, as having the car burn down does effect the drive-ability a bit. The original fuel lines can split and fuel is under tremendous pressure so if they go, its right over a hot exhaust. You can buy braided lines but I prefer aeroquip fuel lines, as it means they are easy to visually examine as they age. The lines at rear are less of an issue regarding an instant fire, as not over hot exhaust but also a good idea to inspect regularly and replace if needed.

Click here to buy Fuel lines

Grounds

The importance of good grounds can’t be over stated. Luckily it costs nothing to clean and reattach them. On some cars ground straps from battery may need to be replaced. For the engine, the ground point is just near the speed and reference sensors at the back of engine between bell housing and firewall. Cleaning is just a matter of removing them and cleaning area of grime and cleaning the terminals with light sanding. There are I think 7 ground points and its a great idea to clean them all. It varies from models being LHD and RHD but there are diagrams online that show you locations. As everything from DME, sensors, and gauges, require a good ground signal, it’s definitely worth doing and free

Is my car reliable?

I bought my 86 turbo in 2010 (today, so its our anniversery 🙂 As mentioned above I had a problem with DME when I first got it but had that sorted a few weeks later. It went great and I was driving it everyday but occasionally I’d have the dreaded random no start. it was very rare but also very frustrating. I could always roll start it, so always parked with that in mind and often had work colleagues who would get roped into helping. I actually put up with this for about 6 months while searching online for possible solutions. I read that you could sometimes jiggle wires at back of engine where speed and reference sensors connect to factory loom and car may start. Sure enough it worked and I realised it was the factory wiring back to DME that was the problem. I ordered the Lindsey racing replacement harness and as I am down under and shipping here is so expensive, I thought I may as well get some other things at same time. Luckily one of those was the fuel injector harness. Now when the stuff arrived, I kept driving for a bit using jiggle method if the car wouldn’t start, but when I finally got around to fitting the harness, I thought it made sense to look at fuel injector harness too. Although I hadn’t had an issue with it, when I touched the connector at the injector, the factory harness broke off in my hand. I then fitted the new fuel injector harness. I realised I’d dodged a bullet, as it was just a matter of time till that harness would have broken and left me stranded and scratching my head to the cause. This is why, if you want a reliable car, I think the harnesses are so important.

When I started to have the issues, that the worn out Air Flow Meter(AFM) caused, I tried replacing many parts to fix it, not know what the cause was. Often I knew it was unlikely to be the solution but figured at least the parts would be good for many years and I might get lucky and also some things I was planning on doing anyway. I was also between mechanics and so sort of stuck on my own trying to work it out. I replaced the fuel pump to a HV unit from Lindsey Racing, fuel filter, distributor, cap, leads, fuel rail(CEP), rebuilt injectors, Tial F38 dual port waste gate and Turbosmart electronic boost controller, AFR gauge(Zeitronix ZT2) with EGT, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting. I also had to fit most of these things myself, so learned a lot doing it and am far more confident tackling mechanical tasks these days

Once it was figured out it was AFM, I weighed up options and decided on stand alone. Initially I bought an M tune set up but couldn’t get car to run. This wasted a lot of time and money but I eventually gave up and bought VEMS. A few weeks later it arrived and once fitted to the car, she started first time and I’ve never looked back

So yes my car is very reliable and starts first time, every time, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take it on a long trip. Yes its had some issues as you would expect for a car of its age, but the majority of the time(90+%) I have owned it, its been driven daily and reliable. I have done the things to it, I think are needed, to make it reliable and will make any 944 very reliable. If you also want a reliable 944, then it takes a little work but if you address the primary causes of problems, outlined above, then these cars are very reliable and very few other cars have the engineering behind them mechanically, to do the sort of mileage these cars do consistently, combined with handling, style, and looks that are hard to beat.

As my loyal readers know, I have owned a gorgeous Porsche 944 Turbo for over 5 years now. The reason I can afford it is because it was shunned by the Porsche “Purests” who at the time of it’s release often stated that it wasn’t a real Porsche, afterall it wasn’t rear engined, it was water cooled and it’s predecessor the 924(from which it evolved) was seen as a bitza, using parts from Audi, Mercedes, VW and of course Porsche. They over look the fact it was completely designed by Porsche. I would like to thank them because if they knew what I know, then the 944 turbo would have been way too expensive for me to be able to afford. God bless you, one and all 🙂

The 924 was originally designed by Porsche to replace the 914 and 914/6, which was a joint venture from Porsche and VW, and sold under both brands badges. VW decided at the last minute to pull out and go with their own designed Golf. Porsche decided to buy the rights back from VW and still release the car as a Porsche. The 944 replaced the 924 and used an all Porsche designed 2.5 litre engine, that was basically half of the engine used in the V8 928.

Continue reading “Is The Porsche Cayman GT4 the modern successor to the Porsche 944 Turbo ???”