oil in coolant

[will872009]

hello im kinda new to the forum and am looking for some help my car is has sludge in the coolant and i am wondering what is causing the problem the car has had this problem for several months and still going. im wondering how fatal this is to the car and what i might have to do. please someone help me.
none of my 944 friends seem helpful at all or bother to care.
so if anybody can help me

[RR Guitars]

I'm surly no mechanic but any amount of sludge in coolant can't be good. Maybe change out coolant and see if symptoms continue, if so i would guess most of the experts on this forum would probably lean a crooked eye at the dreaded head gasket. I'm just say'in

[will872009]

i have changed the coolant several times and still get sludge after about a month in the coolant and still continues. if it is a head gasket what would have to be done?

[John_AZ]

You have a bad oil cooler seal. You need to get a oil cooler gasket set from Pelican:
Pelican Parts - Product Information: 10-0914-165-M30

(Individual pieces are cheaper)

You need to get an OPRV Alignment tool or you will bind the OPRV valve.

You need to rebuild the OPRV valve with 2 "O" rings.

You need to flush the entire cooling system 2x or more with a few drops of dish soap.

You need to take off the coolant reservior and clean it inside.

You need to take off all big hoses and wipe the inside.

You do not have to remove the exhaust manifold---it does make it a little easier.

Get new coolant.

It is an easy----dirty----frustrating----3 or 4 hour job to do it right.

Many owners before you have posted if you need further details.

GL
John

[Izzy Does It]

I believe that John is correct - bad oil cooler seal.

[CorsePerVita]

I agree with John.

Before you go tearing the head apart, check the oil cooler seals. Cheap(er) fix than a head gasket and VERY COMMON on the 944. I'll bet those seals are older than dirt. Hell, you can clean it up and scrub the gunk off of it too while it's apart! Worst case scenario if it ISN'T the oil cooler seals, you'll have replaced them, cleaned it up and have peace of mine, then you can head on to the head gasket and fix that, too!

Either way, learning experience! But it's fairly common to hear about the oil cooler seals causing this before a head gasket.

[Pete R]

these guys seem to know... if the cooler seal doesn't fix it at least do a leak down test to confirm a bad head gasket before tearing into the motor.

[944sracer]

Also you will want to make sure you get the right coolant. Either the special Porsche stuff or Pentosin. I have use Pentosin forever in my race cars and daily drivers with no issues. It is entirely neutral to any and all types of rubbers and metals. It's cheap at about $13 a bottle. You will need 3 for a 50/50 mix.

Don't use the Autozone special stuff either.

If you have sludge in your coolant chances are your radiator is pretty well toasted. Its expensive but the pain and risk of a coolant/heat issue is much greater.

While your at it and since it's history is unknown you may as well replace the radiator and all hoses. I just did mine and it ran me about $400 shipped.

[will872009]

Hey guys thanks for all the advice you all have been very helpful and im going to go do the oprv job 1st and go from there ill keep you guys updated and again thanks a lot

[89-944NA]

If you use SHOUT stain remover, you will not have the suds problem you get from dish soap.

That is a trick that was passed on to me by a 40+ year Porsche Dealer mechanic. Get the large bottle of SHOUT, pour half into the radiator, fill with plain water, run for 15 minutes, let cool and drain. Repeat process. After second drain, fill cooling system with plain water for a flush. It even cleaned the inside of the plastic reservoir without removing the darn thing from the car. Absolutely amazing how the SHOUT broke down the oil that was in my cooling system....from a failed head gasket

Hey John...the Lindsey Steam Vent Kit works wonders, never was easier to bleed my cooling system....highly recommend it to all.

[HondaDustR]

Here's the proceedure. Oil Cooler General Information and Seal Replacement

I highly recommend removing the exhaust manifolds if you can. The first time I did the job, I did it with the manifolds in place...I will never do the job with the manifolds in place ever again. It's all good fun until it comes time to bolt everything back up.

Whatever coolant you use, mix it with distilled water. I personally prefer Prestone dexcool.

Nice to hear the shout trick. All I can say is the dish soap worked marginally well at best and was a PITA to rinse out.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by 89-944NA

If you use SHOUT stain remover, you will not have the suds problem you get from dish soap.

That is a trick that was passed on to me by a 40+ year Porsche Dealer mechanic. Get the large bottle of SHOUT, pour half into the radiator, fill with plain water, run for 15 minutes, let cool and drain. Repeat process. After second drain, fill cooling system with plain water for a flush. It even cleaned the inside of the plastic reservoir without removing the darn thing from the car. Absolutely amazing how the SHOUT broke down the oil that was in my cooling system....from a failed head gasket

Thanks for the information, should be easier to get out the oil film. Another member, SolReaver suggested using "Marine Bilge Cleaner" if it is really fouled with oil film.
Just as long as no one uses Prestone HD radiator cleaner----too caustic/corrosive and it will cause more leaks

Hey John...the Lindsey Steam Vent Kit works wonders, never was easier to bleed my cooling system....highly recommend it to all.

I have heard of this, I guess drilling into the head stops me. I just squeeze the top radiator hose to "pump" out the air via the goose neck vent.

Link STEAM VENT KIT INSTALL at LINDSEY RACING - Your Porsche Performance Parts Center

Originally Posted by HondaDustR

Here's the proceedure. Oil Cooler General Information and Seal Replacement

I highly recommend removing the exhaust manifolds if you can. The first time I did the job, I did it with the manifolds in place...I will never do the job with the manifolds in place ever again. It's all good fun until it comes time to bolt everything back up.

Whatever coolant you use, mix it with distilled water. I personally prefer Prestone dexcool.

Nice to hear the shout trick. All I can say is the dish soap worked marginally well at best and was a PITA to rinse out.

will, better get 2 sets of oil cooler gaskets. Usually the first time is practice...My first try lasted 6-8 months. I have now mastered this task with this secret---oil the oil cooler "O" rings & block area prior to install or they will "roll" and leak.

INFO http://www.944online.com/pdf/oilcoolertech.pdf

GL
John

[HondaDustR]

Also, check that the galleys that the cooler inlet/outlet slides into are smooth. My motor had what looked to be a void in the casting or from corrosion, which had sharp edges that tore the oring on installation. I had to work at it with some super fine sandpaper until it would not damage the oring.