MadHungarian

In the "sponge in my bumper" thread, Mr. Curtis comments on the not uncommon disintegration of 944 hood insulation. That prompts this post. The same thing is happening to the insulation at the top of the engine compartment (underneath the rear speaker deck/package shelf) of my 964. It is brittle, de-adhearing (?) and bits of foam are falling down onto the engine. I'm trying to decide what to do--other than just ignoring it as I have up 'till now. Any problem with just ripping it all out? Will it result in the eventual deterioration of the rear speaker deck due to increased heat? Is there an easy, more enduring replacement? Its always something.

Randall G.

I think this is common on early 964s, and will likely become common on later 964s and 993s within a few years. I've supported mine with galvanized wire, wrapped taut around the plastic supports. Looks respectable. When the engine is dropped next, I'll have it replaced.

> Its always something.

LOL! Isn't that the truth....

John Boggiano

Mine wasn't exactly disintegrating, but it was getty pretty droopy. I restuck it with an adhesive called No More Nails, which worked a treat.

craig001

In my new to me 964 the insulation has dropped because it pulled away from the mounts at the upper edge of the engine compartment. I was going to get a slat of wood, paint it black and then drill holes in it to line up with the mounts to try to hold the insulation up. Option 2 would be to pull the stuff out. I don't know if that's a responsible thing to do though. The third option would be to get the 964 C2/C4 mylar pad that APPBIZ just came out with and put it in. My question with this option is do you need to drop the engine/tranny to do this? It looks like a tight fit in there.

In my 928, I ended up scrapping it all off because it had lost chunks and was basically distingrating in front of my eyes. I covered the engie with a sheet and had my shop vac close by.

springer3

If the foam is disintegrating, I would be very concerned about pieces being sucked into the fan, and blocking cooling passages in the engine. I have seen early 911s with leaves and other debris completely blocking the oil cooler, resulting in high oil temperatures. On the original 911 it was no big deal to remove the engine cover to perform a major cleaning. I would hate to take that on in the 964. Keeping the crud out is important if you want to avoid a really gross maintenance task.

I have seen a good-quality silver-backed engine insulation sheet sold at the auto stores. My 964 does not have this problem yet. I have used the aftermarket material with 3M spray-on contact cement (usual disclaimers)on other cars. It seems to stick fine even after several years .

joey bagadonuts

I removed my pad last year and agree with Springer's warning. When that stuff starts to crumble, you can expect little chunks everywhere. Mine started to disintegrate after I hosed down the engine (some errant blasts with the nozzle didn't help, either). After yanking out the big pieces, I reached in, pulled out all the remaining bits and then used an air hose to blast out the remaining debris.

I'm not sure if you need to drop the engine to replace it, though. You might want to remove the airbox for clearance on one side at least; the heater blower is on the other side. I think if you use some sort of tool, e.g. paint roller, you may be able to reach in and apply pressure all the way to the back. The pad is about 30-40" deep and unless your arm is very long, skinny and flexible, it would be rather difficult to do this without a tool.

And please make sure you cover the air intake if you remove the box.

Good luck!

flatsixcrazy

I replaced mine three months ago and didn't drop the engine. I did have to remove some nuts and bolts that secure the hoses to the rear wall, the blower assembly, the deck lid struts, and the air flow sensors. It was an easy job and the engine bay looks a lot better. One trick to prevent the insulation foams from falling all over your engine is to peel back the front edge of the old insulator (not too much) and stick a flat tipped vacume hose in and aspirate out all of the loose foams before you remove the old insulation pad. I didn't used any adhesive forthe new pads. I just replaced the round nuts that holds in the new pads. $2/piece at your dealer. I hope this helps. Andy

MadHungarian

Flatsixcrazy:
Sounds promising, and thanks for the aspiration tip. Did you use an aftermarket pad or one from Porsche? If aftermarket, which one? And thanks also to Springer3 for the warning--which provides a bit more motivation to get on this one.
Michael

flatsixcrazy

Hi,
I use the Porsche one. Good luck. Use the flat tip vacume attachment and sucks the foam out like you are performing a liposuction procedure. Andy