Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hello all,

I have been to see and drive my first 944 S2 today. It was a H reg example in guards red. Any input from you experts would be gratefully received.

1st thing I noticed was the back brakes had drilled discs but the front ones did not - what should it have??

The sills have recently been reparied at a cost of £700 and look good.

All belts changed 1000 miles ago,

Small oil leak from cam cover

Pulls to the left slightly under braking

When driving the car, I felt I had to press the accelerator a bit before the engine started to respond, are the cables easily adjusted?

The bottom left corner of the boot was wet but no rust - possible a leaking boot seal - are these easy to get hold of and replace?

Clutch felt OK with it biting about half way of the pedal travel. Engine started and settled to tick over just below 1000 rpm, steady and good, no noises from engine.

Temperature went up to just below the second line on the gauge and didnt move any higher, oil pressure was about 4 bar at idle and rose to 5 bar above about 1200 rpm

Advisory on the last MOT (june) said slight play in nearside ball joint.

Car has mainly porsche history up to 80000 miles and then indie stamps since then every about 10000 miles.

So far so good, no major problems but when driving the car (120000 miles) there were plenty of rattles from the interior. If it was a peugot then i wouldnt be concerned but as a Porsche I would expect it to be silent! I havent driven another, can some one tell me if they are a little rattly (it does have firm suspension after all).


So that is the first one I went to see, I have found one that maybe for sale in Manchester ( I am in aberdeen) and the owner is sending me all the cars history to have a look over for the weekend. This one has been serviced for the last 6 years by Hartech in Bolton so that gives a bit of confidence and apparetnyl had an insepction report done bby them last year.

Ta for reading

hi chris,
i can possibly answer 2 of your questions maybe 3...lets go.

the brakes pulling to one side could be a worn link or the fore mentioned ball joint? it could also be a seized brake caliper? so simple answer it could be a number of things.

the water in the boot could be boot seal or maybe a blocked drain away from either the boot catch bottom water tray or sunroof drain away pipe maybe the drain pipe at the side of the boot lid on the body. pipes could be off/split or just blocked causing a build up. usually cleared with an airline and blower.

gasket leak isn't a problem and a very easy replacement possible loose cover bolts?

accelerator cable is adjustable... i think cant quite remember but i'm sure it is.

clutch should bite a bit further down i would say, not sure if there is adjustment on that.

water temp is fine, oil pressure is fine.

Thing to be aware of about the control arms is that on later cars the ball joint is integral i.e. can't be simply replaced and therefore will cost you new arms at huuuge expense (if buying new). Refurbished arms are available for much less dosh e.g. from Hartech.

Clutch is adjustable but only slightly (for spring pre-load) so definitely clutch work require. Again this is mega money because there is so much to come off to access.

Oh yes the throttle cable can be adjusted at the throttle body but not by large amounts. If the power came on at about 3-4krpm I would say it's probably working as expected, although I haven't actually driven as S2 (have a 2.7lux).

I would keep looking or haggle with the seller.

Hope that helps

Thanks Gents,

I asked the seller if he was willing to negociate and he said he was but not by much. I want to try a couple of others before ruling it out but it does sound like it may be a little over priced.

Will keep looking!

What is a rough cost of replacing and respraying 2 sills? One of the cars I am looking at has corrossion showing through on the outside. I have asked the chap to have a look through the vents on the door pillar to see what it looks like around that area but if I had an idea of worst case cost it would be helpful.

Another one bites the dust

Just been to see a 91 plate S2, big rust bubbles on the sills, rattly inside again, gearstick felt like I was waving a stick in a wheely bin (return spring me thinks) 140000 miles but engine has only done 77000, idle was a bit lumpy with the car fluctuating 200rpm on its own (blocked idler valve??), heat shield loose somewhere around the exhaust, MOT till april, bottom price £3200. That is 2 I have looked at with about 140000 miles on and neither has really made me think...must have it! Maybe i need to increase my budget?

Is £3500 really enough to get me a good example with no rust of a 944 S2 with good history with about 100k - 120k miles on it?

hi there,

does it have to be an s2?

i bought my 88 turbo for 4k, it sounds 100% better than the one's you're describing.no rust,seems to be solid mechanically (fingers crossed!)

there is a REALLY lovely looking early turbo on PH for a bit more money: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/638198.htm

Scho,

I prefer a non turbo car as, in my mind, it is just another thing less to go wrong. The S2 is not much less power either.

The car you put a link to is nice but way above budget. I have another 2 to look at which are no where near where I live (Colt has kindly offered to look at one for me, grovelling email probably on its way to him next week!).

I will keep looking, I am sure one will turn up eventually and maybe I am just in a bit of a rush to get one!

I too will keep my fingers crossed for your mechanically sound comment (you know what you ahve done by saying that dont you!!)

chris i almost forgot.....i know your not after a 944t but i saw one on sunday in exeptional condition with a 3,900 price tag in the window. i have just spoke the the guy (john) and he has just had all the brakes redone and rear calipers rebuilt. he said its as tight as it left the factory. and it does look in super condition. if you are interested in this (altho its a turbo) pm me and i'll pass hes number on .... meanwhile i'll check phone and camera for pics to see if i snapped on.

no i didn't get a picture but its in champagne gold. looks beautiful

Whatever you buy, keep a budget for expenses over the first year. In the 2 years I've run the PCGB register almost every single new member has spent around £1k on unexpected things, or done the work themselves that would have cost about this at a specialist. I'd even go so far as to say £1.5k as a reserve fund on an S2 or turbo.

You're right about S2 power, at least over a standard turbo, and most people prefer the power delivery. Don't be fooled about things going wrong, though. A turbo is arguably less complicated than the 16V engine, which can suffer wear on the cams that will cost more than a new turbo!

The good news is that there are some really exceptional cars out there who's values have been dragged down by the rubbish. Keep looking until you find the right one and you'll be laughing.

The All Torque editor was trying to sell his a couple of weeks ago. Then someone bumped it at a set of traffice lights and I believe it's being repaired.
He's in the Glasgow area but down to Gaydon at the weekend.

This was the link to the sale for his car:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1386&p=11931#p11931

Might be worth looking at

Only if you are prepared to wait, travel a lot and get really lucky.

At that budget you will find many more that are exactly the same as the ones you have already looked at. If you want no rust, immaculate original condition and extensive history (with no rattles ) then you'll have to up your budget. These cars are approaching 20 years old and 90% are like those you have already seen (or worse). The top 10% are genuinely worth a little more and an enthusiast owner will know it.

You need to find a non enthusiast who bought a good car just becaue they wanted to own a Porsche but now realises he can't afford to run it and prices it the same as the average cars he see's on autotrader/ebay etc

Thanks for your comments, I have a few other avenues to go down, I think I really do want an S2 and not a turbo and if I have to spend more money, I will just have to wait a little longer, look a little harder and pray a bit more. No rush to buy one so no need to be hastly and buy a dudd.

So people, if I can trouble you all with this lot of questions, I mentioned that I may know of a car in Manchester, it was bought a few years ago from Hartech in Bolton and has been serviced by them ever since. I have a very recent condition report, done by Hartech and wondered if you can shed any light on what the concerns are, this is a list of all things that they make comment on:
All cylinders 230psi
minor oil leak from lower balance shaft front seal, oil pressure relief valve are (not of concern at this stage)
all discs are commented as 1.7mm oversize (slightly corroded) - is the 1.7mm reffering to the amount of wear left on them?
All calipers plate lift - slight lift but not causing any problems at this stage
Offside transmission joints slight wear but not of concern at this stage
Offside and nearside transmission joint bellow tired but still intact
Clutch master cylinder leaking

Clutch: clutch disc thicknesss check measurement actual reading 25mm, wear limit 32mm (standard new clutch 18mm)

On steering, upper and lower universal joint couplings worn and replacement recommeded althoguh not urgent

"We suspect there is slight wear in the steering column area but this isnt serious"

Front anit roll bar bushed - tired

Now then, is any of that something to be concerned about (lets say I have have £500 spare to spend on the car after I have bought it)

Thanks for any help!

Chris

Dont rule out the 2.5 8v mate.A good one of those is going to be a better bet than a cheap S2,especially if its had some money spent on it.OK theyre not quite as fast but theres not that much difference in them.