For those of you who have responded with a Private Message so far; I've responded to you in the same manner. I really appreciate the help this far, but so far no cake.

In response to some concerns about my mechanic choice; the first guy was indeed a flake. There is no chance of getting money out of him as he is flat broke w/ two kids and still breeding. The 2nd shop is a reputable one that came recommended from my high end body shop. They do good work, but ignored my car while they suddenly became overwhelmed with contract business. Lastly, the 3rd mechanic repairs Porsche, Mercedes, & BMW exclusively. From here he will do my work alongside my research here on Rennlist. I do not know of anyone else and afraid to try a 4th having found a guy who I think I can trust now. He has worked on 6 928's and has a regular customer every few months that comes in for routine maintenance. I am slowly learning to repair things myself, however. I just completed that motor mount/ oil pan gasket on my back in this hot Mississippi heat, so I'm gettin' in there with you guys, but I don't trust myself to some of the more sensitive repairs just yet (definitely not an engine pull). I even finished rebuilding the inside door panels w/ fiberglass and installed metal armrest supports; then re-upholstered the door myself using factory materials with great results.

I see that 928intl has an engine, but I'm holding out for a better value before making my final decision. eBay has a couple out there, but they aren't the proper year to mate to my brains/fuse/relay etc. which is another worry for me. Oklahoma Salvage had an 87, but same problem there.

Like Mrmerlin said, I keep thinking about that thick sludge that I found in my oil pan. Realizing that is all throughout my engine, along with the recommendation of Dave at 928Specialist, and the proposed cost to do a proper rebuild is keeping me on the other side of the fence right now. I'm open minded, but given my circumstances......

A couple of you PM'd me with suggestions so I will follow up on those, but until I know something I'm still in the market. Keep these suggestions coming and help me find that perfect solution. You guys are absolutely the greatest and I don't know what I would do without this network of helpful people with friendly advice. Your condolences are appreciated.

 

Feel for you mate, and I'm sorry can't help with a replacement engine or short block (I'm in OZ we buy most of our 928 stuff from the US anyway)

But - You've done the motor mounts and oil pan gasket yourself. An engine pull is easier and definitely not "sensitive" - you just need the right engine hoist and stand - Harbor Freight is your friend.

Would I trust a 4th mechanic mmmmmmmmm dunno if he was prepared to do things the way that Rennlist forum printouts told him to then maybe !!!!!! There isn't really anything more tricky about a 928 than any other car once you know how you are supposed to be doing it. You just have to know the "secrets" and this is where to find them out. Yes some jobs are a PITA (you just did one the MMs)

Once you have the engine out you have some options - with your own labour (it's all a hell of a lot easier with the engine out) you can dismantle clean etc. then decide wether to go for a replacement engine or just shortblock. You don't have a lot to loose at this stage. Even if you send the new engine/block away to be built by someone else after you have done the dissasembly.

Stone Grey Metallic and Linen leather is cool. (wifes GT is the same)

 

Can you take a picture and post it of the bottom of the engine with the trust bearing and the crank. Maybe there is a chance that the crank has not yet dug into the block and was "only" eating up the trust bearing face.

 

Imo000: I took pics, but can't figure out how to reduce them to fit here. I can email them and have someone reduce them for posting if someone was willing. Until then, I will try to be descriptive as best I can. The large counterweight lobe on the crankshaft (forward engine) appears to have ground against one of the block partitions evidenced by dark, bluish discoloration on the edge against one of the journal walls indicating excessive heat. In that same location (at the journal wall), the lobe has a some small (rice grain size) metal pieces missing from a perfectly designed lobe. The block wall has experienced a level of scouring at this lobe that seems to be more prominent than the usual factory type. To give you a descriptive idea of what I'm trying to convey; you can take your fingernail and move it across this scoured section towards an untouched part of this wall and the fingernail catches on the raised surface where the scouring stops. This scouring is bright in color and coarse; seemingly inconsistent with the factory milling. Couple this with the sheer quantity of battleship-colored grey-metallic sludge (1.4" thick) that wouldn't drain from my oil pan (had to be washed out) is indication to me that I have a problem requiring a replacement engine.

Thanks for trying to think positive for me though. I just think that this, coupled with the way the engine performs, and the cracked flexplate my mechanic found after the pinch bolt traveled almost 1.5" upon release all points in the other direction. What a dumb@$$ previous owner. If I could get my hands on him...........

Jon928SE: Thanks for your insight and encouragement on engine removal. I've read the WSM and I almost am willing to tackle it, but I wish I could trust myself to it. I would have no help at all should something go wrong or if I can't figure something out. My mechanic is over 1 hour away too; so I couldn't ask him to come over if I experienced a problem. The other fear is getting everything lined back up. I panicked with my cross member and thought I was going to be a week at it. It took me 3 days to get it lined back up right (to put things in perspective).

I'm still on the market for a new engine so if anyone can advise it would be appreciated. Thanks guys for the help so far!

 

definately post pics, Imo is right hopefully its just eaten into the bearing in which case you just need to rebuild it. However that is unlikely. But all 928 blocks have machining marks on the 3rd main bearing (thrust) walls. I guess this was from machining at the factory but if you see obvious lines dont think its damage right away, id they are ground down and there are grooves then thats a problem.

Definately post pics though

 

I tried again tonight, but can't seem to reduce their size for some reason. I have two pics with arrows highlighting the suggested problem areas.

 

I can recommend Google's Picasa application for resizing pictures - it'll read most formats, and has a handy "Export" option that lets you choose a size and compression level easily.

http://picasa.google.com/

 

I installed the program and let's see what we've got...here goes.

 

that dosent look good. The marks on the crank weights itself are normal, but it looks like you have some heat spots on parts of the crank, not sure exactly what that means though as to a rebuild. The block though does seem to have obvious wear. If the pattern were as it looks on the counter weights that would be normal, but the lines and i assume grooves or scratches on the girlde are concentric and not machine marks. Thats damage, how bad it is will need to be measured.

Look for an entire short block, or try and get your crank checked out and perhaps you need only a bare block. Although in my experience the short block costs the same as a bare block. So you can guess which is the better option.

 

In the first image you will see at the top the red arrows which point to the lobe on the crankshaft that is discolored (suspect from high heat) where it meets one of the walls. Look closely next to these red arrows and you will see a single green arrow. This is intended to highlight (although a bit blurry) the rough edge of the lobe where there appears to be some pieces of metal that have broken off on the leading edge where it touches the wall. In the same photo the blue arrows are drawing attention to the wall itself highlighting what I believe to be excessive wear (instead of factory milling) from the crankshaft.

The second photo is simply a close up of the same lobe that I was speaking of in the first. Notice how prominent the scouring seems to be in this image on the wall. At the blue lines are where I was referring to the variance in surface thickness whereby the fingernail will grab. This surface is coarse and lacked a fine coat of oil unlike the other surfaces.

So what do you guys think? Although I realize these two photos are not definitive, what is your opinion now? Take into account my low idle and difficult starts once the car gets to operating temp, the 1.5" aft movement of the pinch collar once it was released, a cracked flexplate that was replaced, and the battleship-gray colored sludge found on the bottom of the oil pan? Oh yeh, here's an image of a few metal shavings found in the oil pan too. A couple appear to be copper-like in color and some others appear to be aluminum.

 

Oh, and two more pics that might explain why I don't just give up, part it out, or sell it. As you can see, I've put alot into her.

 

Lovely looking car!

 

Its hard to say for sure whats going on. Both block and crank can look pretty close to that even though thrust bearing is perfectly normal not at all worn. If you can, take a picture directly from below showing thrust bearing area. It would be important to know how in what position crank is in front back direction. It could be TBF but in enough early stages that block can be saved.

 

No Erkka the heat discolouration and pattern on the block are IMHO clearly TBF. Nicholas you must check the end play.

 

Also look at the thrust bering. Can you see its collar? How thick is it?