I know this has been covered but I am going to ask anyway. I have everything off including the water pump. I was only planning on doing the belts and rollers but the pump didn't sound good when I spun it so I ordered one from Zims. Now I need to decide if I should reseal everything. I know everyone is going to say do it but. There are know signs of leaks and the car only has 50k Miles on it. I never like messing with seals it seems like half the time it just causes leaks. So theres my conundrum.

 

OK, I'll be the first-Pass.
You have the skill to do the front end at any time. The WP was practice. Do you have any dripping from the crank area? If you were to do only one seal, I would suggest is the oil pump seal and check the oil pump sleeve for a groove from the oil pump seal. If any-replace. You should get a flywheel lock to make getting the crank bolt off easier.

Good luck on the 944S

John_AZ
1988 924S 57K + 1987 924S 111K

 

I would replace while you are in there.

 

I already have the flywheel locked and everything is off. I just took another look and I think I may have damaged the lower balance shaft seal with my screwdriver as I was removing the gear. So now I'm thinking just do the seals and be done with it. Zims has a seal kit, I guess that should do it.

 

You are on a slippery slope many have been on before. You can start a minor reseal with just those oil seals on the front. The temptation is to do balance shafts and cam seal but my philosophy if it ain't leaking now don't touch it. The BS and cam present their own problems, especially while the engine is in the car. If you feel you damaged one of the the BS seals you probably did and you are committed now. Do not touch the oil pump unless it is leaking, you will be sorry.

 

Why not the oil pump? Everyone acts like it should always be done.

 

Because if it's is not leaking now it probably won't in the future. It is not that easy to clean the mating surfaces and spread the Loctite 574 sealant evenly and reinstall everything in the car. Again, mine is just a personal opinion and not gospel. If the motor is out and you are resealing the girdle after a rebuild then go for it otherwise I would leave the oil pump alone. YMMV

 

The front seals are easy, but it will add a nice $100-200 to your bill. Though if you want to do it later, it will involve all this work again. It is a bit of a pickle. If it's not leaking from anywhere, then just leave it. Those seals are good for, what, 100k miles at least? If you think you damaged one, then replace that one.

If you don't mind burning the money now then just do it and save yourself the extra work later. Otherwise just wait for the next belt change. My 2 cents!

 

I wouldn't reseal the oil pump unless it's leaking but...... when I did my belts and seals 6 months later my oil pump started gushing oil. you have to lower the oil pan to get it out and I just ended up replacing the oil pan seal also which ended up being a huge project for me.

I was nervous about the oil pump not sealing but it ended up sealing fine. I made sure both mating surfaces were super clean, used brake clean and razor to get the crap off. loctite 574 or whatever is also pretty damn expensive I paid like 35 bucks at the dealer and I only needed a tiny bit, so now I have a ton left over.

 

about the oil seals, i'd replace them with 50 km miles and being 20 years old. oil seals aren't expensive and it's pretty easy to replace. Follow clarks-garage. if you already have teh rear cover off to get the water pump off the oil seals are right there. To replace the cam seal yo have to get the cam gear off and get the cheeshead bolt off. Also the oil pump drive sleeve is kind of a bitch to remove.

to get the drive sleeve off I had to clamp on vice grips as tight as possible around the tiny bit of the drive sleeve sticking out then use a gear puller on the vice grip to pull on the drive sleeve.

this was a major pain I remember lol, I had to curse and yell forever until I could get the drive sleeve out. other than that it's easy.

 

Hello again KuHL 951,

I suggested the oil pump seal and checking the sleeve for a groove. It was not to pull the oil pump and reseal to block. On the 944S is it different from the 944/924S procedure I have done? I looked at the parts diagram and the 944S uses the same seal and sleeve as a basic 944 before posting. Thanks for your info.

Back to the followup. Do the seals if you think you have damaged a seal and get the big kit with the sleeves for the balance shafts.

Good luck.

John_AZ

 

I went from "an easy weekend of seal replacement" in March, to "OK, maybe a couple weekends" to "this isn't coming out...pull the engine and do everything to it." All thanks to that drive sleeve.

 

? The drive sleeve has always been easy for me. A wire cutter takes out the woodruff key, 200 sandpaper removes burrs on the crankshaft, and small channel-lockers pluck out the sleeve. What happened with your car?

 

A lot of wax buildup from when conventional oil was used in the car. It was right where the sleeve sat, so sandpaper and the like wouldn't do anything. I think it was original.

It ended up coming out after heating it.

 

I decided to do the seals. i pulled them all off last night. The oil pump sleeve is out but has the grove, guess i need to order one of those too. Why would I need the sleeves for the balance shafts? They look fine. The price for this project keeps going up.