Sad Story

superheady · 11-27-2001, 04:48 PM

I recently bought an 87' 944 NA from my mechanic with 82000 miles on it for $3500, with 2 sets of rims and tires. And as I was soon to find out was too good of a deal to be true. I had the car a week and a half, running great, no signs that something catastrophic was about to happen when on my way to school when BOOM!!! The connecting rod completely failed and went through the block and out the side of the oil pan leaving a hole the size of a fist in the pan. If I had a camera I think my face looked something like this:

I was just wondering what you guys think could have happened... the car had only 82000 miles on it and I wasn't driving it hard... the car was at 4500 rpm's in 2nd gear when it happened.
What would you do in my position? Part the car out (which I really don't want to do) or get a new engine? And by the way anyone have a rebuilt 944 NA engine for sale????

stray15 · stray15's Garage

Bought it from your mechanic? Geez, did you talk to him about it? When was the timing belt last replaced/retensioned?

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

Oh c'mon, you can't blame a mechanic for a con-rod shooting through the motor!!! How was he supposed to know (unless it was knocking really bad or something).

A buddy of mine had the reverse gear of a 993 break in his shop, when he was backing it up (very calmly I might add). Heck, my transaxle broke violantly when I was just cruizing in 4th gear, at low rpm, and steady throttle input.
Ahmet

stray15 · stray15's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by 1.2gees
Oh c'mon, you can't blame a mechanic for a con-rod shooting through the motor!!! How was he supposed to know (unless it was knocking really bad or something).

A buddy of mine had the reverse gear of a 993 break in his shop, when he was backing it up (very calmly I might add). Heck, my transaxle broke violantly when I was just cruizing in 4th gear, at low rpm, and steady throttle input.
Ahmet

Who was blaming? I asked if he talked to the mechanic because I would think that he may work out some kind of deal. Some mechanics are nice guys after all.

85944na · 85944na's Garage

no severe ticking right before it happened? the same thing happened to a 944 my brother has, but it was ticking like crazy before it happened.

superheady · 11-27-2001, 06:43 PM

nope, no ticking... even the mechanic was suprised because I was at his shop 10 minutes before it happened and it was running beautifully, then it just blew up. Smoke, anti-freeze, and oil everywhere. The only thing I can think of is that the previous owner didn't maintain the car properly.

85944na · 85944na's Garage

even so, it seems very odd, how was your oil pressure?

Rollins · 11-27-2001, 08:21 PM

Sorry bro, I too would try to broker a deal with your mechanic. He might be able to help. Good luck.
-Tim

88_944 · 88_944's Garage

WOW! that pretty sad to hear. How the hell would the rod do that. With that low miles? Maybe the rod pin or the rod nuts was not tight. Sound like some one did a crank job wrong.

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by 88_944
WOW! that pretty sad to hear. How the hell would the rod do that. With that low miles? Maybe the rod pin or the rod nuts was not tight. Sound like some one did a crank job wrong.

What the heck is a 'crank job'? With that type of milage, I doubt that the car needed a 'crank job'. A rod pin that wasn't tight?

After thinking about this a bit though, although you probably can't be sure it just might have something to do with what your mechanic did to it before your purchase. Ofcourse talk to the guy, but remain calm...
Ahmet

Pinseekers · Pinseekers's Garage

Sorry to hear about your experience.
Same thing happened to my Toyota 4x4 truck back in 86. Right out the side of the block. My problem was a bent rod that was caused by driving in and through a river (small) but my engine ingested some water.
Was this car ever damaged by water? Flood???
Electrical problems?? Funny smell in the interior?? Fungus growing anywhere??
Did your carfax the car??see where I am going with this?
Mileage is pretty high to blame poor factory workmanship.

What history of this car did your mechanic have? Was he the the original owner?
I don't think that there are too many things that can cause the rod to go out the side of the block.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Good luck!
Pedro

Ganja Porsche · 11-29-2001, 08:42 PM

I have a N/A Engine with roughly 45 Thousand on it. It has a slight scratch in the #2 Cyl wall - this engine would be ideal if you wanted to do the 2.8L conversion, you already have a reason to bore out the cylinders... This has all new belts and everything rubber replaced, and a new headgasket kit was put on right before the scratch happened lol... If you're interested let me know...

44Dwarf · 11-30-2001, 05:58 AM

Sorry to hear about this. One thing comes to mind. Has the oil cooler seals ever gone bad in this car. If so when anit-freeze gets mixed in with the oil it will eat the bearings apart. Sounds like the cooler let go and was not noticed for a while and then fix and sold to you but the damage was already done, then BAM. You need a new motor. Anit-freeze will also when burned form a later of silica on the cylinder walls and wear down the rings faster then you can say S**t. If you see any ridges in the cly My bet is on a coolent leak.

44Dwarf

3sonfather · 11-30-2001, 07:27 AM

Sorry to here of your bad misfortune. It would be interesting to know the root cause for everyone's benefit. Can you determine if your timing belt broke? This could have set-off the catastrophic failure. Good luck.