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This project will be starting soon, so I am getting some parts and thoughts together. I have the Victor Reinz full gasket set, and am wondering if the included "cam tower-to-head" gasket is the best option. Any tricks to ensure it doesn't leak? Or better options than the ones in the kit? (84 Euro S 16V)

I know there is a silicone gasket for the rear cam end covers (firewall end of the cam towers), and will probably pick those up to use instead of the kit included gaskets.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Doug_B_928

Somehow I had missed this post. It would be excellent if you could digitize your video of how to pull the motor. I find pics invaluable, but video can be even better.

Bill Ball

16 years with the same coolant..I hope all you find is a bad gasket. I don't have pictures, but one of my 928 buddies bought a VERY low mile motor that had been pulled and left sitting in storage for 10 years or so. Unfortunately coolant was left in the block and it eroded the block in several areas, including the water pump and head sealing surfaces.

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Fingers crossed. Can't be sure - it might have been changed more frequently, and I certainly hope so, but that was all I could find in the records given me. The thought of possible corrosion has been keeping me up nights.

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Engine came out today with minimum drama. After a day and a half of prep work, inspection, organization and disconnection led by Dave C. (worf928), the lift was fast and easy. Additional thanks to Carl (ispeed) and Michael (elooleelo) for coming by to help.


Tomorrow the disassembly starts. Hoping for the best. We did find #5 full of coolant, as well as coolant in the sump.

Here she is....

Bill Ball

Well, you have a GOOD crew helping you, that's for sure. Hoping it's just a leaky gasket.

Jadz928

Yea!

tilac999

You're in good hands. Here's hoping that all goes well and you're back on the road soon. Good luck and keep us posted.

worf928

Is Carl holding a tin foil hat?

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Got this far on Sunday. Broke one bolt for the water bridge, everything else came apart nicely.

Will be back on it next Saturday, get the heads off and see what's up.

Sorry, no more pictures of Carl and his fancy head gear...

jeff spahn

Porkensioner

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The heads came off without a hitch today. Much to my relief, the surfaces look very good, and the head gaskets were fully intact (thats the good news). It appears that the only issue was a gasket breach on #5 (more on that later). Other than quite a bit of carbon build-up, and a lot of oil sludge in the sump, everything we saw seem in line with what you would expect on a 39,000 mile 28 year old engine (that has not fallen victim to internal corrosion).

Here are some pictures – 1st 3 are passenger side, last bunch are driver side, showing the issue with #5.

I will be making another post about the forensics of the HG, and another about the appearance of the carbon buildup.

Thoughts/comments?

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I'll start by saying that I am not smart enough to come up with this, but upon closer examination of the gasket where it failed, Dave C. noticed something that didn't look quite right. It appears that fire ring at the #5 location has less "overlap" (for lack of a better word) onto the gasket material near the point of failure, and more overlap on the opposite side - almost like the ring was not fitted correctly. Shoudn't the overlap be equal around the entire circumfrance of the opening? It appears to be on the other holes, and on the new gaskets. This variance can also be seen on the top of the cylinder, where the outer edge of the ring leaves a mark. At the point of failure, it appears that the ring contact area was about 1/2 the width as in other places around the cylinder.

Could this have resulted in a weakness that was eventually bound to fail?

Can anyone explain how head gaskets are made? Any similar observations?

I tried to take a few pictures to show the sealing area on the cylinder, but they do not really show what the eye can see. I also created a drawing to try show the thinking.

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Some of the pistons and valves had an ash-like deposit. What could be the cause of this? #7 head and #1 piston stood out in contrast to the others. Would poorly performing injectors cause this? (injector cleaning/flow test is on the WYAIT menu).

Thoughts/comments?

Pics:

17prospective buyer

You know, this is exactly what i want to do with my 87 S4. Except my engine produces fine compression with little variation and <10% leakage. But it hasn't been driven since last spring, so alot of the age related small things can be easily dealt with while the engine is out. I'm just stuck on the clutch removal part, seems like one of the hardest parts of removing the engine.

Pertaining to your previous pictures; what were the general operating conditions of the motor? Creep could be the cause for the gasket "untrueness" on the block deck. Seems like a factory defect could be the cause for the lack of concentricity around the gasket ring and fire ring like you suggested. Maybe the car was driven really hard before the engine had warmed up, that could wreck gaskets, especially in our cars i would think with the expansion properties of aluminum being what they are. Maybe a small piece of grit contaminated the sealing surface around where the gasket damage is, heated up during combustion and caused the "pinhole" as you say?