300guy

holy ****... someone please tell me whats going on with my 944.

ZERO oil pressure and there is a wierd rattling sound coming from the motor. As soon as I started the engine the oil pressure light was on, and the guage read 0 psi (I have an aftermarket oil pressure guage). I noticed a wierd rattling sound from the motor.

SO - I didnt drive the car. 1/2 hour ago the car ran fine... then when I started it to go to the movie store this happens.

There is lots of oil in the engine (I triple checked it).

The whole story. I put gas in the car, drove it home everything was fine. When stopped the car in my parking spot and the engine was idling I noticed that the oil pressure was low... but nothing too scary.

Then, I took out the DME, adjusted the fuel quality switch. Then an hour later I go back out, install the DME (with switch at #1 position - which is +5% fuel) and thats when I noticed the zero oil pressure thing and the rattling sound.

SO I put the FQS back to stock position, and started it again - same problem. I worried that something is totallly f#cked.

ANYBODY have any clue?

thanks.
Colin

Ski

miles on the car? Do you have a flywheel lock so that you can remove the starter, install and check the torque on the main crank bolt at the front of the engine? You could have a problem with the OPRV for oil pressure...

300guy

170,000 miles. The timing belt was dont last season. By the was its an '84

You thing that that bolt would be the problem?

thanks for the quick reply!!

Colin

Zero10

Could be the OPRV stuck open as well. Check the easiest things first, torque on the crank bolt, and the OPRV. If both check out, then worry

Running it for a few seconds with no oil pressure isn't the end of the world, but don't make a habit of it.

MichelleJD

WHo did your belts? I had mine done by a mech who supposedly knew what he was doing. I drove the car from IL to FL and back and thenfor two weeks or so at 100+ miles per day. Stopped for gas one morning and everything's fine. Got back in after the fillup - ZERO oil pressure. The mech had tightened the crank bolt enough for pressure but it had worked its way loose over time. Check out the crank bolt and OPRV.

boxdoc2

I had a very similar issue. No oil pressure and weird noise. Ended up being the crank bolt and the noise I heard was the power steering pully on the front.

300guy

So is there anything special that I have to do when tightening the crank bolt?

Thanks for the replies guys... I appreciate it. I almost had a heart attack last night when it did this.

Had a lot of bad luck recenlty. Alternator went in the 944, it got broken into and they broke the sunroof when getting into the car (stole the stereo and some other stuff), scraped the bottom of the boat on the boat lift because the water is SOOO much lower than last year. And to top it all off the people at work are being b$ches (probably because of the 150% humidity that we've been having).

anyways - thanks lads,
Colin

Ski

You have to have the flywheel lock to hold the crankshaft while you torque the bolt: 24mm to 155 ft lbs, no less.

disconnect the battery, remove wires from starter and starter, install flywheel lock with bolts from starter, get a torque wrench that can provide at least 175 or 200 ft lbs of torque, tighten the bolt. Reinstall everthing in reverse order, crank the car and cross your fingers.

Chris White

A little locktite is not a bad idea. I had the crank bolt loosen up at Watkins Glen once after m2 days of track driving. I touqued that one to speck myself….
Now I use locktite….

Chris White

Tom M'Guinn

Interesting. My bolt seems to twist itself in tighter by the day. I wonder if light crank/flywheel cars are more at risk of loosened bolts?

R.B.

If your pulley bolt is on correct and tight, I would suggest you drain your oil and check for metal flakes. You may have spun your rod bearings, which also have the symptom of clacking engine and low oil pressure. Do not run your engine until you find the problem or you could cause more $$$ damage.

R.B.

300guy

OK... so I re-torqued the pulley bolt (I got about a 1/2 turn before the torque wrench clicked) - 155ft lbs.

Now... for some unknown reason the car wont start (only seems to fire on one cylinder). However, I took the coil wire off and cranked it for a while.... it didnt build up any oil pressure.

Do I need to prime the oil pump now? How do I check the OPRV to see if its functioning correctly?

Is it possible that I fcked up the DME? Does the output from the oil pressure senser go through the DME??

damn... my luck has been terrible the last couple weeks.

thanks guys!
Colin

AL951

If the problem persist after you get it running, I would check the oil pick up tube. On early 944 they have a tendency to break from the mounting point. Good lock!

Regards,
AL

300guy

hmm... oil pickup tube. How do I check that? Do I have to pull the motor?

I really appreciate your input.

Thanks!
Colin

Zero10

Check the OPRV next (providing you have no oil pressure), it's about 100x easier to check than the oil pickup tube. Start with the easy and cheap things, move on to the more expensive and difficult things.

1/2 turn before 155lb/ft MAY have been enough to cause your problem. Can't say without getting it running.

While cranking, you should see maybe 3/4 bar to 1 bar oil pressure. The warning light may or may not turn off. It usually takes about 30 seconds of cranking to get oil pressure back if you have previously lost it.

Only running on one cylinder?.... Check the usuals, fuel and spark. What all was touched when you tightened the crank bolt?