Type_LT

I've been a 944 Turbo owner for about 6 years now and have a pretty good idea what could be causing missing coolant, usually headgasket or the coolant cap, i'll be doing some investigation over the next couple days, wish me luck! I'm going to buy a dye test kit this afternoon and see what that tells me. My car is a vanilla 86 Turbo with no modifications however it does have 139k on the clock...

Also,

I'm looking for (hehe this is like a personal classified ad) some fellow 944 owners in the New Haven, Ct. area both because my wife and I are new to the area and it would be great to have some people to get together and have DIY days, meets, or just to talk to about mechnical issues. Send me a PM!


Nick

xsboost90

is that near Ridgefield CT? A fellow PCA member just moved out there and was a former turbo owner- now has a 911.

SD Porsche Fan

I had a drip from the hose that goes to the hard line back to the heater core. The coolant would evaporate from the heat off of the exhaust so I never saw any on my garage floor.

toddk911

Ahhh, ST lives in CT.

He knows a thing or two about 951. But just a thing or two, not three. LOL

Type_LT

Great, I'm sure there are plenty of folks out in the Ct. area.

I also forgot to ask if anyone can recommend a mechanic near me, I've been lucky to find good mechanics that know 944's in the place I've lived (when I don't have a garage like now).

I like to do a lot of work myself when I can, its my hobby and I always enjoy helping others fix their cars too so anyone else in the area that needs some help send me a PM.

Zach951

Could be leaking into the cylinder and burning off that way. If it is a little at a time you might not see the smoke and it will not show up much in the oil. I think mine is doing that.

Type_LT

Zach, yeah that could be. I looked last night after driving the car WOT a couple times and the coolant looks perfectly clear. The oil also looks perfectly normal on the dipstick. Yesterday around noon when the sun was bright I checked the coolant and oil for any signs of mixing and there were none, looked under the oil cap and it was dry. I drove home after work, checked all the fluids and underneath the oil cap and there were no negative signs.

This morning before work I checked everything again and all is well, then I drove the car my usual 30 min of highway driving and checked here at work, all the fluids look great however underneath the oil cap is a very thin white film just around the edges of the oil cap indicating either condensation or some mixing going on.

Before this point I've never looked under the oil cap so much so I'm wondering if that film has always appeared given a certain combination of temperature, humidity and driving style or if there really is an issue. For right now though there is no serious trouble so I'll continue to drive and check everything frequently, the car starts and idles perfectly, no hestitations or hiccups and the exhaust smells normal (is that good for my brain?). Temperature acts as normal as well as oil pressure.

I guess what isn't clear to me are all the locations where oil and coolant have an opportunity to mix on a 944 Turbo. To my knowledge the only areas are: headgasket, oil cooler (is this correct? I seem to remember hearing the oil cooler on a 951 is only air interchange), and the turbo itself. Are there any I'm missing here?

I am pretty paranoid about my car and usually the smallest hint of a problem has me running to the internet to buy replacement parts!

robert944h

Have you been able to use a pressure tester on it?

eclou

Mine was doing it. I tested the coolant for signs of contamination - nothing. Engine ran fine, oil looked good. After a couple of months like that it just let go one day.

potent951turbo

For those of you who have had a slow leak into the combustion chamber where no signs of leaking were going on until the HG finally let go, do you think this is causing any kind of damage to the engine?

I've always wondered since so many people have pulled their heads to find a leak in the gasket that they didn't even know about.

Loquat15

Food for thought...

This wasn't on a porsche but it could happen to a porsche...

2001 Ford Exploder v6, bad headgasket or something... coolant ended up filling the combustion chamber and hydrolocked it... the dipstick was showing that there was no water...

I went to drain the oil... coolant came out first and then oil...

If it's getting into the combustion chamber, you'll smell coolant coming from your exhaust and if you were to pull a sparkplug they'd be a bit whiteish looking, you'd know what i was talking about if you see it.

So check your oil next time you drain it and also check your spark plugs, that will help you on your quest. There's also the oil cooler... the one thats mounted on the right side of your block, those can leak, dont think coolant would get into the oil but vice versa for sure.

Good luck!

SD Porsche Fan

Good advice. I think you can rent one cheap from AutoZone. Will help you determine if it's an internal or external leak.

Zach951

Check your compression.... As for the film under the oil cap, yup mine has that too. I have been driving mine like that and in the spring it is slated for the dreaded surgery.

Dal Heger

Use a pressure tester and let it sit for 15 minutes or so under pressure, then look to see where the leak is. Mine was leaking from a hose at the front of the engine. It was the little hose that connects the outlet at the front of the head to the hard pipe going to the radiator. It was a small enough leak that it evaporated due to normal engine heat and I could never find it. Until I put a pressure tester on it, pumped it to 15 psi and let it sit. I found a little stream and traced it back to the tiny leak. I just added another clamp to the hose and tightened it up. There will always be condensation (or a nice little milkshake) on the oil cap, especially if you're in a cold climate. Don't worry about it.

I'm putting money on an external leak. Don't look for the most costly and complex failure first. These cars are amazingly stout, even the head gaskets, as long as you're tuned correctly.

My 951 ran to over 189K miles on the original gasket and bearings (yes it was also tracked from time to time). It was still good when I took it apart. I crashed it and parted it out at around 189k miles.

ehall

So, what was the verdict on this car?