Hinesman

84' 944 Help Questions
I have a 1984 944 78k and well cared for. I bought this recently and there is every service record since new. I took it to our mechanic and he said that he heard a clicking or clunking noise. I am only getting about 20-22 mpg with premium gas and highway use. I want to know what the noise could be. The car runs fine. Is it ignition or O2 sensor, catilatic converter? It will be fixed. I am also wondering what upgrades I should look into to squeeze some more out of the car. I know a k&n filter is a standby but what is up with these chips and modules. There are new ones out and some say good things and others not. I want to keep this car nice and upgrade it right. Help please with any ideas on my problem or upgrades. I will take the right advice.

CCCP

Start by using 87 octane

Hinesman

I was getting the same with 87 octane.

namespace

Nice car Hinesman, keep it stock, not a lot to upgrade with the NA's and no real need to, they are a fun car to drive as is, K&N would be a good start. clicking may just be fuel injectors, clunking could be clutch (rubber center) BTDT, when were the belts replaced? if +3yrs - do them now. The best you can do with these cars is have FUN! I use 96 or 98 octane here Shell premium or Optimax, with a lead substitute (Lucas Oil Products) and I get great mileage (about 550 to 600 KMs per tank, whatever that is in MPG) - thats when my odometer wants to work....

alordofchaos

Welcome to Rennlist!

Have you heard the click/clunk yourself? Is it constant, or does it only happen at certain times?

You should be getting 28-30 hwy, assuming you're driving normally at the speed limit. I'd guess O2 sensor; however, you may want to take a look at the records - since you have them all - and see when the o2 sensor, spark plugs, wires, and air filter were last replaced. Low mpg could also be alignment, tires, etc.

Everything I've read indicates marginal gains for a K&N filter, while letting in a lot more contaminants in with the extra air.
As for the chips and modules, look at the first few threads (Admin stickies) - rberry is a sponsor and makes chips... i don't know where he's at on the early cars. But what I've read indicates that power gains are modest; the chips are designed to improve driveability mostly, with small power gains as a bonus. You may want to use the Search feature for previous threads on the subject of NA (normally aspirated) power gains
Edit: Just realized that thread was unstickied. Search still works, though... jgporsche used those chips and loves them.

If you plan on keeping your car, best bet is to get it back to top factory form to begin with; if you plan on sinking a few thousand into it, you'd probably be better off getting a later car (e.g., an S2 or turbo).

Edit: btw, nice rims! Looks like BBS; I always wanted some nice gold mesh ones...

iamgod

nope i have the same rims...OZ msw's very lite rims.

alordofchaos

Thanks, iamgod! When there's a little something extra in my wallet, I'll need to look for those rims!

Hinesman

They are BBS rims off a 911. OZ msw's may be very similar. Once again thanks for all the info guys. Just one thing. Should I run regular or premiuim?

Tom R.

The sticker in the gas door of my 89 NA says premium. I think with the extra 10hp for 89 came the requirement for higher octane. I think all other years take regular, and run fine on regular.

I saw 29 from carlisle pa to the lincoln (or was it holland) tunnel with two people in the car in my brother's 84 back in 01 when it had 32k miles at a constant 75ish with a few stabs to see what it does.

alordofchaos

87 Octane US, according to the owner's manual .

The S, S2 and 951 required higher octane.

jpk

I never got much better than 22-23 mpg with the '84, even with mostly highway driving. Over the years I had gone through pretty much everything; O2 sensor, plugs, wires, cap&rotor, cleaned the fuel injectors (bench cleaning where you send them out to a pro shop) Nothing really seemed to make that much of a difference; I'm guessing it was mostly due to my agressive right foot. It was just so enjoyable to push it up to the redline and hear it's sweet song...

On the early cars, you don't need any more than 87 octane. They are not a very high compression engine.

I had (actually I still have them) those same BBS rims, only mine have the basket weave centers powder coated black, but they have the gold color underneath. They came on mine from the factory as a wheel option.

Granite 944

IIRC, these cars of this age should not require any more than your normal 87 octane fuel. However! IF, your experiencing problems with fuel mileage, and preformance, you may need to experiment by using different sources for your fuel. Yep! Not all gas stations are created equal! Not all engines and driving habits are equal! Since your not saying less gas mileage problems here, I would think this first. THAN........ I would consider some of the "mechanical" issues that ARE related to this.

I "think" I'm a "fairly" hard runner on my cars. I generally average approx. 25 mpg on my cars. This is daily driving, and NOT easy highway driving. YYMMV.

Trust me! I was born in Souix Falls, So. Dak.

Yeah! LIke that is really anything.

"Clicking/Clunking Noise"..........yep! You should be concerned! "What is it" To many possibilities here! Hope ya trust your mechanic, and your gut! Don't panic! It sure could be not much of anything!