Living with a Porsche 944

Thankfully I managed to fix the issue with my sunroof today! After reading all posts and web pages again & again, that I could find regarding the sunroof, I came to the conclusion that I'd spend the morning with my son's help fine tuning the "adjusting screw and locknut" to eliminate it from the equation, before I tried to trouble shoot relays and micro-switches. I had my son sit in the cabin, finger on the button. I backed off the adjusting screw until the motor just whirred. I then started to thread in the adjusting screw little bit by little bit until it engaged - this was less than a quarter turn at a time. Turn screw, push button, turn screw push button etc etc etc until the motor pushed the roof up. Then I turned the locknut - the first few times it the motor went back to whirring. I tightened it up and back it off until the sunroof was working as before. So as it turns out that adjusting screw & locknut need minute adjustments to set the slip cl...

Not withstanding Englands first game in the World Cup this evening, I think I will tackle my sunroof issue today. It won't go up - only down. I've had lots of advice regarding this anamoly, which only started after I'd removed the sunroof a couple of months ago to soak up the first of the summer sunshine. Don't you just hate it when things work perfectly then all of a sudden don't - without any obvious reason? Hopefully I can get to the bottom of it quickly.

My fan was grumbling. Squeeling sometimes. Not my idea of a cool fan at all. It was time the fan got replaced with an eBay special for £38. I couldn't resist it at that price considering new ones are a fair whack over £250. Sure it's a flyer but this is what keeping a 24 year old 944 on the road is all about when you're on a budget! I like it when big boxes arrive at my front door - especially when they contain parts for my 944. As there was some nice sunshine today I decided to open said box and install the contents: a new fan for my aging radiator (which I think is going to need to be replaced soon). Removing the radiator fan is a fairly straight forward process: 1> remove the undertray front bolts so that it flaps down; 2> undo the four 10mm bolts on the fan shroud; 3> unplug the fan cord; 4> slide the fan assembly out from under the car; 5> slide the replacement into the engine bay from below, bolt it in and connect the plug. I'll head out ...

Cruising along the motorway this morning my 944 experienced a rapid let down! The offside rear tyre punctured and flatted incredibly quickly whilst round a long left hand bend. At first all I heard was a buzzing sound usually associated with a tyre making contact with the wheel arch. Futhermore it was only buzzing when making adjustment to the steering wheel - which made me think that one of my arch liners had come loose. Thankfully I was able to make a hasty route to the hard shoulder through the traffic. Upon inspection of the front wheels and arches I saw nothing amiss, but walking to the rear I saw the culprit: a completely flat, yet intact rear tyre! I was amazed. Losing all tyre pressure at speed so rapidly had not seriously effected the car. I would have thought that the 944 would have snaked & squirmed about on that bend, but the converse was true. Thankfully this puncture didn't end in an armco! Changing a wheel on the shoulder with back to the traffic is not a pleasa...

After receiving the full set of bushes from Guildford OPC I decided this afternoon to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather and get under the car again. After jacking up both sides of the 944 I set about loosening the droplink bolts after removing the front wheels. Access is good and a breaker bar came in handy getting those bolts to budge. There's no chance of getting them off with a standard ratchet that's for sure. I found that after removing the droplink from the driver side control arm (wishbone) I needed to use a  jack to raise the wishbone on the other side in order to get enough space between the strut and bolt to loosen it with the 17mm socket. Once all the bolts were removed the anti-roll bar just drops out from under the car. It took a few taps with the hammer to get the old bushes to budge and quite some muscle to remove them from the ARB. I started to get worried about installing the new ones, them being significantly more compact to the eye than th...

With a clear diary and sunny skies I decided that I would tackle my front brakes - the Pagid discs and Girling pads have been taunting me from my workbench for a week now. Thankfully removing the two 19mm bolts that hold on the caliper was an easy task - probably in part to the overhaul I did on the calipers back in October when I bought that car. What I learned after the first wheel was that it was easier to remove the pads before the caliper was off. This way it was easier to push back the piston using the old brake pad instead of the edge of the new disc. I'd also like to point out that the Haynes manual is completely useless - when it comes to my 1986 model. It didn't even make mention of the fact that the rotor was behind the hub; and that the hub-rotor assembly should be removed as a whole and then separated. I learned the hard way on the first hub. You have been forewarned and redirected to Clark's Garage for more accurate instructions. The dirt and muck that ...

A passenger pointed out to me that they thought I had exhaust fumes making their way into my cabin. So as a matter of course I decided to tighten up the hatch latch pins. Which would have been simple if they weren't rusted solid. I have a new set on the way from Porscheapart due to one shearing off! To be on the safe side I also dropped the car round my local garage - who fitted the new fuel line in November - for a fuel line check. Thankfully the whole fuel line delivery system is A- ok. We'll see what the new hatch pins bring about.