freshlax944

i had my 86 n/a towed up to my local p-car mechanic a few days ago to see why shes not running. i thought it was my ignition coil/distributor but apparently not because it was still sitting after i replaced them prior to getting it towed. so i get a call in the afternoon saying that ive got a blown head gasket, bad injector seals, and a shot DME and quotes me $1800 to fix it all. now heres my question... i am a very novice mechanic (i specialize in bodywork so ive got 99.9% of the tools i need at hand) but i think i might be able to manage at least some of this. do any of you do it yourselfers think any of these problems could be fixed if i simply(lol) swapped out the bad parts for good ones? TIA.

freshlax944

Gator_86_951

Bad Head Gasket - not bad on an n/a
Injector seals - sometimes difficult getting injectors out of rail, not bad
Short DME - hmmm, diagnostic easy, change easy

BeerBurner

From an easily itimidated-but reasonably competant home mechanic, I'd say that all of that stuff would be easy to do except for the head gasket. That gasket involves removing a lot of parts and dealing with the timing belt. Not hard, but intimidating.

For whatever it's worth, I spent about $1,200 replacing my head gasket a few years ago (before I grew the testicular fortitude to tackle the belt myself). If you're willing to throw the money at it, it might be worth doing that and maybe the rest of the stuff because it's not that much more.

BB.

patrick-87-944

I just completed a head gasket job at the house USE Clark's garage for directions and it is not that bad. Have on hand KROIL to soak the stuck bolts & nuts - the stuff is great -
good luck

RedlineMan

Hmmm...

$1800 isn't bad for all that work. Still, go for it yourself. You've always got us if you get jammed up, eh?

I've been doing nothing but Turbo heads lately. An NA is a piece of cake!

testarossa_td

Go for it.
You completely booger it up and for the money you would have spent, you can get two engines!...or a whole car!

Mike C.

Yea go for it. A head gasket job can be messy but it isn't all that difficult on the NA motor. You will need a torque wrench and be sure and have the head checked for flatness before bolting it back on. A warped head will likely cause a rapid failure of the head gasket. In the 'while your in there' category, this would also be an excellent time to replace the oil cooler seals (often the cause of oil in coolant desease), radiator hoses, water pump, thermostat and timing/balance shaft belts. A bad reference sensor for the crankshaft is sometimes mis-diagnosed as a bad DME - there are two such sensors at the back of the engine (one is for RPM) and I'm pretty sure if either is bad, the DME won't play.

patrick-87-944

"Short DME - hmmm, diagnostic easy, change easy"

How is the DME diagnostic run, I have a bad one and would like to know how to fix it?

freshlax944

thanks, i think im going to go for it now. how is clarks garage on the sensors on the back of the engine?

lilredpo

It's not too tough. I did it going between Clarks, Haynes, the factory manuals on CD and Rennlist.

Take your time, label and zip lock baggie everything. It will make the reassembly process a whole lot easier.

Good luck!!

Skip

How competent and reliable is the shop you are taking this to? There are a lot of reason that an engine may not be running, and for those who have heard mine and others stories about mechanics who are more than a little dishonest, this sounds like a sure case for a reality check. You take a car in that doesn't run, you think it's electrical, they come back with a laundry list of expensive repairs. I have no idea who you took it to, but please, let the list here have a better shot at it. I am absolutely not implying anything, but from my experience, this case warrants further investigation. There are at least 4 other inexpensive reasons why a car won't start or run that are electrical in nature and not necessarily the DME. What was the symptom of the head gasket failure? Weeping? Or, they got it started and it smoked white like crazy. Or, it failed leakdown and compression tests miserably. Maybe we're not hearing the whole story - fill us in.

For your reference, my latest experience with a mechanic (VW) was they diagnosed a bad alternator as a spun rod bearing. Alternator is $125, engine rebuild/replace is $2500. They stood by it even after I called them on it. It happens.

Good Luck!

944_S_TYPE

I agree with skip. Ask them WHY the Head gasket needs to be changed and HOW they determined that. And the same with the other two problems......
Injector seals????? I s there fuel on the top of the motor?

See www.rennbay.com for the injector seal Parts, And the how to do section.

freshlax944

i think you may be right skip... it a place called tri tech auto in annapolis maryland. i actually live a little south of there and i cant seem to find anywhere that will work on a porsche.ive found another place so i can get a re-evaluation. the reasons (i think) for the repairs are...

1. head gasket- white steam coming out the exaust pipe. antifreeze in the cylinders i belive causes this.
2. injector seals- after starting (or trying to start) there is a hissing sound coming from that area.
3. DME- cranks good but the engine simply wont fire

944_S_TYPE

If it cranks but does not fire,(no spark) Change the DME relay.It happens all the time. I carry a spare in my glove box because of this.

944_S_TYPE

Oh yea..... Do you have fuel at the rail? If so... The injectors would be leaking if there was bad seal....