KurtR

My 944S is going to need engine work one of these days (badly scored cylinder walls), and I'm wondering what I would need to put a 3-liter engine into it. I've looked over the article in Excellence magazine from Feb. 2001, but I want to make sure I understand what the shopping list would be:

S2 long block
S2 intake manifold
S2 exhaust manifold
S2 exhaust
Coolant expansion tank to water pump hose
S2 accelerator cable

But:

S2 wiring harness (?)--I wasn't clear on this, but the author seems to have switched harnesses. I replaced the harness on this car a few years back.

Anything missing from this list? I'm sure this has been covered before, but the search engine is just not giving me what I need here. Believe me, I've put in a few hours on this.

I was thinking about rigging a custom intake so that I wouldn't need to deal with rigging the S2 air box.

Advice would be appreciated, especially from those who have done this. Even a useful link would be great. Thx!

Mueller944s2

I would think the DME too. Don't know about the S radiator but the S2 and 951 used a larger radiator than the base 944.

Arominus

You could actually just run the long block and re-use the S exhaust manifold/entire system and intake if you wanted to. They have the same mounting and bolt patterns. I don't think you would need to swap harnesses if you run your existing "S" parts as the main reason for the harness swap with a full s2 swap is to change the location of some things with the s2 style intake. You'd still likely want the s2 DME though.

Now you've got me thinking about a simple 3.0 swap involving the gear I already have in my car

I base my swap statements on the fact that the few 16v aftermarket headers available are the same for the S and S2, that means the flanges are located in the same place in the car for everything. The intake I base on the fact that the s2 intake bolts up to the S with no issues as well.

KurtR

Right, the DME. I was thinking of it, but forgot to put it on the list. That's in the article, and I'm pretty sure it would need to be changed.

Or would it? Would it be enough to put an S2 chip in the 944S DME? Just thinking out loud....

I think the reason for switching the intake is that Porsche felt they had improved the atomization of fuel by heating the manifold (hence the hose running from the coolant reservoir to the intake).

I'm just trying to figure out if this project is worth doing. It would be a long-term thing. The car runs, but it idles like sh_t, with a constant shudder that's driving me nuts, and it's a PITA to start in the cold weather. At speed, though, it runs fine, and it's still fun to drive. I've put a lot of work into the suspension, so I'd hate to lose all those man hours. The easy route would be to swap out an S long block in better condition. I know that.

By the way, what's the preferred way to swap engines in this car? Drop it out or pull it out from the top?

KurtR

And the radiator, thanks. That makes sense--more power = more heat.

Arominus

The s intake is also magnesium, so the s2 intake was much cheaper to make. I'm guessing the heat thing was for emissions/icing, the s throttle body is in a warmer area and has no icing issues in the cold. I'm torn if the s2 intake is actually better, the S intake has a longer runner length internally and as such I think it's just a tuning difference between the two. I've never actually seen someone follow up with real dyno numbers after an S to S2 intake swap to see the difference though. Without the S2 airbox I think you lose some of the gain as the S2 airbox is in a prime high pressure area and as such gets a nice ram air effect. Without the airbox in the nose panel I think you would lose a bit of that. The S airbox pulls from there as well, so once again, torn. The S intake should get some extra airspeed from the internal length of the runners. Flow is great judging by how hard my motor pulls from 5500 to 6800. :\

I wish I had an S2 setup, i'd just dyno the damn thing and put the question to rest.

Also, my car idles rough at 1050rpm and 900ish. At 750 or 1100 its smooth, and yeah my idle can't decide where it wants to be stoplight to stop light. Hows your ISV?

Kurt R

Real original user name.

Mueller944s2

I've done both and dropping it out the bottom is the best way to go assuming you can get the car high enough. The only reason why I've had to pull from the top was because I couldn't raise the car high enough. If you do pull from the top, take off the crank pulley because it gets caught on the hood latch. Also pull the headlight assembly bar and master cylinder...and the hood. The painful part with this way is getting it off the drive gear AND having enough room to raise it. You will need to have the front of the engine angled up so it'll clear.

harrisonrick

You'll have to block off the water passage in the S2 intake as well...don't forget the air-oil separator, the S2 throttle cable, etc. There's a few "S3"swaps here...search and it will help you.