Blown Head Gasket?

[Brozoar]

The other day, whilst a-working on my 944, I noticed some slimy, brown floating crud in my coolant. I'd figured it was just corrosion crud from the block and/or radiator.

But alas, today I noticed my oil level was very low (no trace of coolant in the oil, btw). So I took it in to have it topped off, told the guy to check out my coolant, and he said it was definitely oil.

You reckon that's a blown head gasket? Is there any alternative possibility that wouldn't be such a total pain to fix?

[Gawernator]

Such an epidemic of 944 travesty

[Guest765]

Oil cooler seals or head gasket. One or the other, more likely the oil cooler though. When you look at the head with it removed from the car there isnt really that many ways oil can hit the water through the head.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by Brozoar

You reckon that's a blown head gasket? Is there any alternative possibility that wouldn't be such a total pain to fix?

fwayfarer is correct. Usually the oil cooler seals.

But it does not stop there. The pain begins when you follow the Porsche recommendations and change the rod bearings if the coolant also mixed with the oil in the oil pan.



The pain is just beginning...
John

[Guest765]

Personally id rather do the head gasket twice in a row before id want to do the rod bearings even once. To hell withthat noise.

[kfanazini]

Yeah. I did my oil cooler seals when I got the car so this would not happen to me. I saw too many posts about this happening. I did a head gasket this winter and valve job, and I still fear doing rod bearings. Head was easy. Rod bearings seem like a major pain in the a$$ for a home mechanic.

Originally Posted by fwayfarer

Personally id rather do the head gasket twice in a row before id want to do the rod bearings even once. To hell withthat noise.

[Brozoar]

Would it make any difference if I told you I've been driving it with that sludge for about 2 weeks?

DON'T think I'm not ashamed to admit that! It is terrible. But like I said, there were no other signs that it might be the head gasket, and I actually (somehow) didn't know about the oil cooler sealing rings being a possibility.

The point is, the oil shop guys and I found no evidence of coolant in the oil, and it's actually been running like a peach, surprisingly.

Now I'm not completely daft - I'm obviously not driving it again until it gets sorted out. But I just can't do rod bearings; not set up to do it myself, and there's no way in hell I'm shelling out that kind of cash to a mechanic. Not for a $2000 dented, depreciated Porsche.

No offense all, I do love my 944 to death...

[bennkishh]

Before doing the whole head gasket, flush out your oil and then when you're putting it back in, try Blue Devil. It's like $70 a bottle bit you only need one, and if it works, will save you a lot. Just put it in with your and wait to see. GLWR.

[wrench1]

Come on Broz,
Don't let Leila join her sister Stella, she's been good to you and too young to leave us. Buy the $75.00 in seals and work with her, it's not that hard, you can do it over the weekend (I know, I did mine three weeks ago). Drop the exhaust manifolds and pull the oil cooler, piece of cake. You will need the alignment pin to line up the OPRV when you reinstall the cooler.

[Brozoar]

^Oh no, I don't mean that I'm giving up on her!

I just mean that if it came to changing the rod bearings, that's farther than I'm willing to go. I'll take it in to the shop and see what they say; I'm living in an apartment, so sadly no place to really work on her unless I drive 60 miles to my folks' place.

[Gawernator]

That 120 miles worth of gas is a LOT $$$ cheaper than shop labor costs!

[GreenWater]

I had this same problem a while back. It wasn't the head gasket, or the oil cooler seals. I replaced the oil cooler seals 3 or 4 times before I figured out what it was. I thought I installed the seals wrong so I replaced them again and again with no luck. Then I found my problem. It was the 2 orings in the OPRV. After changing these 2 orings I haven't had oil in my coolant, and it has been about 2 years now. The oil cooler seals are a real pain to change, and the OPRV is very easy to get to. I would start with that first. As long as no water is getting into the oil.

[GreenWater]

Head gasket isn't very much fun either. I am in the middle of my second one.(replacing the valve seals.)

[Brozoar]

Thanks Greenwater, that's some excellent insight. =) Can you go into any more detail how those o-rings would cause oil to get into the coolant, though?

Also, would coolant necessarily reside on the dipstick after running the car for a while? Because that's my tool of assessment here. Sure, water is heavier than oil, but I'm thinking that driving even 10 miles to the store (where I spotted the low oil level) it would get churned up enough that I'd be able to see some trace of coolant.

But my oil still looks squeaky clean. And I'm thinking that if there's no coolant in the oil, and my oil level's never dropped more than half a quart (what they had to put in when I was at the shop!), no need to replace the rod bearings. It just seems unnecessary unless the oil has actually, with certitude, lost some lubricating capability.

[aj951]

Remove your oil filler cap and look under the cap to see if there is any condensation on the cap. That is also a good indicator that you have coolant in the oil. Hopefully you don't....



AJ

[GreenWater]

+1 for what AJ said. Check for condensation under the oil cap. If there isn't any I wouldn't be too worried.

Brozoar, I wouldn't worry about the rod bearing right now, not until you find coolant in the oil. I would drain the oil just to make sure that there isn't any coolant.

I am not totally sure how the OPRV orings fixed by problem but they did. Someone on here suggested it and it worked. The only thing that I can think of is that the OPRV wasn't working right and too much pressure was building up and the pressure was being relieved by pushing oil into the coolant by way of the oil cooler seals. It has been a long time since I had this problem so I don't remember the exact details. I think my gauge showed the correct oil pressure but I can't remember. I will try to see if I can find more details.

Keep in mind that I am no expert of the 944, my car just breaks a lot and I fix it.

[Brozoar]

Originally Posted by GreenWater

Keep in mind that I am no expert of the 944, my car just breaks a lot and I fix it.

I think I'll get that embroidered and hang it over my bed like a mantra.

[Dane Brown]

I did my oil cooler gasket a few months ago. It was pretty easy. When I got my oil cooler out I noticed the Guy who owned it before me had recently don't it, but the idiot he is put gasket sealer everyyyyyyywhere on it. He put it around the two o-rings on the cooler its self which kept them from being able to expand, which I think is where I was having my problem. He also had it all over the OPRV. so don't do that haha. I got the hole gasket set with the o-rings and everything for $35.00 plus tax at O'reillys. I think the hardest part about that job is getting all the oil out of you coolant reservoir and radiator . Have fun with that. Dishwasher detergent works really good. Also pull the passenger front tire off before starting the job, will make it much easier.

Sent from my SCH-M828C using Tapatalk 2

[Brozoar]

Awesome, thanks for the advice guys.

The good news is, I'm working for a certain car publication that shall remain nameless - there's a chance I'll be able to get my Porsche up on their lift to work on it. Would make my life so much easier.

[Dane Brown]

A lift is ALWAYS nice to have/use

Sent from my SCH-M828C using Tapatalk 2