RedlineMan

Quick way to spot a bad head gasket?

Take the rad cap off and hit the key. If it belches coolant out, there you go. If it is a smaller head leak, the top hose will get hard as a rock when you rev it. In either case it is cylinder leakage pressurizing the coolant system. White smoke is always a classic sign too, of course.

KLR

You can send the fuel injectors out to be cleaned, flow matched, and completely rebuilt for about $100 total. This is an easy DIY removal and reinstallation; do a search and you'll find recommended vendors to whom to send them.

There are many ways to determine that the head gasket is shot. Find out which they used. It really matters, because if the car has a milkshake (coolant mixed into the oil), then you probably want to do the rod bearings as well. Not all mechanics will recommend this, either due to a lack of wisdom or a perception that you wouldn't be willing to pay for it and that they'll entirely lose the business if they suggest it.

There is no point paying someone to replace the DME. It's simple, and it's helpful anyway to buy a spare from a parts car and have it sitting around, even if there's nothing wrong (right now) with yours. Put in a brand new DME relay (they cost $20) and you'll have eliminated that problem for the next decade as well.

Granite 944

Holy crap batman! I agree with Skip also! What your telling us is not sounding all that complete, or logical. Not without a whole lot more info about HOW he came to those conclusions. I'm immediately thinking you might need another professional looky peek at it. Good luck!

Skip

First, contact your local PCA region for a list of shops. They might even offer some advice on who's good for the 944. While the 944 is no zero-gravity toilet, it does have a few quirks that require special handling.

Some "steam" coming out of the exhaust pipe is normal for a car that is warming up and burning off the small amounts of condensation that build up in the exhaust. White smoke, or, a lot of steam coming out of the exhaust is more troublesome. If you start is up and there is an immediate white cloud then that's a pretty good indicator of severe head gasket failure. Had you been losing coolant prior to this diagnosis? Had you noticed the white smoke?

Hissing sound from the area of the injectors is more likely an intake or vacuum leak. As was already pointed out, seal kits and even full "rebuilds" are relatively inexpensive. Easy DIY procedure and a good one to get your feet wet. However, if the head is coming off, get'r done at the same time.

Engine not firing is usually DME relay or reference sensors. Now, considering that they quoted you only $1800 for headwork and DME, are you sure they didn't say or mean DME relay (aka fuel pump relay)? A DME itself from a shop could easily run you $500 or more - that leaves ~$1200 for the head gasket - not a bad price.

Of course, you must know, having not actually seen your car this advice may be worth what you paid for it

freshlax944

skip- i belive i have gotten some very good advice for the price... as soon as i get my sunroof im going to throw it on and get the car towed to another shop that ive already called and they have said they will work on a porsche. hopefully they can give me a better price on the repairs. my problem is that this is my first porsche and i bought the car as a restoration project. the PO was EXTREAMLY neglectful (i could tell just by looking at the car) so immedately i had the car towed to the place in question and had the waterpump replaced along with the timing belt, balence belt, front engine seals, thermostat and gasket, and cooling fan relay. last my invoice said and i quote "diag. draw on battery, found a faulty DME relay. removed and replaced relay" so im pretty sure its not my relay. all of this work was for around $1800 does that sound fair to you?

freshlax944

oh yeah... where is a good place to order a DME from?

Skip

The relay can go bad at any time, unfortunately. A very good percentage of the time, they last at least 3 years or more. However, it's always a good safety/sanity check to start off troubleshooting with.

If you had the above engine work done at the same place, how long has it been? Why didn't they catch the head gasket when doing the belts and WP? What exactly leads then to belive the DME is bad? If they had a spare in the shop, and that's what fixed it, what are they charging you for that one? Draw on battery is a tough one - could be so many things - search this forum to find some clues. $1800 is no bargain, but is acceptable for that amount of work at a reputable shop. However, if they have to replace the head gasket now just after all of this other work, there should be very little charge for in the belt area - with all new parts, it's only a matter of labor.

DME is most affordable when used - check evilBay and the Porsche recyclers like 944 ecology.

freshlax944

thanks for all your help skip. because of the holiday weekend it will be a litle while before i can get most of those questions answered of do anything else for that matter. rest assured tho, my quest to rescue this 944 from the car smasher wil be complete... someday.

Gator_86_951

Wow. Skip that is hilarious. This is going in sig.