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I bought a large electric space heater that can run off a single 15A circuit since I don't have access to the breaker if it blows. I was hoping if I kept the door shut it would warm the space a bit more, but unfortunately it's not warming the area quite as much as I'd like.
I found out about the propane heaters from a few guys in the area that did masonry work in Jackson during the winter. They'd tent he whole building and run these propane heaters. I had the rating wrong, they're 60K BTU forced air. Here's what they look like:
That's good thinking. I suppose I should have done that before but again, it was Porsche part so I figured there wouldn't be a need. Couldn't hurt to double check before just blindly replacing the seal again.
Do you mean rotated such that the lip of the seal is facing the front of the car or rotated axially around the crank snout?
The lip of the seal, ie which is like a tongue sticking out, faces inward toward the crankshaft when the oil seal is installed
The lip of the seal, ie which is like a tongue sticking out, faces inward toward the crankshaft when the oil seal is installed
Sure, it could be rotated since the bore it rides in isn’t tapered or anything like that. I don’t think there would be a benefit to rotating it though.
I’m back in PA for the holidays so once the new year rolls around (if it’s not stupidly cold) I’ll have to see if I can give this seal fixin’ another shot.
Oh man, haha youve got the same issue I do. I just had the motor out of mine did a full reseal and after a few days the front crank seal was leakin, or the o-ring im not sure which. I used the old oil pump drive gear and my groove looks worse that yours, but you can hardly feel it with your finger. Ive got a new Porsche crank seal and o-ring, and the o-ring is orange, the one I put in previously was black. Im hopin that was the source of the leak. Either way Im gonna replace the drive gear also, and see if I can get a new washer that goes on the end that covers the oring. Ive got so much time in this car i cant stand the thought of having to go in again. You can see a little of the grease I put on the lip of the seal. I never put them in dry I always lubricate the seal with something. The 2 times I didnt I ended up pulling things back apart, its not fun. So make sure you have some grease, oil something on the lip of the seal when you push the oil pump drive gear back in
Oh man, haha youve got the same issue I do. I just had the motor out of mine did a full reseal and after a few days the front crank seal was leakin, or the o-ring im not sure which.
Nice to know I’m not the only one! I suspect I didn’t grease the lip seal well enough when installing the new drive sleeve. I was probably rushing to put it back together because of the cold and now my negligence means I must repeat the job! Live and learn I suppose.
Sooooo, a bit of an update. I have replaced the front crank seal again hoping that would solve my leaking problem. Not long after I started up the engine, it started leaking again. Damn. So I started tearing stuff apart again thinking to myself "how is it possible this stupid seal could continue leaking time and time again?" Well, it appears the original leaking seal issue has in fact been fixed, but there is another leak, and gravity is doing its thing, making oil run down behind the belt guard and making it look like the leak is coming from the newly replaced crank seal. As it turns out, my oil pump seal against the block is leaking, right at the top of the pump where the oil can pool up a bit until it eventually drips down the front of the oil pump and down around the crank seal.
Well, I decided to see if I could remove and reseal the pump without dropping the oil pan since obviously that is a lot more work. I was able to get the oil pump out okay (it was tough because of how the pan gasket fits) but it doesn't appear I'm able to get it back in, thanks again to how the pan gasket fits. So it looks like I might have to drop the pan unless anyone has a tip for how to get this thing re-seated without doing so. Though I guess I could maybe just loosen the pan bolts to get it lowered enough to clear. It seems any shortcut I've tried to take so far has just bitten me in the ***. Definitely a bummer because that's certainly more disassembly work than I was hoping to have to do at this point. There's also a PCA cars & coffee here in Milwaukee on March 10th I was hoping to attend with the car, but that's not going to happen because I don't work that fast. I guess I'll have to take the GTI instead.
Since this engine rebuild seems to be a never ending project for me, here's a picture from almost 2 years ago before I put him under the knife, with his younger brother.
So it appears we might have success! I was able to get plenty of clearance to reinstall the oil pump by loosening all the oil pan bolts. The pan drops down about 0.75-1.00 inch which is more than enough space. A little tough to get to some of the bolts, but nothing that can’t be done with some patience. I got everything buttoned up this morning and was able to actually take it out on the road for a few miles, but I totally forgot to take a picture - I was just so happy to be driving it again. So far so good, but only time will tell. Hopefully the fix this time is permanent. Looks like I’ll make it to the PCA cars & coffee next weekend after all!
Nice job!!! Completely leak free now? Would love to see more pictures of the car as well!!
I think so, but I need to log some more local miles to confirm. Only did about 10 miles this weekend until I ran out of time. It decided to snow again today in Wisconsin so the 944 is hibernating until the weekend, when it's supposed to be sunny and 40 degrees!
I will need to take some new pictures once it's cleaned up. Should be able to do that this weekend as well.
Will look forward to seeing the pictures! The weather has been on and off here. I drove my MR2 Spyder to work yesterday, washed it after work and an hour after I got home it was raining pretty hard. Better than snow I suppose, but its still hovering in the high 30's here.
Update: It appears the oil leak is completely sorted.
I had a little bit of an antifreeze drip so I’ll have to check all my hose clamps to make sure everything is good and tight.
The car is running absolutely great - it feels great (well for 150 HP anyway), sounds great and looks great. A few pictures:
It’s great to have this thing back on the road again. Though it is in serious need of alignment after having the front cross member disconnected. I was thinking I might wait on the alignment until I rebuild the steering rack (naturally it leaks off and on) but perhaps I should just get a lifetime alignment and then take it back for a second round after the rebuild. We’ll see.
The car is looking amazing!! Something about a black 944 is just so elegant. Do you have any of the original documentation that came with the car originally or any service records from the car's life? Is the interior super nice as well?
Great, Great thread! I'm slowly building an engine on the side for my 1987 944 Turbo and picked up good info. from your thread. With my rebuild I'm going to have the extra girdle dowels put in. Porsche drilled it to use 1 in the front and 1 in the back of the girdle but they only used the one in the back. So the girdle clips into place in the back but the front has up to 2mm worth of play. I want it like when you put the head on and the 2 dowel pins hold the head in the perfect position with out using the head bolts. The girdle will slide unless it is torqued down. Lindsey will put in 4 girdle dowels for $300. That is well worth it knowing that the girdle will hold the crank perfectly straight and the bearings won't have any issues. I'm going to send my bearings to Swaintech to get coated with their anti-friction coat and the pistons will get coated on top with PC9 and the skirts will also get coated. Other than that I'm doing everything you just did. Great job and Thank You! Kevin
I'll say that 944 NAs are basically bulletproof. My first Porsche was a black 1983 944. I bought it in the year 2000 with 115,000 miles on her. 4 years later she had 250,000 miles and still had great compression. I commuted 50 miles each way to work for about 4 years with her. I only replaced the timing belts and water pump when I first bought it. It never occurred to me that I had to change them again. So I put 135,0000 miles on the same belts in 4 years. Living on borrowed time. It's so much different when your 944 is your sole method of transportation as opposed to a hobby / fun car.
12-20-2017, 10:38 PM
