The Result: 1985.5 Porsche 944 For Sale $6,200

So it's been almost a year since I bought this car to fix up and sell on to a new owner and finally it is finished!

Great condition! This 25 year old beauty has about 154k miles which means it has done about 6200 miles per year since it was new. Good daily driver but better for weekends with the sunroof off. Very solid engine. It has been carefully restored by me over the past year including a full, proper paint job. It has lots of new and replaced parts and inspection is good through summer 2011. Clean history report.

Timing belt, balance shaft and rollers were all replaced at 149k miles. Clutch was replaced at 105k miles. Since I bought it, I thoroughly cleaned the idle control valve and fuel injectors and conditioned the leather interior for future protection. I also waxed the wheels to resist brake dust and grime and make it easier for cleaning.

If you own a car and you're looking for a second car my Geico insurance is only $200 per year and it's even less if you qualify for classic car insurance!

Options & Specs:
-Black leather interior with fold down rear seats
-Power windows, locks, mirrors, steering, removable sunroof
-5 speed manual transmission
-Rear wheel drive with RARE limited-slip differential
-30+ MPG highway
-CD player with upgraded speakers and Kenwood amp
-A/C not working, all parts have been replaced but still not working

New Parts:
-4 all-weather high performance tires
-Platinum spark plugs
-Ignition wires with lifetime warranty
-Distributor rotor
-Hood support struts
-Wiper blades
-Power steering belt
-Fuel injector seals & caps
-Vacuum hose to Idle Control Valve
-many more

Replaced parts:
-Front windshield
-Leather sunroof bag
-Tail light bulb holder
-Porsche emblem
-Leather center armrest
-Exhaust
-Rear hatch release switch
-Rear hatch release cable
-Rear bumper bads

Email me @ jeffreye.butler@gmail.com or call 201-315-5541

~M/o  "Stay up to Speed"

Episode 1 - Up to Speed

Sorry this video is so late and not-so-great quality. I had many technical difficulites getting it up and running but better late than never, right? After you enjoy the video I put together, please 
take a minute to add your thoughts to the link below or email me any of your ideas to customizing this thing. Happy holidays and a happy new year to all of you! Enjoy.

 http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22A2RA8GT4L

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Rear Turn Signal Troubleshooting

Although all bulbs were working properly when I first bought the car, soon after I had driven it home, both a rear side marker and rear turn signal went out. The rear side marker was a quick fix with a new bulb from Advance Auto but the rear turn signal was a different story.

I replaced the bulb in the rear turn signal and it still didn't work which probably meant one of two things, either the electrical system had a short to the turn signal or there could be a faulty wire or connection. I cleaned all connectors and connections with a wire brush and some fine grit sand paper and got no results.

So finally, I took out my Multimeter and tested each connection that went to the turn signal. You're checking for resistance when looking for a short which means a reading of more than 0.9 constitutes a short.

Turns out there was a short in the wire to the turn signal all the way up to the main connector. The problem is that nobody sells just the connectors with wires anymore so I was going to have to find a second hand one somewhere. I searched all over the place and finally got a response from Ian at http://www.944online.com/. If you need parts, have any problems or questions with your 944 you can ask them, they know everything over there.

He said he had a working bulb assembly that he would send to me for free and no shipping charge! It's a very rare thing that someone gives you anything for free these days so thanks a lot Ian. Even better, when I got the part in the mail he included all working bulbs and the case assembly for the tail light.

It was a quick installation and now it will pass inspection. Out with the old and in with the new(er).

--M/o

Idle Control Valve Cleaning / Vacuum hose replacement

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The previous owner gave me a list of the things he thought needed to be done to bring the car up to par and one of those things was cleaning the idle control valve which is pretty common in 944s and it's not such an easy job. The control valve stabilizes the idling of the car and it did idle a bit rough.

Some say you can get to the ICV (idle control valve) without removing the fuel rail and intake manifold which is true. You can remove the ICV but I'd say it's pretty unlikely that you'll get it back in. This is what I did...

I successfully removed the ICV without taking anything else apart which was a hassle due to small nooks and crannies I had to maneuver my hands around. You're lucky if you can even fit your hands between the intake manifold. If you have big hands forget about it. My girlfriend had to help with a few things because I couldn't get my hands in.

After removing the ICV, I cleaned inside and outside a few times with carb cleaner and lint free rags. Be sure to make sure the ICV is completely dry before reinstalling otherwise you could cause some expensive damage. When I looked into the little hole the ICV came out of with a flashlight I noticed a small vacuum hose that had completely dry-rotted. Aha! That was causing the rough idle!

Here's the quick list of the procedure:

1. Removed fuel pump fuse, and all hoses and cables connected to the fuel rail

2. Removed fuel rail, fuel dampener, and fuel pressure regulator

3. Removed a dozen nuts, bolts, and hose clamps to loosen intake manifold

4. Removed intake manifold

5. Removed fuel injectors, new caps, new o-rings, and cleaned

6. Removed dry-rotted vacuum hose

7. Installed new vacuum hose and cleaned ICV

8. Carefully scraped off old intake manifold gaskets

9. Installed intake manifold and new gaskets

10. Installed everything else I removed

11. Started the car and idled beautifully

If you do attempt this procedure on a 944, do have plenty of rags under the fuel rail when removing. Although the fuel pump has been disabled, there can still be plenty of fuel in the lines.

All in all, it wasn't that difficult of a job although it did take longer than expected. One thing to remember is, don't take anyone's word for things. Make sure for yourself. And as I've said before, keep in mind that there will always be additional parts you need to replace when taking them apart.

Progress pictures below...

Close-up of the engine with intake manifold in top of photo and fuel rail with fuel damper and fuel pressure regulator located between intake manifold and engine block. If you look closely you can see the idle control valve in between the two

center pipes of the intake manifold.

Removing vacuum hoses from fuel pressure damper and fuel pressure regulator. You can just see the bottom of the idle control valve indicated by the yellow arrow. There is just enough room to get a hand between the intake manifold.

Before removing the fuel rail you have to disconnect the electrical plugs from the fuel injectors along with all bolts holding the fuel rail to the engine block and the fuel lines to the fuel rail. Keep rags below fuel rail to catch any fuel left in the lines.

This is what the fuel rail looks like off the car.

In some cases, the fuel injectors come out with the fuel rail, but in this case only one injector came out. Just remove injectors one-by-one if this happens. Be careful when removing injectors, pull straight out or you could damage the caps or o-rings (red arrow pointing to injector that came out with fuel rail).

Remove all intake manifold bolts with care, they are very easy to strip since they are old, steel, allen-head bolts threaded into an aluminum intake manifold. Tap each bolt with a hammer and punch to "wake them up." Then remove all vacuum hoses attached to manifold and air box hose connector. Then you can remove the intake manifold from the engine (sounds easier than it actually is).

Right after you remove the intake manifold, shove some lint-free rags into the cylinders to stop any debris from falling into them. Then you'll need to carefully scrape off the old intake manifold gaskets with a putty knife or something similar. Be careful not to scrape the aluminum when doing this!

This is the famous idle control valve that the previous owner told me needed to be cleaned. It probably didn't hurt to do it but this was not causing the rough idling that I was experiencing. It was a small vacuum hose attached to the ICV that was cracked and needed to be replaced. To remove the ICV you'll need to unplug the electrical connector then remove the two vacuum hoses and nuts holding the ICV in place. To clean ICV, simply spray carburetor cleaner into both openings and drain several times. You'll notice the liquid coming out of the other end will become cleaner and cleaner.

Since I was removing the fuel injectors and cleaning them as well, I decided to get new caps and o-rings for them. The only kits for these (other than Porsche dealerships) are available from Rennbay.com for under $30.

The picture to the left shows 2 injectors side-by-side. The one on the right has been stripped of its cap and o-rings and the one on the left has been refitted with new caps and rings.

You can send your injectors away to get cleaned professionally if you feel they are not performing well enough.

Here is the fuel rail with the newly capped injectors attached. Be sure to insert injectors into injector holes at the correct angle so you don't bend anything out of shape. Reassembly is opposite of assembly so it's very straight forward. Just lightly grease new intake manifold gaskets, attach to engine block, and tighten intake manifold.

--M/o