odb812

Try using one of these: http://www.toolplanet.com/product/Li...FUQ6QgodcgQAOw

CO951

I understand what you are saying, which is why it has only been about 7 miles on it since it happened. "Still runs pretty well", means it doesn't run rough and there is no noticeable loss of power, until it gets to the point that the boost maxes out too low. I know I have continued to ask advice and this is only because I don't have the most common symptoms of a blown HG, but have different ones. I’m not a mechanic, so I ask questions because combustion should be enough to create steam, but I don’t know about other factors that might delay it until the engine is warm. I have been out of a job for several months and don't have the money to pay someone to diagnose and fix it, nor do I have money to waste fixing the wrong problem. Please excuse me if I am being overly cautious in trying to make very sure what the problem is. As always, I greatly appreciate all the help I receive here. If the consensus is that it is still the HG, than I will stop bothering everyone and go with that. Thanks!!!

TexasRider

This is very true . I am not sure why CO951 thinks otherwise than a probable head gasket . What does any other tests show ? If you take it out and run it harder as Od said you will probably get an answer back from the car . Then you can decide how to handle it . My bet is on the HG too .

MooreBoost

Headgasket or turbo seals.... I'm voting headgasket

Headgasket set around 160
Rebuild turbo 350+

Black51

+1

A couple years ago, my HG blew. No milkshake. Just lazy boost roll-on, strange engine temps, and a puff of white smoke once in awhile when getting on it. Then one day out in the middle of nowhere, POOF!!! White smoke bellowing out the back! Coolant all over the place under the hood, and an overheating engine.

Change the HG before you get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

It's quite cheap to do the job yourself, provided you already have tools for the job. If not, and you can't afford to pay a shop to do it for you, then you'll have to park the car for the summer.

CO951

Texas, the things that made me unsure about it being HG were: No cross contamination / milkshake, no coolant overflow or loss when running hard, it's running temp is perfect despite it being a hot day, the delayed smoke had me thinking turbo seals (but I guess if the HG opening is small enough, it may not open up until it heats up and expands).

Reading back through my post yesterday, I realized I had left out the most important new thing that had me unsure. It may actually support the HG issue, I don't know. The oil pressure is fine above idle, but for the first time ever when at idle it was dropping low enough that the ! light was coming on occasionally.

Thanks again for all of the advice.

TexasRider

I was going to post something like this to consider. And even more damage can occur too.



Good Gasket - New










Not So Good Gasket - car ran but was waiting to let go any minute.

ehall

You're doing just fine. There is never a problem with honest questions.
Here's the thing, it may not be the HG, but of everyone who has read your thread, you've received, as best as I can remember, two responses. The overwhelming majority is that you probably have a HG that is going fast or oil cooler seals...and maybe a bad turbo seal thrown in. IF your HQ Or your Oc seals are going/gone, you are just BEGGING to score the walls of your cylinders. The price tag on scored cylinders goes from new block to freshly honed rebuild to totally new rebuild. The numbers, by comparison to a Hg job, if caught early, get huge real fast. Get that Lisle tester, that was posted, and find a buddy to help you out, if you aren't real confident about doing the test. Share the results with us. We'll help ya out. It will obviously cost more, but you can find a GOOD Porsche shop, even if that means a dealer, and let them do all of the tests.
Either way, the money you spend testing will be well spent compared to trashed out cylinder walls.
Mine had symptoms very much like yours. It was the HG AND it ran okay, but wouldn't boost worth a crap. Luckily, I got it early enough. No wall damage. I live in Florida, and it gets HOT! It could have become a train wreck. Don't become a train wreck! The HG is a BIG job, but NOT a HARD job. It's not brain surgery and we'll walk you through it along with a few write ups you can print off in 15 minutes. Whatever is wrong can be fixed. Let's just find out what's wrong. We'll take it from there. Sound good?

ehall

How is the temp after a hard run, when you let the car idle? What's happening with your coolant then? Is there bubbling in the overflow tank, once the car stands still and has time to run without airflow? Usually, if the hg goes, one or some of those things will occur, but again, sometimes your just on the razors edge. Generally you won't see the problems while in motion, but once the car has been run and comes to a stop, while running for 5+ minutes. That allows the steam to build and the outcome is smoke/steam/temp climb. (The temp will generally climb when the car isn't getting airflow, but with a coolant leak, which is what happens with a failing hg) the temp will go past safe zones. mostly obviously, when idling after a hard run.

ehall

Okay, somehow I missed the oil thing. STOP DRIVING THE CAR! You have a significant oil leak. If it was the HG, and that happened to the oil, you would have milkshake for sure. You have some other problem. Whatever it is, it's serious. I could be wrong, but that just doesn't sound like a HG.

ehall

even better Tom McGinn has a fantastic write up that I have saved, and it's the one I used.

TexasRider

They can be separate issues. The head gasket can be gone and some debris in the oil pickup , oil lines, or failing oil pump or seal(s) or other oil leak.

In any event the OP will have to quit driving the car and get it to someone knowledgeable with these cars or a qualified independent Porsche service and tech to sort out these problems .

Tom M'Guinn

CO951, there is a thriving and knowledgeable 951 group in the Denver area. You might want to start bringing donuts and beer to the local get-togethers and start chatting them up. Pretty hard to say with certainty what's wrong with your car, as the symptoms you describe are not classic symptoms of any one particular problem. Smoke out the intake is weird and suggest valve or timing belt issues. Low oil pressure is something else altogether. Smoke out the exhaust could be lots of things (including valves/rings, turbo, blown HG). Low boost could be a dozen things. An experienced set of eyes might be able to see clues to narrow it down that you aren't noticing. In the meantime, I'd still say it's worth pulling the head and have an valve job done with a nice new head gasket. 135k miles on the original HG and valves is plenty more than most can expect, and the valves are almost certainly in need of service at that age. If the smoke turns out to be something else, the HG and valve will not be a waste of money, as you are at the end of their expected life now either way... And, if you pull the head, there's really no reason not to do the oil seals, since the seals cost very little and it will never be easier to get to them than when the head is off the car.

ehall

+1

ehall

THAAAAAT would be from the guy who created the DEFINITIVE HG write up ever. Listen to him! I did, and I have a rock solid block to thank for it.


Don't tell anyone, but if you do the job, get stuck aaaaand ask really nicely, he'll answer you and get you back on track. He should rename himself Tom Mc SOURCELY!