Want to be

The 944 turbo i just purchased about a month ago, with about 240 miles logged on the OD, is in the shop. Yesterday, while driving home, my car started idling weird. I figured my car just needed some better gas. So i stopped at the gas station to fill the car up with 91 octane. After filling the car up, the car would not start. I attempted to start my car three more times. Finally she started, but with a huge puff of white smoke. The car would not idle and seemed to be running on 3 cylinders. I turned her off and called AAA tow truck.

While waiting i did check the oil. It was not milk'ie, but the oil seemed to be higher on the dip stick compared to last week. I checked the radiator reservoir and it seemed to be empty.

The AAA guy thought a hose might be loose, but neither of us knew what the hose went too!

Should i be concerned? I think it might be the head gasket, but my mechanic said it could be several things. So don't give up just yet!

The car was not overheating, i checked the gauge before i shut the car off and it was below the red zone by a quarter of a notch.

Anyone have thoughts on what my issue could be? I am waiting for my mechanic to call. I might go down to Farmers Automotive on Friday to see if he has looked at the car.


jpc

Yabo

The temp shouldn't have been higher than like maybe half of the OK zone. Sounds like it is headgasket.

Want to be

rats, that is going to be expensive. I would bet 800 bucks

robinsonracing

If its really the head gasket then it will cost you more than that, done right. There is alot of exposed seals and hoses and vacuum fittings that should be replaced while you are in there. Not to mention a valve job with seals. Ya it costs more but its pennys on the dollar while the engine is open. Vacuum leaks will always be your enemy with this car.
Good luck. My guess would be more like $1200-$1500.

87944turbo

Hope it turns out to be something else, but from your description it sounds similar to what happened when I lost my HG. I never had white smoke, but I did have trouble starting the car due to coolant leaking into the cylinders. The engine in my car also has some cylinder wall scoring as a result of the HG failure. If yours turns out to be just the HG, that can still be considered a good thing! Although I have never taken my car there, I hear good things about Bob. I am sure he will take care of you.

Is the car set to higher than factory boost?

xsboost90

this is the turbo i sold about a year back- just replaced all vacuum lines, did a venturi delete kit, tune up, fuel lines etc...i really doubt its the HG but we'll see what the mech says.

Tinker951

a HG job is a diy job if you have some time to mess with it. a very basic HG job requires the HG, cam tower gasket, and intake manifold gaskets. you can tell if its HG not just by the white smoke but by the milk in the oil or some people see oil in the coolant--i haven't for the one time ive had a blown HG.

i had never worked on a car or even changed the oil in one and ive done a successful HG change. theres a great link i followed to the letter:

http://members.rennlist.com/tom86951/headgasket.htm

it was nearly identical to the 87 951 i worked on. good luck in your endeavor

Want to be

Bob shop is pretty full, so i must wait and find out the good or bad news. He had mentioned a few other possibility's, but my state of mind was not the best that night. I believe it is the HG, but to my concern, did i melt the engine down? Why would the car run so rough with out coolant? Again, i have a pessimist attitude.

jpc

Tinker951

blown HG's are fairly common with over boost and high temps. You can certainly damage your engine over time driving a car with a blown HG, but i highly doubt you fubar'd it. If you have the necessary tools and another drivable car, i would highly recommend you save your $$ and change the HG yourself. it is a full saturday job, maybe sunday to finish putting on the intake or something for noob mechs like myself. Just make sure you watch your timing at TDC and map out your vacuum lines prior to removal so you can put them back together correctly. also, physically removing the head was a 1.5 person job for me because of the room i had to work with near the headers.

87944turbo

I am not sure I understand your question, but the rough running with a bad HG is due to coolant leaking into the cylinder(s) which is counterproductive to ignition/combustion.

Want to be

Bob called me today, He said the HG had failed and would need replaced.

He assumed a few of the heads would need to be fixed. He estimated $1000-1100, as-long as the engine case is not bad.

Regretfully, this car will have to sit several months until i am able to get the funds to fix the car.

Its a sad day, but it could be worse. The turbo is not my daily driver, so i can wait.

Anyways, i'll let you guys know when i start to fix her.

Thanks for the support and interest.

cheers

jpc

VOoDOoGTX

ill buy it from you.

xsboost90

!!!thats a big surprise- never a hint of this before now. Maybe a side effect of sitting?

Want to be

The car drove fine for about 240 miles. I can only assume the car was abused during the track events. My mechanic wondered if the car had been chipped. His concern, most of the cars that had been chipped and tracked usually blow a HG from his experience.

Either way, the sale of the car was sold "as-is".

It's a paper weight for now. Someday she will be fixed, just might take a few months or so...........

I just wish the car would of gave out late this fall instead of the begining of the summer.

tough pill to swallow, but it is what it is!

No bad feelings at all!
jpc

Tinker951

you know the 951 im working on now is my friend's. he had his HG blow 2.5 years ago and did the same thing you're doing now--letting it sit until the funds appeared to fix it. i finally got tired of it sitting in his driveway so i took it home to do the wrench work, having never touched a car by myself before, let alone a porsche.

1. I hope you find the funds quickly and get that thing on the road asap.
2. if you cant find the funds, get a socket set, some hex heads, a set of channel locks, and a $125 wide fire head gasket, $15 cam tower gasket and $4 intake manifold gaskets (4) and fix it yourself.

i truly empathize with you.