TheExitWound

944: Another gas leak fixed

Sun, 24 May 2009 11:56:20 EDT

It wasn't from the gas tank this time. I turned the car on to a geyser of 93 octane Exxon coming from the fuel rail. Turns out, the o-ring that seated the fuel regulator to the fuel rail had split nearly in half. Apparently, it's the same o-ring used by the fuel injectors so a quick stop at NAPA for a fuel injector reseal kit saved the day.

944: Engine installed and I turned the key...

Sun, 17 May 2009 00:44:02 EDT

Today:

Installed Air Conditioning compressor
Installed Alternator
Installed power steering belt
Installed primary belt
Installed Radiator (again). Had to correct the mounts. The original owner was an idiot.
Installed hoses.
Filled with coolant.
Filled power steering.
Looked over for anything missing.
Looked it over again.
And again...
Nervous...
And again...
Turned the key....

944: Last Items Left

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:57:50 EDT

Stopped into the local Advance Auto where I get all my local parts for a few things.

First, a tie rod end was needed on the driver's side as the old one had its rubber boot disintegrated by age.

Secondly, the upper radiator hose has gotten too close to the alternator once or twice and a nice slit has developed in the rubber. I stopped into AA to see if I could get a generic heater hose but they don't stock metric sizes. Also, due to its shape, what they did have was kinking and wouldn't work. Turns out the hose is only $19.99 + $1 shipping. The bad news is that it'll take three days to get here. So I'm playing the waiting game.

Only a few things left to do. Attach the air conditioner compressor, the alternator, the upper radiator hose and fill 'er up with coolant and oil.

944: Progress Update

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:19:10 EDT

Another weekend, more progress:

Attached slave cylinder.
Attached starter.
Attached steering shaft to steering rack after fighting with it for an hour.
Tried to install the air condition condenser, but it wouldn't go back in so I gave up on that.
Fabricated some radiator mounts.
Installed the radiator.
Installed the radiator hoses.
Installed the speed and reference sensors.
Reattached all the vacuum lines.
Attached the sensor wires. To do this I had to remove the entire intake again.
Installed the power steering pump and hoses.

944: New Engine Installation Continues

Wed, 06 May 2009 23:47:40 EDT

Spent the night transplanting all the remaining parts from the old engine onto the new one and starting the reattachment procedure.

Many pictures inside.

944: New Engine Ready to Go In

Sun, 03 May 2009 11:41:48 EDT

The engine has been stripped of the red overspray as much as possible with paint thinner. But I will be taking a brush and some paint remover to it once it's installed in the car, as much of it won't be seen anyway.

Keep reading for more pictures and what I've done.

944: Hershey Porsche Swap Meet 2009 and Engine

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:27:11 EDT

We've been attending the Porsche Swap Meet every April since 2007. The weather's been nice every year (apparently against tradition). Last year, I headed down looking for a new front valence for the 944. This year, due to a catastrophic engine failure, I went to purchase a new engine from another Porsche enthusiast. (More to come later on the engine failure).

Continue reading another video and a slideshow from the event.

944: ICV Valve Tests

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:46:05 EDT

Spent the day under the sun working on the ICV, or Idle Control Valve. It's a switch that's supposed to open up when the car is at idle, giving the engine more air than necessary so that it stays running. I had a feeling it wasn't operating correctly.

944: I Have Power Steering Again!

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:46:29 EDT

Since October the car has been without power steering. And while my arms are getting a workout, it's not exactly fun to park or creep in the car. Today, since the weather crested 60 degrees, I took a few hours to put the newly acquired pump onto the car.

Keep reading for more.

944: The Coolant Leak Hasn't Returned

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:35:04 EDT

The car sat overnight and the leak has not returned. I had to fill up the coolant a little today as the bleeding continued. I think most of the air is out of the system now. The temperature remained steady and fine on the way home from the garage yesterday on its 17 mile trip.

944: Coolant Leak Sealed?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:43:25 EDT

Got to the lift today with the car. Stopped on the way to get some more Coolant just in case something happened on the way.

Took a look and it wasn't obvious whether it was the hose or the radiator which was leaking so we drained it. Pulled the hose off and let it bleed (after cooling down of course). And it still wasn't obvious.

It looks like there were a few scrapes on the radiator nozzle from prior attempts to fit/remove hoses...like scrapes from the corner of a screwdriver. One of them was pretty deep, but this hose hadnt been removed since the engine was put back in. Why this would have caused a leak now doesn't make sense. I also don't believe we'd ever use a screwdriver type device to remove the hose so I'm thinking these were there from prior installations (original radiator we think).

On the hose end of things, there were a little bit of marks from the prior clamp but nothing that looked like it was damaging the hose in any way.

What we did was cut 1/4" off the end of the hose. We also sandpapered down the gouges in the radiator nozzle to see if they had penetrated through and cracked it. But after a bit of this, it seems that the radiator nozzle is not cracked at all.

We put things back together, and filled her up, put on two clamps, one larger and newer, the old one back on as well, and it doesn't leak. We ran the car until it got up to temperature while filling and such to bleed the air out and it still didn't leak. I drove the ~17 miles home and there are no signs of any leaks from the radiator.

I honestly don't know what was wrong. There was a point where the clamp didn't want to turn, as if its threads were stripped, so maybe it just wasn't doing its job squeezing the hose enough. I have no answers. But I also have no leak.

I'll put a picture of the new clamp up tomorrow and take a look under for an leaks that may have developed overnight.

944: Coolant Leak

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:06:08 EDT

I took a trip to the grocery store today and come out to a pretty good size leak from the bottom radiator hose. I believe it was a new hose from when we rebuilt the engine (bought a complete hose pack). I attempted to tighten the clamp a little bit but as soon as I did, the leak became faster. I loosened the clamp slightly and it stopped leaking.

More pictures inside...

944: Windshield Wipers Aligned Properly

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:10:34 EDT

It's been a nagging little problem. But as we all know, little nags on this car end up being huge procedures to fix. Such was alignment of the windshield wipers.

944: Engine Mounts Installed

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:01:52 EDT

What should have taken no more than four hours ended up taking nine. And it wasn't that I didn't know what I was doing. The car, yet again, is possessed and hates me. And it's nothing I did.

944: Power Steering Bolt Stuck

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:21:05 EST

I had a day of fairly decent weather and so the car came to light. The power steering failure is the primary area of concern at this point as it's just dangling from some speaker wire. Read on to see what happened today.

944: Transmission Fluid Change

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:27:44 EST

It had never been done, at least, not in the lifetime of my ownership of the car. I was experience a few small issues with the gearbox that I was hoping a simple transmission fluid change would alleviate. Simple, though, is never what a 944 delivers.

944: Oil Pressure and Power Steering Problems Updated

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:47:51 EDT

It appears as though the power steering pulley has been worn by the crank bolt more on one side than any other. The circular hole is now oval. This is not good. Pictures inside.

944: Researching Cruise Control

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:26:58 EDT

I've begun investigating the failure of the cruise control unit. It hasn't worked since I bought the car. During the dashboard replacement, the servo started making noise. Since then, it's been discontinued. I took it apart last night hoping to find something obvious...

944: Pedal Guards Installed

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:49:47 EDT

Finally got around to installing the new rubber pedal guards on the brake and clutch. Pennsylvania law states that cars must have them. One of mine was cracked and falling off. The other was fine. But I replaced them both just because they were $2 each.

Click through to see the old ones.

944: Hood Insulation Installed

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:17:59 EDT

I purchased the new hood insulation and with some help, had it installed. It fits rather nice, slightly too big on the passenger side. Once stuck, there's no removing it though. Hopefully, this will hinder the progression of the clear coat and paint chipping off the hood.