Cough, splutter. stall....
 

Hi all

I have a 1985 Porsche 944 which has been having problems for a while now

It seemes that when the engine warms up a bit, something very strange happens:

The car starts to cough and splutter, as if there is dirty fuel in the line.

My mechanic discovered there is a sensor towards the back of the engine that was getting oil dripped on it, and when this heated up it was making the car go to crap.

We have been keeping this clean every couple of weeks, but now it seems that the sensor is now very clean, and the problem still arises every couple of weeks or so.

If I continue to drive through the problem, the car loses all muscle, and coughs and splutters, to the point that it stalls, then when I pull over and try to restart, it just won't star; it still has electrical power, but it coughs more and more and backfires but will not start until the engine has been left off for a few hours and the car is cold again

It seems that heat is related to the problem, although the temp gauge reads that it is right in the middle; not oo hot by the gauge's standards

Could it be a problem with the petrol filter (and if so, where is the filter located)

With my very limited knowledge of Porsches, if I was to describe the problem, it seems as though thee is irty petrol in it sometimes, but this does not solve the problem of overheating and stalling

Yesterday when it happened, we nursed it home in 3rd at around 3.5 rpm for around 5 km's, and by the time it got home, it seemd to be ok and driveable again

Please help; this is driving me crazy and I would rather not take it to Porsche and have thm pull the engine out and hit me with their crazy workshop prices !!

has anyone else had a problem like this ?

RE: Cough, splutter. stall....
 

My guess is you have a bad speed or reference sensor, or the wiring harness to those sensors is bad. Since these are really the only sensors on the back of the engine, I am guessing they are the ones that were getting oil on them. Typically when they start to fail, it causes a no start when hot condition, or very rough running when hot. Might also want to change your DME relay, which is in the system and will cause similar symptoms.