About to replace the head gasket on my 951 at the end of the summer. These videos have been immensely helpful and I'll definitely be referencing them a bunch when I start the work!
I had an 86 944 for years, my first car I bought on my own, I loved that car and wish I never sold it. I did all the work on it myself and used to take it to driving events with the Porsche club. When you started it up the sound it made when cranking and the whine it makes as you rev it up brought back memories. I’d love to get another as a project car, maybe one day.🤞🏽Great video too, you do good work. I used to work at a German car shop and worked on a lot of Porsches and BMWs. I had pulled a few 944 engines to rebuild and the work you did reminded me of those days. I normally don’t watch videos over 30 min but I sat straight through parts one and two. Happy driving!
Haha! Yeah, it’s sometimes hard to hang on to those early memories. 🤣 Glad you enjoyed man and thanks for sharing. There’s still some good examples out there with potential that need love. 👍🏼
Hi, thanks for the video! Just found some mayonnaise on the dipstick on my 944, so going to check the head gasket and your video came just in time! And good job on your engine compartment, looks very clean and nice, it's a pleasuere to look at it :)
Sounds like you’ve got some fun times ahead! 🤣 Often that oil/coolant mix occurs as the result of failed oil cooler seals as well, so if you’re planning on tearing it down, I would add those to the list too. Best of luck! 👍🏼
I've been watching your uploads, and others for a while. I must say, no other upload comes close to the level of detail you provide, and professionalism. I was wondering if you do work on cars other than yours if it was brought to you, assuming you're somewhere in NC. Thanks.
Hey man, thank you! I’ve actually done timing belt jobs for a couple of 944 owners and a number of people have reached out to me for engine bay restoration quotes. So yeah, I do take on things when there are time slots available. Feel free the hit me up on gmail, my address is in the “About”section of the channel, and we can touch base on logistics. 👍🏼 I’m in the central NC - Burlington area.
I watched all 3 'head gasket' videos and they are superbly done. Lots of detail and comment to make it clear exactly what needs to be done. I have an '86 924S which may require head work at some stage, though at 88,000 miles it seems to be running fine at the moment, but if I do need to do the work I'll certainly use your videos. One very small pedantic comment! You are obviously a very good engineer with an excellent range of tools, but, 'horror of horrors', you use a carpenter's hammer - Ugh! I'll forgive you though because of the excellent work you've done.
I’m really glad you didn’t fall asleep watching all that! 😜 I’ve been in the market for a new hammer for about 6 years now. 🤣 No excuse as they are pretty cheap. Maybe I’ll add one to the holiday list. Cheers!
But... the US Department of Transportation tells me those “super cool” bumper pads give me 5 miles per hour worth of protection. 🤣 Agreed the Euro bumpers look better, but the US ones have a 1980’s nostalgia factor.
Pro Tip: Crack the throttle open when performing a compression test (I didn't see the throttle move when you were cranking). This will allow readings to increase a few pounds or more.
Yep, absolutely agree, I think I mentioned in the audio that the throttle should be open, but I should have shown it as well. This was a lazy editing example on my part. I ran two tests on each cylinder at the time, the first go round which was filmed, throttle closed, the second go round with throttle open, which I did not film. I was wondering why the first numbers were lower and then realized I had forgotten to open the throttle. For some reason though, the second set of tests with open throttle didn’t really increase the numbers at all, so I didn’t bother re-filming it. I got about 1/2 pound more on cylinder 3, but the rest were basically spot on the same as the first test. Not sure why… Any ideas? 🤔
@@NC944er Ooops... I missed your audio comment. Probably because I was working on the car and listening to the video simultaneously ;-). I'm thinking that the configuration of the intake tract, utilizing an air bypass for idle speed, allows for sufficient pumping of air with the throttle plate closed (but I would beed to verify this with some research). My brain was probably stuck in carb mode, where opening the throttle plate on a carb can make a more substantial difference in compression readings. Your procedure was spot-on. Great video presentation with depth, detailed information, and appropriate pacing for the work.
@@autobreza7131 Ahh, yes… depending on the position of the air/idle control valve, you could be right about the bypass! It’s hard to believe that enough air can get past the restrictive barn door AFM to begin with. 🤣 This head gasket series was a beast.. I have something over 6 hours of raw footage with all the retakes and edits and to bring it down to something concise and useful took quite a bit of effort. I always welcome the feedback and discussion as it will only benefit the larger community. Happy wrenching man, cheers!
Thanks allot for all these great great videos. I bought a pristine and from its day 1 original owner a 1985 V2 944, in 2019. It’s 100% original, and all maintenance diligently completed. But it’s got the original clutch which is beginning to vibrate a tiny bit when cold and first gear. Also has the original suspension components. Both are tired, rightfully so after 37 years. Car has 56K miles, no leaks anywhere. What if I may ask would you recommend for upgrades though I am trying to keep it original. I heard maybe 1986 Turbo OEM suspension or better to go with high grade coilovers. I’d like to upgrade the clutch. Anyway, glad I found your channel been back binge watching. Excellent quality. Thanks for documenting your work.
Yeah, the factory shocks and those rubber-centered clutches only last so long, even with low mileage examples. Most folks will replace it with a spring-centered Sachs clutch kit like the ones that came standard on the Turbo cars. Coil overs are nice if you’re looking for ride height adjustability, and some people prefer the look of a slightly lowered NA, otherwise the Koni Sport Shocks are a nice upgrade and were available as a factory sport suspension option at the time. That way you could stick with original OEM supplier equipment, which sounds like the way to go with a nice low-mile car like yours. Glad you’re enjoying the content so far! 👍🏼
Hey Dan, thank you! Yeah, the spring tensioner went into the zinc solution just as it came off the car (minus the plastic roller), which would have been a little over halfway compressed.
Good to call out that other diagnostic variation. I would recommend a wet test for any cylinder dry testing below 100 PSI or when there’s a 20% disparity from highest to lowest readings. If the wet test is within 5 PSI of the dry, piston rings are good. If there’s a 10 PSI jump or greater, evidence would point to worn rings. I skipped it in this case because everything was above 140 PSI and my largest gap was only a 3.51% difference. Could be some wear on the rings with 170k miles on the car, but since I’ve already replaced the oil pan gasket and rod bearings, the piston rings won’t be coming off any time soon, barring a catastrophic failure. 🤣
Great job! I am about to do the same with my 944. Question what is the whining sound on your vídeo? Is it the timing belt Bering or the water pump pulley?
Nice, best of luck on the repair! Some of what you may be hearing was from the aging alternator bearing, which was since replaced, and I suspect the A/C compressor clutch as well. I had all new rollers at this point, but these are notorious for a ton of belt noise on the front end, notably from the balance shaft belt system, which I’ve found is often emphasized through recorded audio.
Hey sure... I usually try to shop around for the best prices as they can fluctuate from vendor to vendor. Also, some shops may have particular part numbers that others do not carry, so it's a bit of a scavenger hunt. Most of the new parts for this build came from these sites: www.pelicanparts.com/ www.autohausaz.com/ 944store.com/ For used parts or things that are no longer available: plyhammersparts.com/ www.ebay.com/
