I am new to the porsche community, just bought an 86 944 turbo the other day. Supposedly it has a broken head gasket, but I am thinking possibly a cracked head. Is that common with these cars? I have been reading up on these forums religously the last few days trying to gain some gouge, but i just dont this car well yet. What are some "while you are in theres" that i should take care of as i am tearing into this thing? I was going to do the cam and balance belts but they have only got 5,000 miles on them. I would post a picture but i am not to sure how. I got the car for 3 grand though, looks like its in great shape and it came with the shop manuals and a 2 inch thick folder with all the maintenance records back to 86. on the other hand it does have 207,000 miles. Btw the symptoms are coolant in the oil, still starts up and idles, but i only ran it for 30 seconds. what do you guys think?

 

i would say that is definately a blown headgasket. there are many things to do "while your in there". piston rings are a good start along with as many new gaskets as you can do, water pump, new belts and rollers (just to be safe), all new vacuum lines, new wastegate and blow off valve, new air filter, flush the coolant system along with an oil change and new oil filter. check all fuses and relays. also check the turbo for shaft play.

lindsey racing good aftermarket parts, along with vitesse if your looking to upgrade. zims autotechnik is very good for replacement parts and so is paragon.

welcome to the forums and im sure you will find endless information on this forum.

 

WELCOME!

For your car I would do following on a head job.

- first you have an 86 - I would do venturi delete and all vaccuum lines (easy with intake off)
- timing and balance belts are cheap - definately do new... if you break on this engine you will damage valves etc.
- If me I would run head in to machinist and have valve job done also - cheap on 8 valve
- have head magneflux (crack check) and checked for warpage
- I would use widefire head gasket also

One comment - I defnately would not consider piston rings as mentioned in post above unless you intend a full engine refresh. bearings, etc.

 

At 207 K your rings MAY be worn enough to replace. My Turbo had .034 ring gap at 180k miles, spec is .012 or .014 inches.However, to do the rings plan on a full rebuild. Since you need to do the head it is really not that much more work and should be considered at that kind of mileage. If you were to do a full rebuild you can also do the clutch (you have to eather pull the motor or trans to do it) bearings and all the seals. If the rest of the vehicle is in good shape and you plan to keep it I would consider spending the money and doing the rebuild.
So you have two options,
just do the head and some other minor things while you are there or
rebuild the whole motor and know you have another many years of reliable service from the car.

Also where are you located? Planning on attending the 944fest in Ohio? (see the 944 forum for more info) If you go you will learn a lot.

 

thanks for the help. I am still debating on wether or not to rebuild the whole motor. But as far as going to ohio only my work schedule will determine whetether or not I will be attending. I live in Northern Virginia.

 

Good luck with the car, what color is it? To post pics go to post reply, manage attachments and upload pics. Also as others have mentioned, I would do all the vacume lines, ventury delete and have the head rebuilt as the basic things while you are in there. You may also want to consider doing all of the coolant hoses (something I wish I had done on mine). Good luck and hope you enjoy your new car.

 

Hey,Welcome. Look for post by "ROCK",he's looking for someone to travel to the "Fest". You will find him on the 924/944/968 board most likely. FRED

 

I agree with all but two items on this list.

1) Good luck magnifluxing an aluminum head. Ask the shop to pressure test it.

2) The widefire head gasket is pretty well recognized as being useless, unless you intend to o-ring the head. Use the factory gasket.

Also, based on your description, I'd look at the oil cooler housing seals.

-Jon

 

Welcame.

quick question. How did you came to conclude that the head gasket is to blame?...............did the car overheated?

I would also look into oil cooler housing. At that milage they tend to leak.
good lock.

Regards,
AL

 

A blown HG is not that uncommon in the 951, especially if the 200K+ miles is on the originall. Replace it and refresh the head. I'd also do the WP while you had it down that far. BTW - welcome!

 

I can't believe the response from you guys, this really seems to be a great commmunity. Here are some of the pictures, she does need a wash. And the reasons i figure its a head gasket is because i am getting coolant in the oil, and I pray its not too much worse. As far as i know it didnt have overheating problems, but since the last owner notice coolant in the oil 6 months ago, it sat in a storage unit and was not driven. He did take great of it though, nothing you guys havent mentioned replacing hasnt already been replaced twice before so i figured i would do those again. thanks again..

ps,, in one of the records, it says "leakdown test performed, all in 90's, good".
Thats not psi is it, wouldnt that be ****ty?

 

do not o-ring anything, you are just asking for more trouble

o-rings do not allow the head gasket to expand with the block and head, and you end up blowing the head gasket again

Genuine Porsche headgasket is the way to go if in fact that is the problem

also I wouldn't automatically assume the rings are bad just because of the mileage, the car sounds like it has been taken care of and the engines are known to last a hell of a long time

 

looks very nice. You will have a fun car when you are done. If the leakdown numbers are in the 90s than you have some major issues. They should not be more than 10%, I believe. Don't quote me on it. Good luck and have fun.

 

maybe that means 90% is being retained or somethin, cause the mechanic thought it was good, just wasnt sure if it was a psi or a percent.

 

You're correct. A leakdown test is where they pump air into the cylinder to see if it leaks past the valves or rings. It is different than a compression test which determines how much each piston is compressing.