Figured out the elusive "Whine"...READ! (long)

Weldin · 04-10-2001, 07:36 PM

Well after doing some pretty major preventative stuff I finally figured out the annoying whine.....First the low down on what I did: 1) resealed the lower balance shaft 2) New oil cooler seals 3)New cam assm. gasket(s) 4) all new front seals, rollers, belts 5) wrapped header 6) new radiator 7) etc...
I originally had a real bad whine I was about to live with & blame on the b. shaft tensioner (even though it was new)...after assembing everytthing this time I was having trouble rolling the lower shaft by hand -- hesitant to put it back this way, I played around with the balance ahft housing bolts ---mainly the big (4) in the front (perpendicular to the crank). After loosing them a tad, it rolled freely...after assembly - NO MORE WHINNING!! it just quietly purrs now!....so basically I came to the conclusion the front & back bearings (or maybe just the front) were out of alignment...just thought someone could use this info, because this problem was driving ME crazy for a long time!

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

You know, this is mentioned in a book I've read (Porsche 924/944 by Peter Morgan, has a couple of not so obvious, but important misinformation, however not as many as most other books on these cars), this is info that's definately not easy to come by.

My car does whine a tiny bit, can't help but wonder if these bolts being tight has anything to do with it. Has been doing it since I got the belts done a while ago...

Will go over it with my "gorilla" torque wrench, weird name for a torque wrench btw isn't it?

Thanks for pointing it out, my seals are moist around the balance shaft "housings" (well, actually Porsche didn't put any "seals" there, that's a different story), they don't seem too hard to get to either, maybe I'll pull them off next time around, with the belts)...
Ahmet

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It's all the driver...

kukunaokala · 04-11-2001, 07:28 PM

Good info. I've been playing with my belts and tensioners ever since I got the car (about one month running, four months on jack stands). I've heard other 944/24's, I've felt-measured there belt tensions and still THAT whine. Mahalo (thanks) for the info, bless your perseverance and aloha, Neal

Allldi · Allldi's Garage

Hey Weldin, thanks for the info. My 944 whines too. Did yours whine constantly? If not, when and how often did it? Mine seems like it only whines at higher engine speeds when the engine is at least at operating temperature.

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Ryan
1991 944S2 coupe

Weldin · 04-11-2001, 08:50 PM

MIne actually whined all the time, but was most noticable at idle....it was just too loud to be "normal"....It also had a very "metallic" quality to it...explainably so now. I was going to write it off as noisy roller bearings in the tensioner....to be honest it was just dumb luck that I fixed it.

Cadenza_7o · 04-12-2001, 11:15 AM

Weldin -

I'm a newbie here.

Just curious. Was the oil cooler gaskets difficult to replace? I heard shims were needed.

I've done the belts and rollers 4k ago. Didn't have enough time to mess with the cooler gaskets.

Any tips you have are appreciated. TIA

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Niki

Weldin · 04-12-2001, 12:15 PM

No they were pretty easy. You do need a special tool though. I bought my from Pelican for $22. It basically goes thru where the pressure relief valve would be and alighns the housing. I reinstalled the cooler to the housing & installed them as one. It seemed to be the easiest way. I couldnt find a torque spec for the housing bolts, so just dont over-tighten them. ALso included was a nylon washer/shim. I installed it over the cooler "boss" away from the engine...THere wasnt one there before, but since I could tell there was some rubbing between the cooler & the housing I assumed thats what is was for. As far as shimming in general goes, I didnt have to do that....from what Haynes says, it applys to post 86 cooler housings....you may want to double check the year on that...I can look it up too if you like. Generally straight forward.

Cadenza_7o · 04-12-2001, 02:29 PM

Yeah, mine is an '87 944S.

Thanks...

Niki

Weldin · 04-13-2001, 03:10 PM

Yeah
It looks like it says 87 & later....get the Haynes manual...it doesnt sound hard.

Gordon Rankin · 04-14-2001, 08:42 PM

Weldin,
I didnt notice what your car was but in one of my 924's, the replacement of the tensioner for the timing belt solved that problem for me. Used to drive me crazy..

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Gordon

[This message has been edited by Gordon Rankin (edited 04-14-2001).]

Weldin · 04-15-2001, 06:17 AM

Gordon
Mine is an 85 944, but as I said, before I re-sealed the balance shaft I replaced the tensioner, and it made no difference, I even experimented with different belt tensions & nothing worked -- until I played with the shaft housing bolts. I dont know, I suppose we could be talking about 2 different whines possibly(?)

early_944 · 05-13-2004, 05:50 PM

i realize this thread has been dead for quite some time. but, i would like to ask a question for the knowing. i have the "whine" its from the balance belt. i took the belt off and the whine goes away. taking even further steps, i replaced all the old rollers with new ones. no luck.
i find it interesting that loosening the balance shaft plate relieves the noise. however, i'm not so sure about how loose they are permitted to be. plus i would like to know how hard the bearings are to replace. i'm pretty convinced my whine is from a bad bearing.
thanks