Duke

I had water mixture in my oil which I thought was due to a broken headgasket.
But when I took the head of today I discoverd that the gasket looked brand new!

I have always been a bit suspicious about the oil cooler seals and now it seems they're responsible for the mixture.
Or could it be something else!?
Could it be due to bad sealing between the head and block?

Anyway, I seem to have a pretty big oil leak from the oil pressure sender and the aread around there so I'll change the sender and the oil cooler housing gasket.

But I just want to make sure it's really those seals fault and not something else!

BTW, what about this oil pressure relief valve install tool?

Thanks!

Devia

Duke, you have good questions there!

But you need to be aware of one thing on the head - the gasket MAY LOOK OKAY to you visually, but it could be a crack you can't see. Always replace that gasket when you open it up regardless of looks, you won't regret that!

- Julie

Manning

The seals are notorious for failing, it could easily be that. Since you already have the car in a non functioning state (the head is off right?) it can't hurt to go ahead and reseal the cooler and check the head and block for warpage, right?

Devia

I concur, Manning, excellent suggestions.

- Julie

Tom M'Guinn

Milkshake oil is typically caused by one or the other (head gasket or cooler seals). Did you have any other signs that it was the head gasket?

brad-cam

I haven't had the milkshake, but I just replaced by cooler seals and they were in pretty rough shape. The O-rings just snapped when I removed them. I had an oil leak around the oil pressure sender too. I replaced my lower balance shaft front seals at the same time as the oil cooler seals, so I'm not sure which one fixed it, but there are no more leaks now.

It is recommended that you use the oil pressure relief valve alignment tool when reinstalling the oil cooler housing. Better safe than sorry. I picked up the tool from Pelican. The one for '97 and later 944's is pricy - about $45. The tool for '86 and earlier is less than $20.

Hope this helps...

brad-cam

Of course I meant '87 and later, not '97 and later...

Awoir

Will the O-rings from my Tippman A-5 fit on my car? :-P

Danno

When in doubt, pull the engine...

Eyal 951

I just went through fixing my oil cooler. Man did i ever have a milkshake, it was bad. I suspected HG at first too. But went for the oil cooler first. Its actually rare on the turbo's to fail, but it does happen. my engine is clean, and my coolent is still where i put it last! I just finished with the cleaning out process too. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I just did this.
~Eyal

Devia

Hey Eyal, you could do my oil cooler gaskets again! I think I did something wrong with it last year.

- Julie

Duke

Thanks for all the answers!
I suspekted the headgasket simply because it broke (milkshake) 5000 km ago (that's 3125 miles for the yankees ) and since then I've run about 1,1-1,2 bar with some strange chips and 3,5 fuel pressure.

Well, luckely I learned how to do the headgasket last year so removing the head this time didn't take long

Duke

Good to hear!
The housing seems hard to get at, what did you do in order to gain access to it?
Just remove the servo pump and the oil in/out pipes?
Did you use the relief valve alignment tool?

Duke

Hehe, pulling the engine is something that still is frightening..
But someday (some winter) it sure would be nice to get that thing rebuilt to look cleaner than new!

Tom R.

I had the o rings done twice by a competent mechanic and once by a porsche specialist only to find out it was the head gasket.

I agree you should have the head checked. too much labor to do the job twice. I am a fan of doing things "while you are in there".