TexasRider

The transport company called and said the new to me 1986 944 Turbo would be delivered today after a week on the truck from California. Alright ! I had purchased a well taken care of car with 90,000 miles and I sold my Datsun Z.

Car arrives and we get it off and it fires right up. I take care of the paperwork, look it over no dings, and I shake hands and go to get in it. Sweet! Except I notice a funny smell.

Exiting the parking lot I congratulate myself on upgrading from the Z. The suspension, the body stiffness, the build quality and the power of the 944 is so much better. Hey and it even stops.

About that time I look at the gauges and notice that the temp is higher than it should be. Well it's an older car and it probably isnt working right. As I move up to 40 mph on the secondary 4 lane the temp drops. Good.

Then after I go less than 5 miles at 50 mph and turn in the neighborhood entry and stop at the sign, the temp pops right back up . Hmmmmm. 2 minutes later I am backed in the garage, kill it and pop the hood.

ARRRRGGGHHHHH !

The coolant looks brown - and the motor is hotter than it should be even here in Texas. After it cools I go look at the oil. It's nice and clear - and new. And the coolant looks brown. I siphon some up and look closer. No oil I can see so maybe it is just old.

Have neighbor start the car and I hear a SQUALL from the area of the waterpump /belt assembly Look all over by cooler and see some older oil by the filter. More looking - more reading on Rennlist.

The car had major serviices 20,000 miles ago as the PO said. Although that was 1999 for the waterpump according to the records . Other front seals, etc done in 2005 -6,000 miles ago.

So tomorrow it is on the trailer and off to the Porsche shop in Houston for a checkout. Maybe the radiator puked some as it had just been flushed? Maybe the oil cooler seals went? Does that normally take out the pump too? Wonder if I can get the Datsun back

I wanted the car to make a Targa Newfoundland car from - but at the same time it would be fun to drive it a bit before that work starts.

So likely a new waterpump and oil cooler seals huh. And do you think a new belt while they are in there?? All the fluids were just done 3 months and 1,000 miles ago so maybe some new pads, new rubber on the rims, .................

And what else????

I have about 40 years of motorcycle experience and lots of racing but only one day of Porsche.

It has been a long day !

pjburges

I've had lots of fun experiences with these motors, and based on what you said it sounds like you need to do an oil-cooler reseal. The turbo's only have only a couple o-rings there and are less prone to failure- but it can happen. Also do a compression check and see if this is a headgasket issue. Replace the waterpump and timing/balance belts b/c its good insurance on a new car. Make sure your balance shafts spin freely and easily. If they don't you'll blow the bearings out of them and eat the engine.

You DONT want to run these motors too hot - I cracked a block on an 8V N/A that way.

TexasBlake

Porsche also highly recommends to replace the rod bearings if the oil cooler takes a dump.

North Coast Cab

The squeeling is not a sign of an oil console seal failure. You might have water pump issues too or worse head gasket.
If you really want to run that car I would reseal everything and change the rod bearings.

ZR8ED

I hear what your saying.

Its been a bit more work and $$$ than initially thought to get my new to me 944 cab up and running, except in my case, I haven't sold my Datsun Z...yet. Like the Datsun, these cars aren't new, so its all about the maintenance. (the Datsun waterpump can be changed in a driveway rather quickly, compared to the cramped engine bay of a 944). Real sorry to hear about your situation. Not even one day of good driving is only a little bit better than getting it off the transporter and finding out that it got damaged before you even got it.

Good luck getting it fixed up.
Scott.

pjburges

If there is not any water in the oil I would not worry about your rod bearings (just so long as you are getting in spec oil pressure)! If you are in doubt of whether or not there is, send a sample in to be checked!

luftpirate

Welcome to the first of many long days!

johnnykrand

Try draining it and get some new coolant into there

peanut

sorry to hear about the bad news Tex.
I had a Datsun 240Z and a 260Z both of which i sold to buy my first 944Lux so I know exactly where you are coming from lol

Its possible that the impellor may have become detached from the WP shaft. Its a well known failure and can even happen on newish pumps.

The squealing is likely to be one of your bearings either the waterpump or the alternator. Try squirting some WD into the alternator bearing and see if the squeal goes away. That might indicate belts that have been over-tightened. It could simply be the heat has dried out the waterpump bearing . Try using a wooden rod or stethascope to pin-point

If the coolant is brown that would indicate that the engine and rad have got very hot indeed for all that rust and crud to become detached and go into your coolant.

I would check that your thermostat is opening properly and at the right temperature.
Also check all the hoses carefully and make sure none are collapsing at high temperature.
Make sure that your electric fans are switching on there should be two and there are two speeds so two fuses need to be checked .

Check that the radiator temperature sensor is switching and powering the fans at the correct temperature .

Check that the electric fans are constantly live. Many cars have their fans re-wired 'switch live' so that they don 't run the battery down when the fans run after you switch the ignition off as they should of course.

Lastly you'll obviously be flushing the coolant so make sure you bleed the system really carefully afterwards as these cars are a real pitta to bleed out. You need to run the engine and heater /aircon whilst bleeding/filling in order to get the air out of the heater circuit.

Good luck.

Luis de Prat

You've been given some good advice in this thread. Hang in there. It really does get better in the end!

peanut

hows your weather today Luis ? looked like snow right across Europe today on the forcast last night.

gratuitous pictures of my V12 240Z with spaceframe

TexasRider

Thanks guys for all the help, support and suggestions - well almost anyway.

I trailered the car over to Pro Techniks here in Houston. What a great shop and a good bunch of guys - but of course I dont yet have their bill.

It does not appear on initial inspection that the oil has water - but it does appear that the water has oil. So maybe seals - but we are going to do comp test and leakdown on Monday.

The suggestions to change the coolant, bleed, etc are well taken - as is the one for the alternator being the source possibly of the squall. Of course there was no squall when we started the engine there - so maybe it wants to cooperate a bit afterall.

I was going to address the reliablity and many or all of the waterpump, belt, and seals at some point in the future and as we prep the car for Targa. But it would be darn nice to just put some tires, pads and fluid in it and run it for a little bit before. At least a week or two instead of going to work on Day 1.

But I am probably ahead of working on what was my pristine two owner Datsun 260 for this kind of ride and race. I just dont want the little red P car to get carried away with all this and keep doing it with a stream of other parts as some of you have dealt with.

I will report what I find - unless the car is for sale already !! They do have a Lambo with a couple of million dollars worth of development already done for sale over at the shop. Now I just need a few sponsors and partners LOL . It sported a 24 Hrs of LeMons sticker as well !!

Kevin Baker

Great shop there. We used to have some get-togethers here in town, quite a few of us still lurk around here. If you need any diy help let me know. I'm a bit of a drive (Conroe), but always looking for a good reason to talk about these cars.