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My first engine removal. Now what? head gasket cam question
I have a 1984 red porsche 928 automatic.
Hi. I am fairly new to 928s and car work in general. I bought a beater that ran, but spewed smoke from the engine and tailpipe.
I decided to replace the head gaskets and do a timing belt change. I read up on both. I bought timing belt, engine gasket set, and water pump.
It took me about 3 months to finally get the engine pulled (I'm learning slowly) to start working.
I'm now concerned for a few reasons:
1. I pulled off the valve covers and they fell off the timing belt. I bought the timing tool to keep the engine in place but that doesn't work with the engine out. Am I in trouble?
2. When I pulled off the heads some of the threads were bone dry and some were covered in oil. Does this mean something else is wrong with the lower part of the engine.
3. When I pulled the engine out, I broke off one of the small metal parts on the flywheel. Is this something I can overlook?
4. I removed all the bolts to the oil pan, but it really doesn't want to come off. I'm scared of hurting the engine by pulling to hard. Any ideas how to remove this?
I am including pix so far.
Thank you for any help. Head bolts some dirty, some clean, one came out.
Thank you for your responses.
Garfish:
I did not do a compression test. I was told that on an engine this old they should be replaced anyway and that it was probably a rear seal. That's why I purchased the entire engine gasket set.
GlenL: this is an automatic so no clutch. The cantering pins on the flywheel were left on and one broke off ��. I will double check oil pan today for bolts.
Was this the red car in NorCAL that sat in the garage, because the head gasket was blown? If I remember correctly, the car has a nice red exterior and interior was not bad neither for the price.
After I pulled my '78's engine, I wished I had done some compression testing to know what the pistons and rings are doing, even though I was like you, needed to replace all the perishable items on the engine.
Hoi: no this is not that car. This car was a junker that I found as a project for my son. He didn't have the time to work on it and it's become my new hobby. It needs a ton of work.
Great job jumping in head first. I pretty much did this exact job over 6 months of weekends in late 2015 early 2016, so most of it is still pretty fresh in my head.
Even with all the nuts off the oil pan, it can still be sealed pretty tightly against the gasket and block just from being on for so many years. I had to bang it a bit with a rubber mallet, but it finally came free.
Good luck. It was a satisfying job, but one I never wish to repeat.
Chris, the rubber mallet worked. Did you take the cam shafts out of the towers before you cleaned the towers? I have everything apart. Ready to start cleaning.
Did you try to save the locations of each lifter from the cam housing? I think wsm mentions that the lifters' are specific to their locations. I didn't label them specifically to the piston on the '78, but I did it just in case for my euro s engine.
I cleaned the outside of the mail engine, the spider and the oil pan so far. Thank you for the tip on the cam tower lifters.
I'm not sure how I'm going to clean them yet. Any ideas?
Yes, I removed the cams from each cam tower. There are tricky to slide out and will feel like they are hung up on something. But once you get them in exactly the right orientation they slide right out.
I then thoroughly cleaned the cam tower and cams in a parts washer and reassembled.
I was concerned about trying to disassemble and clean the lifters being and being able to get them back together. There are some youtube videos on cleaning lifters, but I was not sure if the 928 lifters differed from "typical" lifters and they seem to have some tiny parts that I would not want to lose or damage. They definitely looked a little different than the hydraulic lifters from my 300ZX engine.
I have generally heard that lifters wear with the cam as a unit (which is why it is important to keep them matched as you disassemble the engine) and if I damaged one lifter, I didn't know if it meant having to go down the road of new cams and all new lifters etc. Probably not, but I just didn't want to risk that.
In the end, I left them alone. The engine seems fine and I do not get any lifter tick so I presume they are OK. But I would have liked the peace of mind knowing they were all disassembled and fully cleaned.
If you do attempt to disassemble and clean them it would be really valuable to the forum to photo-document the process.
I would put the lifters in simple green solution and into an ultrasonic bath. Rob Edwards used this method, and I am sure if it is good with Rob, it's good for everyone!
I would put the lifters in simple green solution and into an ultrasonic bath. Rob Edwards used this method, and I am sure if it is good with Rob, it's good for everyone!
Lifters and water based cleaner=Very bad.
It is possible to ultrasonic them in an oil based solution....however, it is extremely difficult to get oil out and cleaner in, through that tiny oil hole.
There's an internal check valve (tiny ball bearing) that sits on a tiny seat. And it is deep inside the lifter....virtually impossible to clean.
Any corrrosion that gets between that ball and the seat will ruin the ability for the lifter to hold oil pressure.
On engine that hasn't "died" from metal debris. Take the lifters out and allow them to drain.
On an engine that has "died" and has metal debris....replace the lifters.
Hi. I am fairly new to 928s and car work in general. I bought a beater that ran, but spewed smoke from the engine and tailpipe.
I decided to replace the head gaskets and do a timing belt change. I read up on both. I bought timing belt, engine gasket set, and water pump.
It took me about 3 months to finally get the engine pulled (I'm learning slowly) to start working.
I'm now concerned for a few reasons:
1. I pulled off the valve covers and they fell off the timing belt. I bought the timing tool to keep the engine in place but that doesn't work with the engine out. Am I in trouble?
2. When I pulled off the heads some of the threads were bone dry and some were covered in oil. Does this mean something else is wrong with the lower part of the engine.
3. When I pulled the engine out, I broke off one of the small metal parts on the flywheel. Is this something I can overlook?
4. I removed all the bolts to the oil pan, but it really doesn't want to come off. I'm scared of hurting the engine by pulling to hard. Any ideas how to remove this?
I am including pix so far.
Thank you for any help. Head bolts some dirty, some clean, one came out.
Small metal tab broken off flywheel.
Cam tower, the little things fell out as well.
While I admire your "*****" to tear into this engine, with no mechanical background and no 928 experience....my first reaction is that you have fallen past the event horizon into a black hole.
There's more "tricks" to these engines than the number of pieces in an entire box of Trix!
07-14-2016, 08:02 AM
My first engine removal. Now what? head gasket cam question
