daveo90s4

Hi all,

I'm looking at a 1989 2.7L 8-valve car. Can anyone please tell me of any particular things I should know about this 2.7L 8-valve engine as against the 2.5L 8 valve or the 'S' 16-valve engines. Anything inherently good or bad that might encourage / put me off the purchase.

(reposted - original similar post lost in the ether - sorry if both posts appear)

Thanks
Dave
Australia

JohnKoaWood

Other than it is a one year only engine, and CAN be a bit hard to source repair parts (engine only)..

Nothing out of the norm for our cars in my opinion!

Post pictures!

ernie9468

Like mention the 89-2.7 engine parts will be a harder to source & somewhat more expensive .Regular maintenance expl (timing -balance shafts belts -rollers & water pump will be the same as any late 2.5) a friend of mine has one with about 145,000k miles & up to date is pretty satisfy with it ,got a little more HP than the 2.5 which is nice to have. The 944 S motor is completly different ,beside the regular maintenance mention above the ( tensioner - pads -lower & upper & camshaft chaine) has to be look at at least every 70 to 80k miles ,specially the pads has they get brittle after a while & if the do breake you migth end up with severe damage to the head.Off course the 944S will have around 188 HP ,the S2 208 HP plus a 3.0 ltr & all of the 951 goodies (body-suspension -brakes ect ect. & motor maintenance cost about the same has the 944S suspension a little more. Don't know much about the Porsche market in Australia but if I were you I'll try to find a decent 944S2,don't matter what you buy make sure to get a PPI by peoples that you trust and has knowledge about the 944's ,also make sure the seller can supply you with maintenance records & that the clutch as been done on it & not at the end of it's life otherwise it could turn out to make quite a hole in your wallet.Clutch is a very consuming time & PITA job on any 944 model early or late.Sending you pics of a 16v & the pads I'm talking about.

xsboost90

2.7 actually has a different water pump as well. The block is basically a 3.0l block w/ a 2.5 crank and 8v pistons that fit the bore w/ 2.5l rods i believe. The head is almost the same as 2.5 but bigger valves. Supposedly the intake is different w/ larger ports but the gaskets are the same as 2.5 so im not sure how true that is. Cambox, belts, etc are the same. To tell the difference i believe the waterpump was stamped 2.7 on the front of it. I owned a 2.7 and it was almost the same output as a 2.5- race one once and stayed side by side until 5th gear since my car was a late trans and had a taller 5th. Mine put down 124rwhp on the dyno- no real advantage to the 2.7l motor IMHO.

daveo90s4

Thanks for the replies gents. Here a 1988/89 944 is about $10-12k. A 944S2 is somewhere between 2x and 2 1/2 x that price. So a 944 for 10-12k is tempting but a 944S2 at (say) $25k is not tempting to me.

Anyway, it seems no inherent problems with the 2.7L engine other than for the normal known 944 stuff, and maintenance is somewhat simple than on the twin cam 16-valve engines.

Yes, I'll check the maintenance records.

Regards

Tom M'Guinn

The intake gasket are bigger, like the ports. They are oval, rather than round like on the 2.5 motors. Victor Reinz ships 2.5 gaskets for the 2.7, which I have to believe is just a mistake on their part. Porsche and other gasket mfgs sell the proper shaped (bigger) gasket. You can tell a 2.7 from a 2.5 at a glance be looking to see how many M8 bolts are used around the coolant port at the front intake side of the head. The 2.5 has two bolts, whereas the 2.7 uses one.

ernie9468

Holy smoke maybe we should do a group buy here on S2 & send them to you and share the profit.

daveo90s4

Update - have inspected and driven the car. Very nice condition. Everything works as it should. No oil leaks, no smoke, tools complete, recent cam belt and water pump change (25k miles ago) etc. Changes gear nicely, good synchros, etc etc.

Faults:
1. Needs new brake rotors (and pads too probably). No big deal more a matter of normal repairs and maintenance..
2. Starter / ring gear 'click' on starting - may be a tooth off the starter or flywheel. New starter or maybe replacement flywheel and ring gear needed?
3. Unhappy rattling drive line noise when idling with foot off clutch. Noise goes away when clutch depressed. Sounds more from rear than front. Suspect central shaft bearings. Does a manual 944 have a rear flex plate like my auto 928S4? Doesn't sound like gearbox bearings - too much of a dry rattling noise for that I think.

Any views on the last two items - other likely possibilities for these two problems and $$.

Ta,

Dave O

TheMirror

No flex plate on manual 944s. As far as the dry rattling noise goes, see if you can get it on a lift and isolate where it's coming from. Could be a number of things.

968 GUY

Prob. $AUS. If so, converts to less $US.