RoadVitals

1989 Porsche 944 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Feb 29, 2000
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Feb 29, 2000

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 1989 Porsche 944. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

Engine
Filed Feb 29, 2000

I CONTACTED THE LOCAL DEALER AS WELL AS PORSCHE(ATLANTA OFFICE). ALMOST EVERYONE WITH A 944S OR 1989-91 944S2 HAS REPORTED THIS FAILURE OR DEFECT. THE CAM CHAIN TENSIONER HAS A PLASTIC RAMP WHICH CRACKS AND FAILS CAUSING CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. PLEASE LOOK ON WWW.RENNLIST.COM UNDER 944 SITE. DO A SEARCH ON CAM TENSIONER AND YOU WILL SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM. PORSCHE SAYS THERE IS NO PROBLEM AND WILL NOT ISSUE A SERVICE BULLETIN FOR AN INSPECTION INTERVAL. THE PLASTIC RUNNER BEGINS TO CRACK AND THEN FAILS CAUSING THE CHAIN TO CATCH AND COME APART. VALVES/PISTONS COLLIDE CAUSING CATASTOPHIC FAILURE. PART REPLACEMENT COST $300. PLASTIC GUIDE IS NOT AVAILABLE SEPARATELY SO YOU MUST BUY THE ENTIRE HYDROLIC TENSIONER. ANOTHER MODEL, PORSCHE 928S AND 928 S4 USE THE SAME TENSIONER SO THEY ARE AFFECTED AS WELL. THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE ARISING AT ABOUT 60-100,000 MILES. THIS MAKES MOST OF THE CARS ABOUT 8-11 YRS OLD SO THE PROBLEM IS BASED ON TIME/USE ISSUE. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY PORSCHE WILL NOT ADDRESS THE PROBLEM. I HAVE THE TENSIONER AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AND CAN PROBABLY GET MORE FROM OTHER OWNERS AS WE ALL COMMUNICATE REGULARLY ON WWW.RENNLIST.COM. *AK

NHTSA ID
719463
Incident
Feb 27, 2000

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .