1984 3.2 liter problem

Pokrajac · 07-05-2011, 03:29 PM

I was driving around on Sunday, and after about 10 miles at a stop sign my 911 stalled and a huge cloud of white smoke billowwed out of the back. I pushed it off the side of the road and tried to start it up and as soon as the starter engaged more white smoke, and it would not start. Very stong smell of gasoline! I left it right where it stalled and came back the next day and tried to start it and it kicked over and ran, not well but it ran. I drove it 1 mile to an import shop that works on Porsches and he thinks it might be the piston rings on one of the cylinders. He is going to do a compresson check and get back to me. Could it be anything else?
If it is the rings on one of the cylinders what is a fair price for the secvice?
1984 3.2 liter 90,000 miles
Thanks!

rusnak · 07-05-2011, 04:19 PM

Remove the distributor cap, and make sure that the rotor is still in one piece.

Sounds like you lost spark to me.

DRACO A5OG · DRACO A5OG's Garage

Before the ploom, what RPMs were you running her and was she at proper runing temps (194 degrees)?

Huury back before the wrench starts the work, you can check that dizzy yourself, for free

Lorenfb · 07-05-2011, 04:32 PM

"Very stong smell of gasoline!"
"huge cloud of white smoke billowwed out of the back."

A common problem which tends to occur on the older 3.2s (single wire temp
sensor) where the temp sensor 'opens' (or its connector) causing overly-rich
mixtures, i.e. floods engine and makes white smoke.

Simple temporary fix: Jumper the temp sensor connector with a paper clip.

theclaw · 07-05-2011, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorenfb

"Very stong smell of gasoline!"
"huge cloud of white smoke billowwed out of the back."

A common problem which tends to occur on the older 3.2s (single wire temp
sensor) where the temp sensor 'opens' (or its connector) causing overly-rich
mixtures, i.e. floods engine and makes white smoke.

Simple temporary fix: Jumper the temp sensor connector with a paper clip.

Got one of those "older 3.2s". From the diagram in the catalog I can't tell what cylinder that goes into. Is this a reasonable thing to do as "preventable" maintenance.

I've got a '84 with 52k and I'm going through the Long Term Maintenance list and ticking off things to do.

rsscotty · 07-05-2011, 07:45 PM

I would check the fuel pressure. The fuel pump regulators I've seen go bad ran real rich and stalled.

Quicksilver · 07-06-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theclaw

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorenfb

"Very stong smell of gasoline!"
"huge cloud of white smoke billowwed out of the back."

A common problem which tends to occur on the older 3.2s (single wire temp
sensor) where the temp sensor 'opens' (or its connector) causing overly-rich
mixtures, i.e. floods engine and makes white smoke.

Simple temporary fix: Jumper the temp sensor connector with a paper clip.

Got one of those "older 3.2s". From the diagram in the catalog I can't tell what cylinder that goes into. Is this a reasonable thing to do as "preventable" maintenance.

I've got a '84 with 52k and I'm going through the Long Term Maintenance list and ticking off things to do.

Jumpering the sensor isn't a "fix" or a "mod". It is a "limp home" or "troubleshoot" change.
Number one in the following pic is the connector for the cylinder head temp sensors. This is on the driver's side of the engine...

Replacing the sensor is a common update as the original sensors tended to fail and cause some rather odd problems. The later sensor that superseded the original sensor is quite a bit more reliable.

Lorenfb · 07-06-2011, 07:19 AM

"where the temp sensor 'opens'"

Actually, the more common problem is that electrical connection
between the sensor and cylinder head corrodes (steel sensor case
and aluminum head) resulting in a high resistance connection,
i.e. open sensor to the DME ECM. The later two wire sensor resolves
this problem.