944 – Not Affordable, Maybe Not Classic
Dear SCM: This is in reference to David Slama’s Affordable Classic article, featuring the Porsche 944, that appeared in the October, 2003 issue on page 21.
In 1996 I wrote an article for a southern California chapter of the Porsche Club of America about 944s. At that writing I called the 944 the bargain sports car of all time. However, because I’ve always felt that its in-line four-cylinder would have made a better boat anchor than a powerplant, my comments were always accompanied with a caveat.
Simply put, a 944 cannot be maintained in your back yard. The 944 will not reward you with scintillating performance if you change its oil, tie up its exhaust system with a coat hangar, or stick bubble gum on a leaky oil seal. 944s are mechanic dependent to the ridiculous.
The 944’s engine is an “interference” unit, which means if the camshaft stops turning while the engine is running, the pistons and valves will collide. The resultant repair requires cylinder head removal. The timing belt is responsible for keeping the cam and water pump turning. That belt, experience has shown, must be replaced every 30k miles, or five years, whichever comes first. It also must be adjusted 2,500 miles after replacement, and at its first 15K mile service interval. The tool used for belt adjustment costs $500. Granted, ’87-’91 models use a spring-loaded timing belt tensioner, but even then one would be foolish to gamble on the belt reaching 45k miles.
Okay, what about that water pump? Well, that little guy got real comfortable cruising along for 30k miles, with its drive belt (timing belt) set at spec. Replacement of that belt causes pump trauma, because an unbelievably tight (pre-stretch) setting is used at installation. Often that super-tight belt places so much lateral pressure against the water pump pulley it kills the pump. I’ve seen this happen in only two days, to a pump that turned smoothly and had no trace of coolant seepage when the belt was replaced.
Cool. Take the whole mess apart again, and replace the water pump. Hopefully the pump pulley didn’t seize, causing the belt to break, or loosen the belt sufficiently to allow the cam to jump time. NOTE: The water pump must be replaced with the timing belt (at an average $1,000 parts and labor for both).
In addition to the timing belt nonsense, add the cost of oil leak repairs at the front of the engine (the crank pulley and both balance shafts are plagued with periodic leaks from seals and O-rings), and a 944 can surge very close to $2,000 in maintenance every 30K miles. By the way, those balance shafts are almost always mis-timed, making the little four-cylinder engine feel like an anemic cement mixer, aka 924.
Another problem area is the oil cooler housing. What a bizarre arrangement. Porsche stuck an aluminum housing on the right side of the engine block and put an oil-cooler inside it, allowing engine coolant to circulate around it. It can leak internally, allowing coolant and oil to mix, damaging the connecting rod bearings before you see the telltale traces of oil in the car’s coolant reservoir.
Clutch replacement is a major, and expensive, project, eight hours labor plus about $900 in parts on non-Turbo models, twelve hours labor plus parts on ’86 Turbos and ten hours labor plus parts on ’87-’89 Turbos (Turbo parts are approximately $1,000). Motor mounts, also expensive ($600 for the pair including labor), are in at least the fourth redesign, and the oil leaks we’ve discussed rot out rubber sway bar bushings, steering rack boots and other stuff.
The above-mentioned issues do more than scratch the surface, but they don’t tell the whole 944 story; there’s more. My response to Mr. Slama’s article is this: If Porsche had never built the 911, no one today would regard that company as a builder of remarkable cars. The 944 could never have gained the lofty perch occupied by the 911, the world standard by which all sports cars are judged. Without the 911, and its illustrious race history, Porsche may not have even survived the hilarious 924 era.
Granted, the 944 has a place on Porsche’s family tree, but in my opinion no 944 model has earned a place, 911 or no 911, on the perch reserved for remarkable cars; i.e., the R, the RS, the 934, the 935 and all their beloved little brothers, 38 years of lovable, drivable, reliable street-version sixes.
—Peter M. Zimmerman, is the founder of Red Line Service and hands-on owner of that Porsche-only Santa Monica, CA repair shop for 25 years and the author of The Used 911 Story.
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