Stan944

Thanks guys.

I'm no longer so sure. That's where it was wet a few weeks after the repair. But now, several months later, it's oily everywhere.
One seal that I was unhappy with even when I was installing it, was the o-ring on the crankshaft, next to the oil pump sleeve: it just felt it was barely thick enough to feel the gap. Actually most o-rings felt like this!, and the tiny rubber "cylinder" that plugs the hole in the cam area felt small too... Did it feel like this for you guys too?

I also think I have a small leak at the housing of the lower balance shaft. Is there a gasket, or it's just some "goop". I don't know how hard it is to seal it (i.e. so that it doesn't leak!) Recommendations here would be also appreciated.

Granite 944

I can't offer to much in the way of reccomendations, as I seem to be going thru this with another Rennlister's car that I have been trying to help out on, but, with similar results. Buttt..............

1: are you SURE your using the right parts? Engine number can be critical in determining the "right" parts and such. Always exceptions, even to this.......however.

2: OF COURSE "its oily everywhere".............enough time has passed to throw oil everywhere. Clean off the front of the engine everywhere, and then start looking for the "oil trails" from the "guilty" subject. OR...........you could take it to a "professional", have them find the "exact" source of the leak using dye and special light source to find it. Cleaning and looking is cheaper, but.....much more time consuming,and sometimes decieving to us inexpericenced, or "non professionals". Thats also assuming, you go to a "real" professional to begin with to do the dye check, and they ARE familar with these cars.

3: I agree. Don't buy "the KIT". WASTED money! Find the source, THEN order, and fix.

Good luck! I hate leaks also! But, there IS no "easy way out". Proper parts, installation techniques, time and effort. Thats how you'll know what and if you have gotten it taken care of "properly"? Part of the "learning/experience part" of "loving" these cars..........huh? Other sources of info........FSM/Clark's Garage/All-Data.com (for the TSB's.......great source of info)/ Haynes manual/...........Rennlist/Pelican. Your on the right track! Me too, I hope!

JDeitz951

The balance shaft housings are metal to metal, sealed with Loctite 574 or 518, and are a commom source for a leak. The covers must be removed to reseal. There is also a round plug in the rear of the covers with an o-ring that also leaks with age. I resealed the lower cover on my old 944na without even taking the belt or front housing off, I was so ignorant of the car I didn't realize the belt was there until I was almost done! Just had to loosen the motor mount and jack the engine up a bit the clear the mount and get the cover off.

After I resealed the engine on my 951, I saw oil leaking from behind (that damn) rear belt cover. So I removed the cover altogether, cleaned everything up and found no front end leak. It was actually oil leaking out of the turbo cold housing and somehow getting behind the cover. I just had to tighten up the "clocking" bolts and the leak was fixed.

Why there is oil in my cold housing is another (unpleasant) story.

P.S. I left the belts covers off permanently just so I can see that there are no leaks back there. I'm sure if I put them back on, a leak will appear.

cruise98

Jeff:

I have lists for the earlier cars too, just did not have them at the time.

NeoRules

So you are running your engine without the balance shaft belt? I am confused about this so is it safe? I have three engines to work on (my friend has one and I just bought 2 944's) and I have never touched a porsche in my life LOL... My friend just replaced all his belts and he now has a balance shaft leak. I am going to try the loctite on the balance shaft bolt first. Then I will pull the front off and replace all the seals. His 944 is an 83.

Stan944

I ran it without the balance belt for several minutes. There were noticable vibrations around 2.7 krpm, and I decided not to run it too much without the balance belt.

luckett

I had to trace down a similar leak after a head rebuild and new front seals. Mine looked like it was coming from the lower balance shaft, but ended up being an oil pan gasket.


I put some dye in the oil and got all the leaking oil with a liberal spraying of brake cleaner. I let it sit for a while to trace the oil from the source of the leak.

In your case, you might try removing the front and rear belt covers and run it a bit to find the leak.