After the video when changing the cap and wires, I also found that the previous owner had installed the cap upside down and it was not seated correctly.
Lol, I have an '84 944, and found my plug wires were badly arcing to ground, causing misfires, poor running, etc. I wrapped the wires with green 3M vinyl tape and that fixed it all. I also once had my rotor cap pop off since a precious owner had bent the L lugs holding the cap to the base: broke the rotor, had to get a tow home, but had it fixed in 2 days with Amazons help to a new cap and rotor. Fun seeing you work the 944, thanks. Ps. Check your charging voltage with the lights and wipers ON. I had the charging wire under the dash barely hanging on by 2 strands at the white single connector and it was just enough current to run during day, but any additional load wss too much and the battery wss running down. Once I spliced the bad connection( blue wire to white ), no more charging problems. Cheers.
It’s interesting to see the faulting process, even though not everyone has a dyno to hand. Obviously checking previous owners work isn’t always high on the list of priorities, but double checking as you change components can tell its own story! Great persistence will hopefully pay dividends. Looking forward to the next run out.
i recently burned out the wire from the coil to the distributor in my '53 MGTD, it started up and ran flawlessly when cold but once it warmed up the "missing" commenced. felt similar to having a plug wire loose or gettting water in the distributor cap. i only figured it out when i realized that ALL the plugs were misfiring as a group. not just one. and i realized that only a bad coil wire would create that sort of problem. the cause was probably the "performance" coil and an OHM mismatch, i had recently put it in when i installed my new electronic distributor. and a subsequent trip across the country involving about eleven consecutive eight hour days at about 3500RPM, did it in. subsequent research has shown that resistance increases with heat, and so, as a damaged wire is heated resistance will increase to the point where the sparkplug is just 'a bridge too far' and the current will jump to a nearby ground instead.
@chrisfix had a loss of power in his 24 Hours of Lemons car and it turned out to be fuel sloshing around in the tank when it got below a certain level. Could it be you're having issues late in the day because of lower fuel level not feeding into the fuel pump properly?
LS converted 944 Turbos are all over the place. The V8s have too much torque for the normally aspirated 944s transmission. The turbos came with stronger transmissions and can deal with it. Here you go………ua-cam.com/video/h8ez9Y1a1C0/v-deo.htmlsi=efcHHBkDWFKzrFVJ
On your’last’ run, it looked like the temperature was creeping up but made because at high rpm normally movement of the car would push more air thru the radiator. ?????
I didn't have a fan on the car because I needed to simulate the temps seen at rallycross where the car is working very hard but is going at a relatively slow speed.
If the car misses intermittently or does weird dying check the ignition switch. They tend to crack and cause all kinds of weird electrical and running problems. That piece of knowledge cost almost $5000 worth of parts replacement to gain. They’re cheap but kind of a PITA to replace. Because it was an intermittent problem ( sometimes weeks would pass before it returned) I went through the entire ignition and fuel systems one piece at a time before I finally found the problem. Also replace the DME ( fuel pump relay) and keep a spare in the glovebox. You’ll thank me someday. Good luck on your project. I haven’t seen any of your videos before but make sure the timing belt and water pump are replaced at 30,000 and 60,000 respectively. Engine rebuilds are really expensive. My ‘83 944 has 220,000 on it now (original engine with no rebuilds) and is still going strong. Mike M. @ Road America Northwest.
After the video when changing the cap and wires, I also found that the previous owner had installed the cap upside down and it was not seated correctly.
It’s a wonder it ran as well as it did!
My guess was way off I guess. Awesome job.
As soon as I heard the crank no start I thought ignition. I guess it's still true... never trust someone else's work!
Hope you get it fixed right!
@@TL243 yeah my initial guess was crank position sensor
Great fun again! Yes to more!
Enjoyed this one very much. Your shop could be called "Smoking Gun Analytics"!
Looking forward to next rally run.
I've always liked the 944. I do enjoy these troubleshooting videos. Keep it up.
Lol, I have an '84 944, and found my plug wires were badly arcing to ground, causing misfires, poor running, etc. I wrapped the wires with green 3M vinyl tape and that fixed it all. I also once had my rotor cap pop off since a precious owner had bent the L lugs holding the cap to the base: broke the rotor, had to get a tow home, but had it fixed in 2 days with Amazons help to a new cap and rotor. Fun seeing you work the 944, thanks.
Ps. Check your charging voltage with the lights and wipers ON. I had the charging wire under the dash barely hanging on by 2 strands at the white single connector and it was just enough current to run during day, but any additional load wss too much and the battery wss running down. Once I spliced the bad connection( blue wire to white ), no more charging problems. Cheers.
It’s interesting to see the faulting process, even though not everyone has a dyno to hand.
Obviously checking previous owners work isn’t always high on the list of priorities, but double checking as you change components can tell its own story!
Great persistence will hopefully pay dividends.
Looking forward to the next run out.
I enjoy the hell out of these.
Very interesting.
i recently burned out the wire from the coil to the distributor in my '53 MGTD, it started up and ran flawlessly when cold but once it warmed up the "missing" commenced. felt similar to having a plug wire loose or gettting water in the distributor cap. i only figured it out when i realized that ALL the plugs were misfiring as a group. not just one. and i realized that only a bad coil wire would create that sort of problem.
the cause was probably the "performance" coil and an OHM mismatch, i had recently put it in when i installed my new electronic distributor. and a subsequent trip across the country involving about eleven consecutive eight hour days at about 3500RPM, did it in.
subsequent research has shown that resistance increases with heat, and so, as a damaged wire is heated resistance will increase to the point where the sparkplug is just 'a bridge too far' and the current will jump to a nearby ground instead.
great stuff thanks, over to soon
Very interesting. I would love a longer video of this. Also, I'd love to see the Dyno after you install the cap and wires.
Wow! 40 years just flew by.
You never know this time it might run well on the track. Fingers crossed Steve and the cap being upside down obviously did not help matters. 🤞👍👍
My guess was fuel leaning out at the track.
@chrisfix had a loss of power in his 24 Hours of Lemons car and it turned out to be fuel sloshing around in the tank when it got below a certain level. Could it be you're having issues late in the day because of lower fuel level not feeding into the fuel pump properly?
It's terrible to see the neglect of these once beautiful cars.
Be interesting to see if a v8 would fit into that 🎉
LS converted 944 Turbos are all over the place. The V8s have too much torque for the normally aspirated 944s transmission. The turbos came with stronger transmissions and can deal with it.
Here you go………ua-cam.com/video/h8ez9Y1a1C0/v-deo.htmlsi=efcHHBkDWFKzrFVJ
Wires corroded inside the insulation can indicate salt water floodeding.
On your’last’ run, it looked like the temperature was creeping up but made because at high rpm normally movement of the car would push more air thru the radiator. ?????
I didn't have a fan on the car because I needed to simulate the temps seen at rallycross where the car is working very hard but is going at a relatively slow speed.
Yes race is car is cool Peace out
Haha i remember trying to help a kid open the trunk on this exact car!
If the car misses intermittently or does weird dying check the ignition switch. They tend to crack and cause all kinds of weird electrical and running problems. That piece of knowledge cost almost $5000 worth of parts replacement to gain. They’re cheap but kind of a PITA to replace. Because it was an intermittent problem ( sometimes weeks would pass before it returned) I went through the entire ignition and fuel systems one piece at a time before I finally found the problem. Also replace the DME ( fuel pump relay) and keep a spare in the glovebox. You’ll thank me someday. Good luck on your project. I haven’t seen any of your videos before but make sure the timing belt and water pump are replaced at 30,000 and 60,000 respectively. Engine rebuilds are really expensive. My ‘83 944 has 220,000 on it now (original engine with no rebuilds) and is still going strong. Mike M. @ Road America Northwest.
Is that gearing super tall?
Would have been good to see another run after the ignition parts change to see if the low rev instability is cured
That used to be my car!
Too short!
Don’t put a truck engine in a Porsche,an Audi truck engine ! I still can’t believe the designers at Porsche did that.
Set up a 944 for off road? Waste of cash it seems.