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Evening everyone, recently picked up a 1984 944 with a blown head gasket. Was looking for advice on any additional problems I should look into while I'm replacing the hg. The guy i bought it from got it as a donation, so there is no information on what caused the hg to go, nor why the car came with 2 extra ECUs. The car itself is pretty good condition, new fuel filter, fuel pump, timing belts, rollers, and accessory belts.
Congratulations on your new ownership.
You have a quite rare, some would say 'uncommon' color known as Pasadena Yellow. The take rate was very low and it was discontinued after a short run. A friend of mine has one with sunroof delete which is also quite uncommon.
How does your car decode out option wise ? ( the white build code tag is on the inner body by the left year tailight, under the carpet. A duplicate tag is inside the Warranty Book in your glove box, if still with the car )
Is the interior dark brown leather or brown Berber Tweed ?
Best wishes on the head gasket. As known, the head will need to be checked for plane. Headbolts torqued to spec and proper sequence. All this info may be sourced by Google here, or 944 Online, or several other sites such as Pelican. Lots of good folks here ready to give advice, so you have come to the right place.
Thank you! I did not know that this was an uncommon color! I just washed and waxed it and it is in quite nice shape for a 30 year old car. The interior is dark brown leather, and also does not have a sunroof.
Have never seen that color, nice! I am less experienced than a lot of people on here so maybe they will chime in.
What I would do is inspect everything when you take it apart. Especially hoses. Look for dry rot or holes (look for bad hoses). Look at the ISV that is under the Intake Manifold. You may want to clean it while you have easy access to it. Might not be a bad idea to replace the seals/etc on the oil cooler, which will be accessible. You may want to test the Speed and Reference Sensors, since with the intake off, they will be accessible.
Hmm, if you are removing the head, as MrGreenJeans already stated, you will be checking for flatness of head and block, may as well pull entire engine and do full reseal and cleanup. Timing belt will end up being changed again as part of head removal, along with all of the normal stuff like water pump. Anything rubber or plastic should be inspected very carefully before reusing. It is a great color, keep us posted on progress.
As for the hoses I already have a ton of random sizes from when I replaced old ones in my truck so I will definitely be going through these.
Most of the larger hoses and plastics seems to have already been replaced, and are in good condition, except for the flexible part of the intake that connects to the throttle body. It's held together with duct tape.
Make sure it's not the oil cooler rather than the head gasket.
Would a failure of the oil cooler cause the milkshake in the oil pan and radiator? I'm not familiar with how the Porsche oil cooler works. I will definitely be taking it apart to check it out and replace the seals.
Would a failure of the oil cooler cause the milkshake in the oil pan and radiator? I'm not familiar with how the Porsche oil cooler works. I will definitely be taking it apart to check it out and replace the seals.
The "oil cooler" is more of a oil/water heat exchanger. If the seals go then you'll have a milkshake for oil. The Porsche service manual recommends that once the oil is compromised with coolant then the main bearings need to be done also along with new head bolts if you take the head off. But I don't see people doing that.Here's a couple of videos on the oil cooler replacement:
ooof- this one is a real diamond in the rough. I am not that bold, but still I have seen farther gone brought back, so give it heck! Don't be bashful about asking for help!
Thank you for the videos, I am more used to the oil/air heat exchangers.
I'll probably stick with just the gaskets and oil seals first, any additional problems with the bearings I'll pull the motor, seeing as most opt not to.
Diamond in the rough maybe, but the interior and paint are mint, only 64k miles, I see it as more than worth it to stop it from being crushed.
Finding one with mint interior is a feat, let alone paint. I'd love to find a car like you found. I have the opposite. Not great paint and interior that is being slowly fixed. The price of nice seats is way more expensive than redoing the motor.
12-03-2019, 02:22 AM
'84 944 NA new owner
