CO944

I am a idiot. I posted in the forum below and noone responded..
Now I see that everyone hangs out in here.. duh.

Hello!
my name is Brad and I live in Colorado. Own a 83 944.
I owned this car once before, sold it to a friend. He blew
up the motor.. well at least it has no oil pressure, and I
bought it back from him at a considerable discount with
the blown motor and he threw in the 928 BBS' that he
bought while owning the car.

I was wondering if any of you have any thoughts on oil
pressure issues. I am a expert VW technician and do not
mind the heavy work on my own cars. Have done alot of
motors, trannies etc etc. I talked with a fellow tech who
knows porches more than me but we are still both a little
skeptical about why it would lose pressure.

What's been replaced:
Pressure switch
Oil change w/ filter

Our theories:
Possibly the squirters under the pistons have dislodged.

I suspected the oil pressure light malfunctioning however since
it sounds like a sewing machine I concluded that the pressure
really was gone.

I am already thinking of sourcing a used motor.. it is the 2.4 NA
and would be easier to just throw in another for now.

Which brings me to another question.. recommended maintenance
on the motor while it is out? I already concluded to do the timing
belt and tensioner. Possibly the water pump, but would love more input
on what wears out and is a bear to replace with the motor in the car.

Thanks for any response!

FRporscheman

It's not worth it to rebuild the engine if it needs serious work, since the car itself is worth like, what, 3 grand? And a used engine is so easy to find and, if you know where to look, really cheap too. You will save time if you just replace the engine, and probably end up spending less. Just make sure you do these things to the new engine before you put it in (the answer to your other question):

Timing and Balance-Shaft belts (around $50)
All associated rollers and eccentric tensioners ($60?)
Water Pump and gasket($120 rebuilt)
All front seals, if you really want to do a great job (kit costs like $100)
If you take the head off for any reason, replace the valve guides
Change the motor mounts. All of us who have bad motor mounts are sick of the vibration.
I've never take a motor out, but if the clutch becomes very accessible, change it. Clutches on 944s take at least 16 hours for a pro.

Thats what I can remember, if I missed something I'm sure someone else will chime in. For the belts, you will need to buy a tensioning tool, so get a "kriket". CHEAP alternative to Porsche's tool.

CO944

Thanks!

I was also perusing the search feature and mis-spoke the parts replaced.
It has had the oprv replaced.. not a switch.. sorry.. there is the VW in me.

I am tempted to remove the oprv and double check it as this lost oil pressure
after just sitting, not while driving. Even if this fixes it I may pull the engine and
give it a general overhaul as you listed.

Crackhead944S

I don't know squat, but I have read here that the oil pickup tube can crack. Some have tested this by overfilling for a short time. Not that I have tried it or that I recommend overfilling your engine.

BTW, Welcome to RennList

FRporscheman

I updated the list above, so check it out again. And welcome!!!

Riff

Any more information about the car?? Were the belts changed recently prior to the no oil pressure issue? I ask because the oil pump is driven by friction with the crank pulley. If the pulley was removed and/or not replaced correctly without the proper torque, the pump would not function as needed.

Good luck with the diagnosis, let us know what you find.

F18Rep

Yea, what Riff said - happens all the time.

ahofam123

As mentioned above, a loose crank pulley or a cracked pick up tube could mess up the oil pressure. The crank pulley needs to be torqued down to at least 150 ft lbs in order to drive the oil pump. Try removing the oil filter and cranking the engine to see if you get any oil flow (disconnect the coil to keep the car from starting).

FRporscheman

oooooo i was wondering about that... when i took my crank pulley off (bent my breaker bar with a THICK steel pipe) I replaced the oil pump driving gear and I noticed that while the teeth drive the pump, how does the crank drive the gear? Just friction? I wondered about that, and now i know thats what it is. Just thinking out loud (er, thinking out text....)

Eyal 951

Spun rod bearing? thats what it sounds like to me. BTW, there is no 2.4 944 motor, its 2.5, 2.7 or 3.0
~Eyal

daniel951

where in colorado are u located? I am in pueblo hit me up if u are nearby if u need any help

Mighty Shilling

Welcome Brad! I'm in the Denver/Littleton area...I'm thinking of starting a western 944 get together sometime soon so keep watchin the boards! Glad to hear you found all the fun!

Anyway, welcome! and we do require pictures of your Porsche sometime soon...

Z-man

What caused the current condition of the motor? What was your friend doing at the time? Was it a missed-shift/over-revved engine? Oil low? Normal driving and it just happened?

Is there oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil? If so, it could be the oil cooler seals, head gasket, or a number of other things including a cracked head!

Knowing what 'caused' the low-pressure oil condition may help diagnose the problem.

-Zoltan.

CO944

Ok.. despite the extremely cold air last night.. I trudged out
to garage (not heated) and poked around a bit. Belts do
not look new however I do know that the previous owner
(Previous to my friend and myself who is also a VW tech)
did the timing belt. He is no idiot, and I drove the car for 4 months after
he owned it with absolutely no problems with the engine.
He did do a retighten prior to me buying the car.

The oil pump has been replaced (according to previous
owner) am I to assume that the crank pully has to be
removed in order to replace it? Not sure on this.

No coolant in oil and no oil in coolant. Both check out ok. Head is in good order.

Friend drove it to his job site (worked in construction) came out to leave at the end of the day and the car would not start. He towed it into our mutual friend who is the original VW tech owner. He troubleshot the oil pressure as it sounded like a sewing machine and began replacing some parts. Started with the oprv then the oil pump. That is as far as he got trying. Never ran the engine very long so as not to damage anything.

He has a history of driving cars very hard and it is possible that he missed shifted or over revved although he states "I was driving it normal"

Oil level is right at the top of the dipstick as it sits right now.

I know.. Like I said before.. I am a idiot.. the displacement is what? 2479 cc or something like that?

I will check this out tomorrow (working today) but plan on tinkering with this all day tomorrow in hopes to get more diagnosis.

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far. I will be working on this tomorrow
and will post a update on my findings.

For those in Colorado I live in Wheatridge.. work at Osborn Volkswagen.
A gtg out west would be awesome! Here or Las Vegas would be perfect for me.. have family in and around the Vegas area. I am always looking for help from my peers as I never pretend to "know it all" about cars.
I am also just as generous with my time. Probably the biggest reason I would
like to get this issue fixed is because the clutch only has about 3,000 miles on it and I know what a bear those can be.

inactiveuser92616

if you need a used engine locally, you may try dart auto in denver. Last time I went there they had about 3 944s, although I think 2 were turbos without engines.