Engine failure?

[CarreraUK]

Hi hope you can help! Have a 1985 3.2 carrera for two weeks and I think it has seized, oil was relatively fresh, level was fine, oil pressure was where it should be, temp was just above half way, was running about 4500rpm when the engine just died no noise, no smell, no warning. The engine won't turn over even if I try with a spanner on the crank. Been running 95 octane fuel anyone else had this happen? Yours a gutted UK Porsche owner.

[asphaltgambler]

Have you tried turning the engine by the crank nut??

[AFJuvat]

Is it possible that you overfilled the engine with oil? I've seen a overfill lock up a motor in the past.

Failing that, I would suggest draining your oil into a clean pan and examining it for debris. After it is drained, remove the sparkplugs and try to turn it over again by hand.

Best of luck

AFJuvat

[CharlesJones]

Yeah, it sounds like a good idea to try turning it by hand after removing the spark plugs, because it might be just the compression which is making it impossible to turn by hand at the moment. As regards the engine dying, I wonder if something electronic might have caused this - perhaps the DME relay or something?

I know how you feel though. I bought my 3.2 last summer, ran it for a couple of months, and then stuffed a gear change which bent all the exhaust valves. At the time it made me feel physically sick! I've only just got into a position to try and fix the car now, after almost a year of having it sitting immobile in my garage.

Try to be positive though. If its a worse-case scenario and your engine is seized and you have to rebuild it yourself, and if you're a novice like me, you will learn so much that you will never have to hire a mechanic again!

[CarreraUK]

Thanks for the replys, had a specialist look at the car he got it running ticking over fine but very rattly from the timing chain area. His diagnosis was the hydraulic tensioner had failed so fingers crossed that is all they will find when they take it apart! He recommends changing both chains and tensioners so hopefully that will cure it! Ian.

[snowman]

Dude, if the tensioners failed your engine needs a total redo. It means bent valves, holes in pistons, ect.

I would require a mininum of a leak down test, compression test before doing anything. Its likely to still be bad, but at least you will know what your are fixing. Just guessing that the chains and tensioners are bad, replacing them could be a major waste of money if there are holes in the pistons or bent valves.

Its generally less expensive to diagnose and then fix than to fix and then diagnose and fix.

Best of luck to you.

[ChrisBennet]

I've had a tensioner fail on my '86. It monogrammed 3 pistons (put a "C" in the carbon on top) but otherwise didn't do any harm.
-Chris