sam08861

Thanks to this forum, I've gotten everything apart to change the headgasket.

Durning the process, I noted coolant in the oil pan (when draining) and coolant on the pistons when the head removed. There's some milky oil/coolant mix in the water passages of the crank case.

The pistons move when moving the crank bolt, so not hydrolocked or rusted, thank goodness.

However, I do need to remove/reseal the oil cooler and also Porsche requires the connecting rod bearings replaced whenever there is oil/water mixture.

In order to do this, am I better off dropping the motor out since I have a lot of it apart already or am I better off leaving the block attached and replacing the rod bearings and oil cooler housing from below?

How much of a difference in work between the two? If it's close, I'm thinking I'd like to go ahead and drop the motor.

Any advise greatly appreciated.

sam08861

Some photos of the pistons, head and gasket





pistons





head - could not resist scraping some carbon off the valves





gasket

PEvans

I am far from the most qualified to respond, but no one else has yet.

I have always had the rod bearings done when doing the oil pan gasket. Never pulled the motor for the rod bearings.

lee101315

I went down this road many years ago. Its a lot of work, but you can drop the oil pan and change the rod bearings.

What was devastating was that not very long after I did that, the main thrust bearing failed and dug the crankshaft into the engine block every time I pressed the clutch... and yes, the main bearings DO WEAR.

I'm almost certain that your engine is pissing oil out of every orifice, so I would recommend pulling the block and doing a complete rebuild.

*EDIT* Just looking at how oily the engine is and how ugly those hoses are, you're probably better off pulling the engine and resealing the balance shafts as well.

V2Rocket

WD-40 and a green scotchbrite pad make quick work of the valve carbon.
but that head needs a hot-tank and rebuild anyways,.

cruise98

If it was mine, I would take the engine out and put it on a stand to do the rod bearings and reseal it. You can check the main thrust bearing clearance easily while the pan is off. How many miles on it? Hard to tell from the photos, but the bores look OK. How old is the clutch?

gruhsy

The tops of your cylinders are worn. Look at the wear ridge at the top of each cylinder. The car I'm working on right now has that issue and is getting sent to Michael Mount for sleeves partly due to that issue.

jmj951

Nobody can tell from the pictures that they're out of spec. The dark area you're referring to is just the very top of the cylinder wall where the rings don't run. The black ring is just normal buildup from combustion.

gruhsy

I'm willing to bet that there is a ridge at that location. It was Chris White that pointed that out to me a while back with my engine. I know that is where the rings don't reach. Maybe MM mount or Chris W could clarify better. Anyhow that was what I was getting at. 2 of the engines I have apart right now have an abrubt ridge.

944hal

If everything else was Ok with the motor and all you were going to do is replace the rod bearings, I'd leave the engine in and drop the pan. However, in this case, based on what you said and what you found, I'd drop the motor and do a rebuild. It's a lot easier with the engine on a stand.