jbrob007

Hi guys, I'm not on here too often as I'm usually on the 928 forum. Unfortunately, my son's 87 944 auto is starting to consume coolant so I'm reaching out to the 944 pros for some help & guidance.

Diagnoses so far: The engine is not leaking any fluid anywhere and we've already addressed the oil cooler seals, etc. The oil & coolant are both clean with no signs of water / coolant in the oil or visa versa. That leaves a leaking head gasket with the coolant being burned as the possible cause. The exhaust has a small amount of white smoke after revving the engine so I think that's the issue. My questions are:
1. Considering we have some mechanical skills (we regularly work on 928s), the tools & space required, is replacing the head gasket on a 944 base model a DIY job?
2. Do you have to pull the engine to replace the head gasket, or can it be done with the engine in the car?
3. Are there any DIY tutorials, written instructions or on-going threads were we can learn what were up against and what to do 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc?
4. Any recommendations, comments or concerns?
5. Anything we need to know that's specific to the 944...? like whatever you do, DON'T do this... ever... on a 944.

Thanks in advance for any assistance, guidance or insights provided.

Joel Roberts
928 Buckeye Landsharks
Columbus, OH

jbrob007

Anyone...? Anyone...? Bueller...? Bueller...? LOL!!!

SeanR

Much easier than on a 928 but basically the same procedure. Yes, you can do it.

951and944S

1. yes, with your accumulated skills, no problem.
2. no, engine stays in car. Pulling the head with the headers on is easiest route.
3. http://clarks-garage.com/
4. if you have access to a coolant pressure tester, you could fill, then pump system to 15-18 psi and check cylinders with a bore scope for coolant with the plugs out to verify.
5. not really, tilt cam housing as removing to keep lifters from falling out and make sure they stay married to the lobe they ran with previously,
if you remove camshaft, the large hex on front IS NOT the fastener that holds cam gear on so don't try impacting it off. The actual fastener is a triple square bolt inside recess where ignition rotor drive sleeve is removed from. You will damage woodruff key groove in camshaft if you turn wrong fastener.
After prep and scraping old gaskets etc, vacuum around perimeter of piston tops that are at top dead center, then turn 180 and bring other two up and vacuum those.
You can miss debris that fell between piston od and cylinder id that lands on top ring.
This can score/scratch cylinders on fire up if you don't take caution.

T

V2Rocket

If you're comfortable with the 928 the 944 will be familiar.

If you're familiar you can get the old head off the car in about 2 hours.

Lot of steps but not hard. Clarks-garage.com shop manual.

The Forgotten On

Easily a DIY with the engine in the car. It doesn't have the clearance issues with the cam housing barely clearing the shock tower like the 928 16V cars.

Just make sure to follow Porsche spec and procedure when tightening the head bolts and use a Greg Brown cam tower gasket. The Porsche ones have graphite on the ends and are prone to early failure.

I would also send the head out to be refreshed as well. The valve seals have had it by now along with the rest of the rubber on the engine.

Also, if you decide to reseal the balance shaft housing make sure to be very careful when doing it. The housing is matched from the factory to the engine.

As I say, do it once, do it right, never do it again.

C531XHO

As other posters have said it is easy but beware fixings. I had white smoke out of the exhaust of my 85 car and immediately thought HG. Turned out it was the oil cooler seals (which I see you have done) but I pulled the head anyway. Bolt clamping head/block water bypass area towards front snapped off flush with the block. I should have drilled this out to remove the bolt and maybe helicoiled but elected to use an easy out which was a mistake. Ended up cracking the casting leading to irreparable water leak which was a tragedy as the block and bores were perfect. I would strongly advise "waking up" the head bolts, not applying too much force if they dont yield, consider heat and drill out as a final resort only if you have too.

I miss my 944 and want another...

D

PS there is a Haynes manual for the car and loads of stuff on Clarke's garage if it's still up on the net...

Wisconsin Joe

Yes, Clark's Garage is still up. Clark himself died (last year?), but a couple of the guys over there got in touch with the family and kept the site going. Which is a real miracle. Losing that would have been a huge loss.

Also, the Haynes Manual is one of the better ones.

Also, the 944(924/968) board is nowhere near as active as this one. It takes two or three days to get a full page of unread stuff. So not getting an answer for a few hours (or even a day or so) isn't too unusual.

C531XHO

I wish Haynes had done a manual 928...

76FJ55

I'm pretty sure Haynes made a 928 manual. I have one (or it may be a photo copy of one) on the shelf in the garage, that came with my 85 928 when I got it. I always use the factory manual, can't say I've even opened the Hayes, but being thinner that a single of the 9 volume factory set I can't imagine it having much that the WSM doesn't.

edfishjr

I just put my reconditioned head back onto the block. Same problem as you: head gasket had failed and I was getting coolant intrusion which was seen with a borescope. No symptoms otherwise, but HG was in really bad shape.

I wrote down my entire procedure. It's pretty detailed. If you want it, send me PM with your email.

Ed

V2Rocket

if you want a core head to have rebuilt ahead of time to minimize down time, i've got a good one for ~$75+shipping.

Dan Martinic

I found the cleaning of the mating surfaces--removing the old gasket material--the most unsure part of this job. It's even more questionable given that, as already mentioned, fine particles likely get into the cylinders.

I ended up using a rectangle "stone".. kinda like these. It's what a machinist recommended




I can't imagine learning and practicing my touch with a razor blade on my Porsche engine... and I didn't have the guts to try a drill attachment (ie Roloc). Good luck

Randy V

Moved to 944 forum...

jbrob007

Thanks to all that replied. Great info! We'll get into her in a couple of weeks. It SHOULD be easier than working on an OB, S3 or S4, but we all know how that goes... This is an automatic and the tranny cooling lines run up and parallel to the cam tower so that's always a joy

Thanks again!!