am

Here it is, the engine is out , i took off the oil pan to clean it and change the gasket and on top and around the neck of the insert of oil sump (where the suction tube of the oil pump connects) i found a little bit of coolant and one drop at the bottom of the pan. I'm not a mechanic but it rings the bell ''head gasket''. I must say that when i undressed the engine to clean it and to do the seals and gaskets i took off the coolant regulator housing with coolant in the engine after the oil separator engine , i hope that it's because i worked so bad that coolant when in the engine !
What i know about this engine before storing it for restoration and after working on it ,is that it was a bit hard to start when cold and had black smoke during warm-up ,around 2 minutes, after that it was turning pretty well , also for the few miles i drove it ,it had may be a lack of power but not reliable because i never push a car i don't know. Also , i found a broken oil pump seal and a broken coolant regulator seal (o ring) with coolant in all little pits on top of the engine and it was smelling too!
Any advice that would give me back hope ?

am

i hope that it's because i worked so bad that coolant when in the engine !
Sorry but should have been : ... went in the engine !

Gretch

Well, If you have the engine out of the car, why not replace the head gaskets anyway. It is not a big deal.

If I understand what you have posted, you were showing actual color (green) in the oil, in the form of droplets. If this is true then you probably are ok anyway. If you had a leak in the head gasket, the coolant would have emulsified in the oil and turned to a thick creamy substance. How did the oil look when you drained it from th engine?

Zandramus

I can verify this, When I worked at the Transit authority here in town whenever a oil cooler went bad we would get oil into the Coolant. and it was nasty , turned grey and creamy looking.

Coolent in the oil is very bad as it will leave a deposit on the main bearings that will thicken as it gets hot that will basically sieze the crank. I once bought an 83 caddy eldorado with this problem at auction when I got the bottom end apart there was alot of coolant in the oil and the crank was snapped in half.

Best bet would be to take the block out and have it checked for cracks that would allow coolant into the oil system.

Hope it works out.

Z

am

Thank you guys for your help, the coolant is green and there is not much , a few drops only, when i drained the engine oil i did'nt pay much attention to the old oil but i think there was nothing wrong. If i repeat the order of actions i did,
i drained the oil, later i took off the oil separator housing and after i removed the coolant regulator before draining the coolant . If i look where the regulator and separator go , they are very near and if i look inside the engine thru the separator site , i see right under the crank shaft is the insert of oil sump where i found 5 out of 6 drops of coolant.
It's probably because of me that it happened
What do you guys think of that ?

Gretch

I you think you should be more careful . When removing an engine, draining the coolant is typicaly done first. Some people drain all the fluids out of the engine before removing.

Why is the engine out of the car? If you are doing any kind of a rebuild, you will do the head gasket anyway. If you went to the trouble of pulling the engine to redo the seals, you are a glutton for punishment. There is a BOAT-LOAD of WYAI things to do. Inquiring minds want to know..........

borland

Run a pressure test of the coolant system before re-installing the oil sump/pan. You should be able to see where the coolant is coming from as it drips onto the floor from the crankcase.

If they have Autozone in Canada, Autozone has a tool loaner program and a pressure tester that fits the 928.

Erik - Denmark

AM,
You said you have the engine out of the car, if that's the fact, I will recommend you to change all the gaskets 'in one shot' and you will Love the clean and healthy engine afterwards - I did last year, see the discussion we had on Rennlist at that time: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...er+head+gasket
Regards from Erik in Denmark and Happy New Year

am

Thanks to all for such wise advice,
Borland : i'll check for that but to add to my challenge i'm 5 hours away from a good place to work my engine.
Erik and Gretch: i took out the engine to clean it and to clean the engine bay because everything was untouchable, awfully greasy!, i will change all the gaskets and seals and bearings i can and take the time to do the t-belt properly, i'll replace all the vacuum lines and necessary hoses, i'm planning to replace the sound absorber with the genuine one and the same for the engine mounts, i'll also check for the leaky steering pump and rack and change the steering column because the original one had a theft attempt and was'nt locking anymore, i know there is more to do and it will be done.
Time is not a problem, i may sound like an idiot or crazy to some because i took it big to do that on a 928 beeing a pure newbie, but i fell in love with Porsches and particularly sharks a long time ago and i had the chance to realize my dream , and i probably prevent another ''masterpiece of a car'' beeing parted out.
To make the same ones who think i'm crazy laughing , i can add that i'm not a mechanic , english is not my first language and i'm not rich !!! But i can swear that i will succeed doing something great with this car and don't worry i learn from my mistakes.
Thank's a lot again for your help. I admire you guys and gals for your knowledge ,your wisdom and your desire to help ,without this forum i could'nt do it.
Happy new year to every shark owner

Erik - Denmark

AM,
If the engine bay is full of a mixture of coolant, water and oil, it's most properly due to rotten head gaskets!
BTDT!
Regards from Erik in Denmark

Erik - Denmark

AM,
If the engine bay is full of a mixture of coolant, water and oil, it's most properly due to rotten head gaskets!
BTDT!
Regards from Erik in Denmark

am

Erik : what you say is interesting, but the engine like each side of the engine compartment and the cross member under the radiator are all awfully greasy, i think a rotten head gasket effect could reach the cross member under the rad. i think that car have had one or several anti-rust treatment, but where what you said make sense is when i took off the firewall sound absorber, i had to use my heat gun and it was smelling like an engine with leaking coolant .
The p.o. even applied a coat of black paint at the top of each side of the engine compartment. I think i would'nt be able to recognize a head gasket problem with an engine bay like that, when i began cleaning the engine i was suprised it became so shiny.
Thank you again.

Gregg K

am,
The head gasket leak is not an external leak. You can have a spotless engine, and still have coolant in the oil. It's an internal leak where a part of the gasket has eroded and allows coolant to flow and mix with oil, or vice versa.
The good news is, you'll sort it out. It might take a couple of tries.

am

Hey Gregg , you wrote :
The good news is, you'll sort it out. It might take a couple of tries.

Forgive me but sometimes i'm not fast and unfortunately like i previously said english is not my first language and beside the forum, mechanic is not an everyday subject for me to speak or write so i'm learning about that everyday too ! Could you explain to me what you meant please ?
Thank's

Gregg K

The oil and water can mix within the engine, if there is a bad head gasket. They can mix without ever making the engine compartment greasy.

Dirt in the engine compartment is unrelated to the problem.

If only I spoke French. Oh well.

Happy New Year!!