rob76turbo

Julian,

The sending unit was giving a false reading of the engine oil being low. The guys at the shop traced the fault to the sending unit itself. Since I have had the car, I have done two DE's, they were spaced a couple of weeks apart.

Julian Allen

There have been broken pickup tubes in cars used only as daily drivers but the problem sounds more frequentl observed when balance shafts are removed or the car is "heavily" tracked. Doesn't sound like yours has had either. Still, a frature in that tube will give you variable oil pressure depending on when and if the pump loses suction.

Checking the electrical connections to the sending unit is very easy: with the car up on stands or ramps, remove the underpanel(s) and the unit will be visible on the passenger side from below. Push on the wires--they shouldn't move. The sending unit should be very clean if it is new. Certainly easier than making a decision to drop the pan, either in your garage or your shop's.

Hope this helps.

rob76turbo

Okay,

Let's say that it is a broken oil return tube and I have to pull the oil pan. Is there anything else I should replace "while I am in there"?

Like the main barings? And how hard is that to do? Do I need any special tools to replace them?

Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions!!!

RajDatta

Besides platiguage, not sure what else. You do need 12 point socket fo the conn rod nuts.
Raj

luckett

You want to do the conrod bearings, not the main bearings. Might as well replace the oil pan gasket and put in an oil pan baffle if you plan to track it frequently. If the steering rack bushings are looking bad they are cheap to replace.

rob76turbo

Chris, would you suggest RS Barn for the oil pan baffle?
Thanks!!

earossi

Raj is correct on the crank bolt torque. The oil pump is sandwiched between the crank pulley and the motor, and relies on friction between the pulley and the oil pump to turn the pump (terrible design, in my opinion). 155 fot-lbs is a huge amount of torque; but, believe it. I had a humbling experience with a 944 that I did a head rebuild on in that I did not put sufficient torque on the crank bolt (probably had about 50 to 75 ft-lbs on it). I flat forgot to do a final check on the torque. When I fired up the motor, there was a huge clatter from lack of oil pressure to the valve lifters. Fortunately, I shut down the motor and began retracing my steps, which is where I found that the bolt, though tight, was not torqued to the right number. We re-torqued the bolt, and fired the engine up and all was fine.

The message here is that if you lost oil pressure, you should very quickly hear the lifters collapse with a lot of clatter. It's loud enough that there is no way you could miss the sound.

What bothers me about your symptoms is that you characterized the sound as a "grinding" sound......which would not be lifters.

Good luck.

luckett

I got mine from lindsey. I'm not familiar with the RS barn baffle.

rob76turbo

earossi,

Thanks for the comments. I plan to pull the valve cover off to examine the chain, cams, ETC. However when I read the recent DIY by FRPorscheman, he mentioned that you had to depressurize the fuel system. I really should not start the engine to starve it of fuel. So I am wondering if there is a way to get the valve cover off without removing the fuel lines.

PorscheDude1

Just pull the DME relay and coil wire. Crank the engine a few times with the key. This relief the fuel pressure.

RajDatta

Most of the fuel pressure is already lost if you have been sitting for more than 1 hr. You might get a few drips, thats about it.
You can't really get a good contact without removing the fuel lines. I always try to remove the fuel rail and lines as 1 piece by disconnecting them by the fender opening.
You need 17mm/14mm for one line and 17mm/19mm for the other line.
Raj

rob76turbo

Well, after travelling all week, I am going to start getting into the motor to see what the issue is. First off is retightening the main pulley bolt (I bought a flywheel lock from Sunset), then drain the oil and look for metal AND pull the cam cover off. Should be fun......

Well not so much........

Ewok

Do you have a magnetic drain plug?

rob76turbo

Pulled the starter and put on the Flywheel Lock, Main pulley bolt is at 155 ft LB, so that checks out. Drained the oil and put a very fine strainer into the oil flow, no metal particals, pulled the valve cover, everything looks good....but....

1 and 4 plugs were dry, but the threads on 2 and 3 were covered in engine oil when I pulled them out. However the spark plugs were very lightly tightened (spec is 18-22 Ft / Lb) they sure felt less tight then that. Any ideas?

PorscheDude1

Could be the spark plug oil seals on the cam cover?