Living with a Porsche 944

Quite a satisfying afternoon today! Fitted a replacement LCD to my "never worked while I've had it" digital dash clock. Was a bit fiddly taking the unit apart and placing the new screen. At first there was no life after connecting it to the wire behind the dash, but the fuse had gone...replaced that and hey presto! Working digital dash clock at long last! Now to finish off the anti-roll bar!

What a momentous moment an MOT can be! At 203,757 miles my Porsche 944 is now road legal again. The last MOT test was November 2010 - that's a fair amount of water under the bridge, and an enormous amount of joy and frustrations along the way to get TheHoff to this point where I can cruise the tarmac again. After the MOT was completed the wheel geometry was checked and all alignments done. I have got to say that the 944 got a lot of looks and everyone in the workshop come over at some point to give TheHoff a looking over - especially when they saw the colourful goings on underneath, all the new suspension components and, heard the rumble and burble from the exhaust. Lots of appreciative comments and a reassuring "She's totally solid mate"! This is the first time I've had the pleasure of driving this Porsche 944 on the road in more than 3 years - the sense of satisfaction and pure driving enjoyment has made the journey worth it...

After sorting the S2 intake bits it was time to find and fit a new air filter. The original air filter position on the S is underneath the front badge panel - a rather awkward place when it comes to replacement. I'd therefore elected to fit mine behind the NS headlight and after some careful measuring found an ideal candidate in a foam filter from RAMAIR. Positioned where it is should ensure it gets some cold air from the large hole in the side panel. I plan to make a heat shield of some sort to enclose it too.

Now that I'm passed the "I want to take a sledgehammer to it" stage of this project and have driven the car up and down the driveway loosening up the callipers - it looks like I could do an MOT once I've solved the induction & air filter position and then refitted the bonnet. I bought another set of green top injectors off eBay - but only one of them worked properly but thankfully I only needed one to get the engine running smoothly again. I'll send the spare set of for cleaning at some point in the coming months ready for springtime installation. I knew for sure that the #4 cylinder was firing because the exhaust wrap started to steam and bake on! The other three headers had baked on ages ago - I didn't notice at the time that fourth one wasn't heating up and steaming. I've started to fit the intake pieces now so I can find the best and most convenient place for the intake filter - remember I have installed an 3.0 S2 intake on an 2.5 S motor...

After an enormously frustrating time trying resolve why the engine wouldn't rev above 1600rpm - the problem is now sorted! After testing just about everything I could test this weekend has proven to be a breakthrough one. Some suggestions from forum members on tipec helped chase the problem down to something to do with the throttle position sensor. Along the way I tested the fuel pressure which turned out to be good, as did various other sensors. Although multimeter tests on the TPS proved it was healthy, the same readings were not being translated through to the DME connector end of the wiring loom. I realised that much earlier in the project cycle I had to extend the length of the wiring for the TPS in order to fit the S2 intake and throttle body. Pulling the loom out from under the intake I could check the wiring and it was clear that it was a little more elastic than it should've been - and sure enough the connectors had come adrift essentially isolati...

Because the fuel in my 944 is a couple of years old now it was suggested to drain it and refill - so a new fuel filter was in order. I had ordered a genuine part a while back as part of a service kit so I hunted it down, jacked up the car and removed the right rear wheel for better access to the filter. It's a fiddly job and you must be careful not to get petrol in your face or  mouth. I positioned a catch tank underneath the old fuel filter and set about loosening the union nuts. Firstly I sprayed some DW40 on the nuts and gave them a little time to soak. A 19mm and 17mm spanner is all you need for this job... ...once the nuts are loose, remove the jubilee clip and extract the old filter. Easy. Offer up the new filter and tighten down, then attached a new jubilee clip. Now for the new BOSCH spark plugs. Quick and simple.

When I fired up TheHoff after fitting the exhaust it was very obvious that the engine was not running as it should. It was a relief that it was firing up but being so close and not having a smooth running engine after all the hard work is a little discouraging. I videod the engine running and sent the clip to Jon Mitchell at JM Garage to get his views. He suggested it was either spark related or at worst cam timing being off. I spent a lot of time trying to ensure that the timing pulleys were aligned correctly during the rebuild and I'm confident it isn't the issue - but then again... So I began problem solving with the HT leads and spark plugs. Each of the plugs were extracted, cleaned (they were dark from all the firing and refiring I guess) and then connected to an inline spark tester to check if they were in fact getting a spark from the distributor. Thankfully they all were. Next thing to check was the order of the HT leads on the distributor. The 944 has a firin...