Thaddeus

Here's my question: I am curious to see how many people have had their engines sieze, grenade, dump a rod, or basically experience catastrophic failure. I'm not interested in leaking, seeping, or timing belt related incidents (we all know that's a vulnerability). No collateral systems failures like electrical or whatever. I want to know about how tough the basic engine is and how it goes, when it goes.

When you post, state the model of the car, mention any mods you may have done that might have put more stress on the engine components, how you typically drive, and how you were driving when the incident occurred.

~cheers~

Thaddeus

Skip

86 944 - 159k

Spun #2 rod bearing during autocross. Unusually long right-hand sweeping turn. Lost pressure, engine bobbled, then continued to run the course. Pulled back into grid/pits and heard noises. Oil drain plug was littered with chunkies. Catastrophic in the sense that I now have a different engine! 89 2.7l = Much Better!

Skip

Renntag

NONE. I am on my fourth 944.
My '83 n/a is on its third transaxle.
I feel completely confident in my Porsche powerplant.

2 thumbs up says siskel and ebert.

Perry 951

Mis-manufactured tensioner assembly cost me 3 sets of valves.

Other than #2 rod bearing looking a little worn, it looked good when I pulled it apart for the rebuild.

Oh... and that little fire did not help.

AndyK

So Skip--If you were going slower (like highway speeds), do you think the rod would have had enough oil to not self-destruct the engine??

Should I worry about a long highway exit-ramp turn??

Skip

Rod failure happens anywhere. I don't mean to frighten folks, but if you run the car on the track or autocross and it has the older pan and pickup, it's just a matter of time. Replace the rod bearing every other year or so and you're seriously avoiding danger. My 86 engine was tired, and I really drove it hard. It was a simple matter of G's and the momentary loss of oil at the pickup, caused starvation, and spun the already weak #2 rod bearing. A street car would have to driving 11/10th's to achieve the same forces I was at. Keep the oil topped off, if not a tad high... if the motor has over 150k on the OE bearings, get them out of there. The block can certainly handle many more miles, but not the bearings. YMMV

Skip

ELLSSUU

Never heard the recomendation of changing the Rod Bearings. If I'm only doing about a 1000 miles a year should they still be changed annually? Also, I don't really have good history from the PO, should they be changed shortly? And third, what does it cost to have them changed? What's this about an updated pan and pickup? Is the earth really round? Does santa claus exist? Sorry for the many questions but I haven't heard this stuff yet.

ribs

Skip - I ordered a bunch of stuff from paragon, and I asked the guy, chuck, to see if he can find me the updated oil pan baffle. 2 days, and 2 messages later...still haven't heard back from him. Does paragon have access to this piece? I think I am going to try to call him again.


***edit***

just talked to chuck, and he is out looking for it. You all were out of rotors too...but apparently it is being shipped out monday. Cool stuff.

*eurospeed951*

#2 rod bearing on a fresh 86 944 stock engine.

CR_944

86 944 NA
Spun #1 rod bearing. Driving at about 80.
New crankshaft, rods, bearings, etc.
Still in the mechanis... about $3000total

Thaddeus

Skip, what year did they revise the oil pan/baffle?

tia

Thaddeus

Roy LaZelle

Skip: How about cars with the updated pan/pickup (it seems like I read that the S2 was updated). Are there any recommendations for rod bearing maintenance??? --Roy--

David Floyd

Tossed a rod thru my oilpan two weeks ago at Road Atlanta.

aka 951

Yup - check out my signature

Skip

When I say rod bearings every other year, that's for track duty cars... not daily drivers (and even that depends your definition of "track duty"). The original bearings are usually good in excess of 100k, so that's the point that I'd start looking at the bearings on a street driven car.

The update to the pan, baffle, and pickup happened mid 87 (but many US cars didn't see it until 88). An easy way to tell if you have is to look at the underside of the oil pan. If it has cooling fins covering the entire surface, then it's the old type... if there's a round flat surface near the middle (~5" diamter) then this is the new pan. You can assume if you have the new pan that it also has the baffle and the lower pickup. The conversion is outlined in the factory service manuals, TSB's, and even the Parts catalog.

The S2's all have the updated pan, etc.

Skip