Kokopelli

Looks like my head gasket is toast. I am just getting a bit of froth the oil filler cap and steam making its way up the filler and dip stick tubes. How much will this cost to repair? Just a ball park figure.

I've got to drive this car for another week. Then I can have it repaired.

Thanks for your replies.

Kokopelli

Well I suppose the cost of a repair would differ a lot. How about letting me know the time it would take for a garage to do the job? Thanks.

Jfrahm

What sort of car do you suppose you have?

Kokopelli

Oh, I forgot that the sig line is no longer there :-). It's and '86 944 n/a. Thanks for the reply

Granite 944

This observation is more typical of a bad oil cooler seal than it is of a headgasket problem. Be VERY careful about what your diagnosing here. BTDT

EDIT: Depending on how bad the leak/water intrusion is inside the crankcase (AND, IT DOESN'T NEED MUCH), waiting a "week" in order to stop driving it, may cost you much more time and money. Rod and main bearings do NOT like this coolant intrusion! Take VERY careful note of this. STOP driving the car, and find out, and repair. Drain your oil pan. FIND OUT, how much coolant is getting in there. Good luck

jmporsche944

Yeah. I replaced the head gasket and oil cooler seals when that happened on my car. Turns out when I drained the oil pan I had about 10 quarts of oil/coolant in the system Not good! I wouldnt recommend driving that car!

Kokopelli

Wouldn't I notice a rise in the oil level if there was a lot of water in the crankcase? The oil on the dipstick looks as clean as ever. The amount of sludge in the filler wouldn't fill a tea spoon.

Thanks for the advice, but I'd still like an estimate of the time it would take to do either repair, head gasket of oil filler seal.

Thanks

rudidelange

I am in the process of replacing the head gasket, bearings and a few odss and ends. It took me 10 hrs plus to remove the head - motre than 6 hours were devoted to removing the head from corroded head studs. If you dont have any problems, and the right tools, I would guess 5 hours to remove the head, and the same time to clean and replace. The oil cooler seals is eazier and will go quicker

lleroyb

If you have a gauge, do a compression check. I will bet it is the oil cooler seals. Even if you don't have a gauge, buy one. Of have a shop change the seals and the oil first. Then see if it continues. Eliminate the "cheap stuff" first, it is still money well spent.

Lou

Granite 944

As far as a rise on the dipstick. Yeah, you will, WHEN its getting really bad. You may not notice the dipstick level thing in the begining, depending on lots of other issues. You pull the plug out the bottom of oil pan.........your gonna KNOW if there is coolant getting in there.

As far as "estimate of the time"..............depends on if your asking for "book time" or home mechanics time. My typical response is........as long as it takes. Two VERY different things here, since it really depends on WHO is doing the work, their experience level, and tool availability. First time repairs like this by the average home mechanic, can take much, much more time than one should ever give an estimate for. Hope you have another car to drive if your gonna do it yourself (depending on your experience levels.......of course).

Kokopelli

I've contacted the porsche specialist that I will be taking the car to. He's suggested that a certain amount of condensation can be present and be responsible for the sludge. He also said that if it's the oil cooler seal I should have found oil in the coolant reservoir. The coolant is clean as a whistle.

Best case scenario by the looks of it, I have an unrelated coolant leak and condensation in the engine. The car will go in for tests on Thursday or Tuesday. The engine sound good and it drives well. I'll try to take a phot of the sludge.

Thanks for your replies.

You can just make out a bit of yellow down the filler neck and in the cap.

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