4/10/1999
Hello everyone, I have finally gotten my hands on a decent 951. Friday I bought a clean '87 silver w/tan guts, 951 for $XX,XXX. It has 108,000 miles on the clock. It is a pretty plain car the only option that really interests me is the sport shock option. Does anyone know what exactly this option included? My bad weekend began about an hour after I took delivery of the car. I was exiting the interstate via an off ramp. This particularly ramp is narrow one lane and has concrete walls on each side. Fortunately I was going pretty slow b/c the brakes on my new car aren't that great. Anyway directly in the center of the road was a huge truck rim & tire; I didn't have any options but to hit it. It made contact with the right side of the nose. The right side of the car then jumped up in the air, made the loud impact "bang" sound and rolled over the hunk of crap. Immediately after landing, I heard a loud rubbing sound so I pulled over in a parking lot near the bottom of the ramp. It didn't look that bad and I figured I could make it back to my dad's shop. I didn't want to be sitting there for long cause I was in a bad part of town. As soon as I got in, a carload of thugs pulled up and parked next to me. They rolled their windows down and tried to get me to roll mine down. SO of course I did what most of you did and took off. They tried to follow but their hoopty didn't have the power to hang with my crippled 951. I made it back to my dad's shop only making left turns. When I turned the wheel to the right, the tire would rub on something. Once I got the car on the lift I saw what was doing the rubbing. The air duct that cools the brake was smashed and pushed back towards the tire. There was a big black mark on the nose, which came off with Varsol (sp). All of the air ducts in the nose pooped out of there place And of course the brand spanking new fog light lens received two big cracks. It really wasn't that big of a deal but it hurt my pride because this car was in mint condition. I left it in the shop for the rest of Friday night. Saturday I finished repairing the damage and installed a new hood crest. It was such a nice day, I had to go take it for a spin, I got about 2 miles away from the shop and 1 mile away from my house, when suddenly it died and coasted to a stop. I ground on it for a few seconds and couldn't get it to re-fire. So I popped the hood, took of the fuse box cover and gave the DME relay a good thump. It fired right up. I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning on the car and pulling some maintenance. I started hinting around to my dad that I wanted our spare DME relay to keep in the car with me. I was afraid to tell him about the car dying cause I figured he would want to keep the car with him a few days so he could figure out what was eating on it. (I live 215 miles away from him w/ my mom in Hattiesburg, MS and he lives in Monroe, LA he owns German Auto Works a Euro car shop) Well of course I couldn't find the relay so I forgot about it. Sunday was uneventful, I put about 300 miles on the car and it ran like a top, I couldn't be happier, it has ice cold air and rides like a new car. Well, I woke up this morning got ready for school, I couldn't wait to show all the fools that had been getting new Hondas, Mazdas, and other crappy rides, what I had just gotten. I had to leave for school at 7:10 so at 6:50 I went out side to warm it up. Only to be surprised with a car that wouldn't crank. I was really bummed out. I didn't have enough time to work on it, and had to leave it sitting at the house while I went with a friend to school. Luckily my second period class is Journal Lab II; all of us students call it ad sale. Basically it is a class where we get to leave school every day and sell 2 ads per semester. I had one of my fellow ad salesman bring me back home where I began my diagnosis. I went straight to the DME relay the bottom part was clicking but I couldn't see if the top one was or not due to the angle. I had my little brother that was home sick, grind on it while I crawled underneath and felt for the fuel pump. I never felt anything buzz so I figured it was fuel related. So next I pulled the relay and jumped #30 and #78b the fuel pump primed and the lil water pump did its job. Since my fuel pump was good, I inspected the relay and found a broken solder. I laid a big glob of solder on it and she fired up and hasn't failed since. Either way I've got a new DME relay ordered just encase this one decides to die on me again. After that I took it to school and got a ton of complements. I had fun with every body that asked about it. I told some people I paid $XX,XXX some $20,000 and some $50,000. Everybody believed everything I said. I told some people it was an '87 and the told the dumb ones it was a '95. I can't express how happy I am to have this car. It's really gonna be fun especially now that I've passed the break-in phase. Even though this is my 3rd 951 it is definitely the one I'm calling my 1st. The other two have been parts & project cars. This one is ready to go and doesn't need any work. By the way incase anyone was wondering I'll be 19 next weekend and am a senior in Highschool.
I woke up yesterday morning and found a nice surprise under my car. A large green puddle. The coolant hose that goes from the head to the radiator had a nice split in it. By the way yesterday was my 19th birthday and the day of my senior prom. Over the last few weeks I worked really hard to buy this car. My goal was to have it so I could drive it to the prom on my birthday. I started working at 8:00am, It took me about 10 min to work my way down to the hose. After pulling it out. I headed down the Zone (Autozone) to search for a new one. Just my luck I ended up with a girl at the parts counter (no offense to girls but this one didn’t know a thing about cars, all she knew how do was punch buttons on the Autozone computer.) Of course the computer said they didn't have one in stock and she was to stupid to try and find one that matched. So I left mad, and headed to Discount Auto Parts. The guy behind the counter was really nice, he let me go back in the back and match up the hose. It took me about 15 min to get the hose back on. I filled it with H20 and fired it up. After running about 2 minutes the green puddle reappeared. It was a really depressing site. The leak this time was coming from one of the hose clamps, no problem I tore it back down and tightened the clamp and it still leaked, no matter how tight I got it, water still poured. The hose was a tiny bit to big. I was beginning to drift off into the depths of despair. I had worked so hard to have this car by prom night and I wasn't gonna get to drive it because of a $20 hose. I put it back together and decided to give up. I wasn't gonna be able to find the proper size hose in town. It was now 10:00 am, my day was ruined. I wasn't gonna have my ride, so I moped around the house till 1:00 pm, when I saw my next door neighbor/best friend Kris Keller out side slicking up his mom's '97 Vette for the evening. When I say him sitting in it with the T-top off, it resparked my fire. There was no way I was gonna go down like this. So my stepdad and I took the 944 down to the Ford dealership (he is the parts dept manager there) and put it on their lift. I also had to change the a/c belt cause it was squealing. We ended up buying 3 more hoses and none of them would fit. Fortunately he had connections at another parts house which was closed on Saturdays. So he made a phone call and the owner met us up there and let us in. He had millions of hoses and out of that million there was one and only one that fit. By 4:30 pm I was speeding home, full of antifreeze and leak free. I didn't have anytime to spare. I was scheduled to pick up my girlfriend at 5:30 to go eat with all of my friends. Upon my arrival at home I commanded my little brothers to wash my car (The only reason they did this was because it was my birthday). By 5:25 pm I had all the grease out of my finger nails, was pulling out of the driveway. I couldn't believe it. I worked all day and I won; however I couldn’t have done it with out my stepdad. Thanks, Bobby.
5/3/1999
I installed a Clarion CD player this weekend. There are more details in the stereo section. I am working on my links section, if anyone has any good ones send them to me and I will add them to the list. I just got a new domain name http://drive.to/944turbo so update your bookmarks. I took some nice pictures of my car this weekend so hopefully I will have them developed, digitilized, and online soon. Enjoy!
5/11/1999
My driver side window quit working today. It wouldn't roll up or roll down. After dissambeling the switch and giving it a thorough cleaning with contact cleaner, it works again. This is the secound time I've had to do this do I guess I need to replace the window switch.
5/23/99
I just added pics of my car. Unfortunately they aren't very good shots so I will have to take more.
5/26/99
My car has been getting terrible gas mileage around town (11-13mpg) since I bought it, but it seems to be getting a little less then normal on the highway (25mpg). A couple of weeks ago I was riding behind my dad while he was driving the 951. Whenever he would accelerate, black smoke would blow out of the exhaust pipe, which means the car is running rich whenever it gets in the boost. It runs and drives perfectly, however in the mornings when it is cold it doesn't want to take any throttle for the first minute or so but after that it runs fine. I have already replaced the O2 sensor, (which didn't help) so next week I plan on replacing the DME temp sensor, replacing all the old plastic vacuum lines, with some nice modern blue 5/32 of an inch silicon line. I also have developed an Exhaust leak at the number 2 exhaust port of the head. So I will be replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets and any studs that need replacing. If that's not enough I'm going to be fixing some leaks inside the timing belt cover, installing new balance shaft and timing belts, 15 new coolant/water hoses, a new boost hose that goes from the intercooler pipe to the throttle body and lastly one window switch.
I just put a bottle of Techron in my car. The gas gauge is on empty but it hasn't gone in the reserve yet.The bottle says it can treat up to 20 gallons so maybe the extra rich mixture of Techron will help regain some of those precious mpgs's back.
6/9/99
The work is complete and my car is running like a spotted ape. We ended up replacing one exhaust stud, all four exhaust manifold gaskets, the throttle body to intercooler hose, and all 15 coolant hoses*. Fortunately, I didn't have to replace the timing or balance shaft belts because the front of the motor was bone dry. The oil that looked like a front seal problem had been leaking from around the oil filter. Unfortunately my blue silicon hose didn't arrive in time for me to install it. It really would have looked cool. I replaced the vacuum line that connects to the bottom the throttle body, hopefully that will solve my gas mileage problem, if I actually have one. After carefully analyzing the problem, I have come to the conclusion that there is no problem with the car, the problem is with the driver. I complained about fuel economy on my last car a Volvo 740 turbo, I replaced everything and it never got any better. I think the problem is that I’m addicted to boost. I love the feeling of slowly creeping down the road while the turbo spools and then all the sudden a rush of acceleration slams you in the seat. So I guess if I ever want to get good economy I need to stop punching it at every light. While I was under my car I found a missing bolt on the motor mount. It is now silky smooth and has no vibrations. I left it at my dad's this week so he could fix a leak in the a/c. I'm probably gonna drive down and pick it up this weekend. It's gonna be nice to be able to chill it down in this 95 degree weather we have down here in the south. It's also gonna be nice to get my car back, I've been driving my dad's '92 240 Volvo, it only has 120hp and is a genuine sled.
* I had a bad experience with a coolant hose so I decided to replace them all click here to read the story about my bad experience.
6/23/99
I went to my dad's last weekend to pick up my car. He had the new compressor installed and together we put the juice in. By the way we converted it to R-134a. The compressor wouldn't suck in the gas or hold a vacuum. The vacuum leak was in one of the new 134a fittings. We fixed that and it still wouldn't suck in the refrigerate. It turned out the expansion valve was full of metal shavings from the compressors death. So this weekend if I go down there I (or he) will be flushing the system and installing a new expansion valve and hopefully recharging the system. On a second note I have added a list of my extra parts that I have left over from all my 944 turbo endeavors. Click Here if you want to see what I have to sell. I figured someone might need them. Lastly I might be buying a digital camera soon which will mean more pictures on site.
7/18/99
Well things on the ole turbo haven't been too good lately. In the last 39 days I've driven it for about 2 minutes, and I really miss it. Let me give you a run down of what all's been going on. My dad and I installed a new a/c compressor on my car. He called me last Thursday and says that the new compressor has died. The next day he pulls it off and ships it back to the idiots we bought it from. The replacement arrived yesterday. We tried to install it this morning, but guess what? It doesn't fit. So now I have to wait even longer to have cool air. I had ordered 9 feet of vacuum line and 5, 3 way connectors and 10, 2 way from a Porsche dealership. It set me back about $50. Any way I was installing the new stuff this morning when my finger slipped and slightly touched the cycling valve, one of its three ports crumbled into tiny pieces and broke off. Incase you didn't know the cycling valve is the brown and cream thing that sits beside the #4 spark plug. It is the device that controls the wastegate on our cars, which controls the boost. So now I have to get a new one or ride around limp home mode which will give me .2 bar of boost. I've finially decided to pull the intake manifold out and replace every rubber line underneath. I'm tired of these things decentigrating every time I touch them. 12 years and 108,000 miles is a long time to expect a $1 rubber part that sees the temps that a 951 generates under the hood to last. Other then that everything's been lovely. I sold all my new parts that I had listed on the for sale page. I'm gonna put some speakers on there tomorrow and next weekend when I go back to my dads I'm gonna start taking pictures of my used parts inventory.
8/21/99
It’s back, and the air is ice cold, R-134a is definitely the way to go. It chilled down to 58 degrees around town, in 95+ weather. I didn’t have my thermometer with me, but I know it got even colder on the Interstate. After a 9-week hiatus from the Porsche it was good to be back at it’s helm. I still haven’t worked the bugs completely out. I had to reengineer the vacuum system, because I didn’t have time to pull the intake manifold off. I think I’ve stopped most of the leaks. One of the vacuum leaks was allowing the heater control valve to remain open at all times, I drew vacuum on it to make it close, then I blocked it off so it would remain shut, of course that’s a temporary fix. The last thing I need is the heater trying to over power my new a/c. Last Sunday, after my trip home with the car, the hose that goes to the clutch master cylinder from the brake reservoir split open. I’ve duck taped the hose, cause I don’t have the hose or the proper tools on hand to do anything about it. Today, I’m gonna take the 944, up to a guy that lives in the Memphis area, he’s a major 944 guru. He race prepares all sorts of cars, cheapo 924’s all the way up the 500hp cars with $20,000 motors. I’m gonna leave it and let him work the rest of the bugs out. It’s time to get this car up to 100%. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do it, so thankfully he can. I’ve made allot of changes to my site in the past few weeks. There's a new section that has all of my expenses itemized. There’s some nifty new graphics and allot more on the way. I now have access to various new parts that are commonly needed for older 944's, the prices are cheaper then anyone else's, I've seen. I know that there are many people on a tight budget, and need any break they can get. The parts are listed on the for sale page. I can probably get deals on other stuff too. If anyone needs anything let me know. My email address is stephen@lilray.com.
9/2/99
I went and picked up the 944 last Sunday. It ran great, it developed more boost then it ever has before. Which is 1.6 bar on the factory gauge. The factory gauge isn’t the most accurate and is really quite deceiving. Whenever the gauge is reading 1.6 bar, the car is actually producing 0.6 bar. The 1 is there to represent the atmospheric air pressure, which is usually right around 1 bar. I don’t think the car is producing as much boost as it is supposed to. Most 951’s with 100,000+ miles have leaky wastgates, which will not hold the amount of boost the car is capable of generating. I’ll have to ad it on my list of things to replace. After driving it for a few days the idle has started acting strange. Sometimes it idles at 900 rpm and sometimes at 1200 rpm. I think my throttle-positioning sensor is on its way out. The other night I had to drive all the way from Memphis, TN to Hattiesburg, MS, in the dark. Normally, driving in the dark isn’t a problem, but it was the first time I’ve ever driven my 951, a long distance in dark. My headlights are absolutely worthless, the fog lights almost shine as far as the headlights do. The next thing I buy is gonna be some upgraded headlights. Basically I couldn’t see a thing, to add to my visibility problems, the bugs were out in the masses. My windshield became covered with the lil devils. Of course my windshield washers don’t work. Twice I had to pull over, and wipe my windshield off. When I got home the nose and side mirrors were completely covered with dead bugs. I ordered some parts yesterday, all hoses and various pieces I need to make my windshield washers work, new rear hatch pins (the things that hold the latch down to the car), and a new radiator cap. The car’s been running kind of warm and I think the cheesy Auto Zone radiator cap may be the culprit. So I figured, a new Porsche cap might help.
10/1/99 It’s been a month since I’ve posted an update. I feel like I have been neglecting the site ever since I started college 2 months ago. By the way I'm attending the University of Southern Mississippi. The car’s been running great and the air has been ice cold. I decided to upgrade my insurance to full coverage, since it is going to be spending more time in a public parking lot. Surprisingly it only costs $136 a month through State Farm. I finally got around to fixing my vacuum leaks in my climate control system. I ended up pulling the glove box and the A/C blower motor. It looked like someone had previously tampered with the system because some of the vacuum lines were connected in the wrong locations. I’m in the process of creating a diagram for the Climate Control system. Hopefully it will answer allot of peoples questions. Unfortunately I have developed another exhaust leak. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the exhaust manifolds. Before I can call this a perfect car I now have to do the following things, replace brake rotors, replace the power steering rack, fix the exhaust leak, and replace the wastegate. I also bought some parts to try to fix my squeaky rear hatch, but I haven’t installing them yet. My rear shade broke the other day. The end cap cracked and the shade fell apart. I guess that raps it up for this installment.
11-21-99 It looks like my updates are becoming increasingly infrequent. I haven’t really done anything to the car other then drive it. I ordered a bunch of new stuff the other day. Four new brake rotors, PBR Deluxe brake pads, I went with Deluxe because they produce very little dust squeak. I also ordered a new Turbonetics Deltagate wastegate with one of their manual boost controllers. I’m really excited about the new wastegate, can’t wait to have adjustable boost. The wastegate will have to be installed at a muffler shop, because the old wastegate will be cut off and new flanges will be wielded on for the new one to bolt to. I also ordered a new cassette lid hinge, pieces to fix my recently broken rear hatch shade, and some rubber grommets for the rear hatch pins to sit in. I hope they will stop the squeak. Lastly, I originally mentioned this on my site, but I decided to take it off, cause I wasn’t sure if it was bogus or not. Nevertheless, I’ve made some money from it. You’re young like me you’ll take all the money you can get. The company is called Alladvantage, they pay you to take about an inch of your monitor space and show you ads while you surf the net. They also pay you, for the time your referrals surf too. So, if you sign up, you will be helping me too. I’ve already signed up a couple of people. It’s pretty neat. See the banner ad below. I've also added an like to my AOL Instant Messenger, send me a message, it's down below.
12-5-99 I’ve done some major work on my car lately, it now has all new OEM brake rotors and PBR deluxe brake pads. The difference is phenomenal. The old rotors and pads were so worn out they car would often slide under emergency braking. I can’t describe the difference with words, other then the new brakes make it feel like a new car. For the last couple of months, I've been whining about low boost and lack of ummmph in my 951. Unfortunately, I didn't have $550 to drop for the bolt on Delta Gate kit from Huntley Racing or $1200 for the outdated factory unit. I'm sure both would have saved me a ton of hassle. After a week of searching I finially found a welding shop with enough brains to do the installation job. 1 hour and $60 later my new Delta Gate wastegate was installed and I was ready to install the controller. I was in a big hurry and routed my boost controller, the most inefficient way possible. I will fix that this week, some time. I need to find a good place on the firewall to run my vacuum lines inside to my controller. Right now they are going all the way over by the fuse box and down by the peddles then to the center console. I've probably got 6 feet of extra hose. I was originally planning on, installing the boost controller outside, somewhere under the hood. I'm glad I changed my mind, because it takes allot of wisting to get it dialed in. I may move it, under the dash, but right now it's sitting in the little compartment under the radio. There's really no point of leaving it sitting there other then looks, and I'm sure the majority of the people who ride with me will not appreciate the site of the knob and blue silicon lines as much as I do.
From the Huntley Racing website, "Ever notice how the stock 944 Turbo "rolls" on the boost instead of the boost hitting hard? This is one reason why. Couple this wastegate with the Huntley Racing Manual Boost Controller, and set to the same boost level and feel the difference! You car will feel like a turbo should." I couldn't have said this any better my self. The car now comes on the boost very hard. Before I installed it, I was only getting about 6 psi max in 1st and 2nd gear. Now it jumps to 10 psi by around 3000 rpm and stay's there till redline. I'd also like to add, just as many have done before, that the indash unit is inaccurate, it's about 3psi off.
I'm very happy with this set up, however some may not be, by going this route, I had to eliminated the factory boost control, which doesn't bother me, I always keep an eye on the boost gauge, and keep my ears open to sounds coming from under the hood. This method has worked, on all my turbocharged cars over the last couple of years.
If anyone wants to see what the new wastegate looks like check out this webpage, http://modigliani.brandx.net/user/toeknee/wastegate.htm my installation looks identical.