Overheated/died/won't start

[NoTheOtherMikey]

EDIT: fixed but now no spark. Any ideas?

_____
After a bit of an overheat on the track today, I made the mistake of trying to nurse the car (1984 944) home.

Temp needle pegged; I looked for a place to pull off and when I found one the engine died. Coasted into a parking lot and found that underhood temps were so high the oil was smoking.

Waited a couple of hours and once it cooled down some I tried to restart. Sounded like it wanted to a few times but no joy. No clanking noises and the engine isn't seized.

Thoughts:

Could be a blown head gasket.
--Haven't drained the oil yet but on the dipstick no evidence of anything but burnt-smelling oil.

To diagnose head gasket, do a compression test, correct?

Could be that the engine management system went into some kind of no start mode? Not sure if this car is so equipped.

Any other thoughts or suggestions on where I should go from here? I'm OK with a wrench and don't want to pour $$ into having someone else work on this.

[John_AZ]

You might have burned a valve.
You might have warped the head
You might have damaged the cylinder walls.
If it got as hot as you mentioned----"temps so high the oil was smoking" , there may be damage to the injector seals, TB seals, OPRV & oil cooler housing seals.

I hope that after a few hours cooling down, you can start it.

Yes, a compression and leak down test are necessary.
Compression-leakdown test

GL
John

[NoTheOtherMikey]

So I'm somewhere between a little and massively fjarked.

This could wind up being an excuse to drop an LSx into this beast...

[djnolan]

How far did you drive it hot before it died?

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Probably 2-3 miles. Out of town right now but when I return on Wed I'll see what's what. I do fear the worst. This car appears to have had a hard life before I bought it (though for short dollars).

In other news, today my wife tried to back her Prius out of the garage without closing the hatch. Oops. Bad couple of days for cars at our house.

[Slam]

I'd guess a warped head and/or blown HG. These engines don't take overheating as well as, say, an old Ford would...

[NoTheOtherMikey]

OK. Well, tonight I'll try to figure out what's going on.

My order of operation will be as follows. If I'm doing something out of order or missing something, please let me know.

1. Disconnect battery
2. pull all spark plugs; check for signs of coolant exposure/coolant in the cylinder(s)
3. If no coolant, reinstall plugs, reconnect battery and attempt to start
4. If coolant present, stop and order head gasket kit from PP
5. If no start, check compression per cylinder
6. If poor/uneven compression, pull head using Clark's garage procedure; check for bad gasket, burnt valves, damaged cylinders, warped head, etc

Any thoughts on how long I should expect the head pulling to take? Haven't done this before. Also, to determine whether the head is warped should I be able to eyeball that by putting it on a level surface, or is it more complicated than that?

[krystar]

pulling head. with all tools handy maybe 30-40 min. u'll need a 8mm allen socket/key, and 6mm allen socket that's had the body grinded down to fit into the cam tower hole.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Originally Posted by krystar

6mm allen socket that's had the body grinded down to fit into the cam tower hole.

Can you elaborate on this? Sounds like you're saying I'll need a long 6mm allen socket. Don't have the car here so I can't go out and look. If there's a specialized tool I can pick up on the way home I can probably do that.

[krystar]

u could do it with a long really long 6mm allen socket. the bolt that you have to undo is about 3-4 inches below the "top" surface of the cam tower.

u don't need a specialized..a long allen set key will work but it's easier if u just take a normal allen socket and grind down the body so it's skinnier.

i'd hate for you to buy a new long allen socket and then find out that it's not long enough to reach the bolt. or even worse, that it's barely long enough to reach but doesn't give full engagement and you strip the bolt head.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Standing water/coolant in #2 cylinder. The rest seem fine. Removing head now. Looks like from the Clark's Garage site, that I have to set TDC first. Then pull fuel rail, intake manifold, camshaft assy.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/cyl-01.pdf

[John_AZ]

Lots of info--check all links-- recent thread:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/634566-wyait-cylinder-head.html#post6312046

GL
John

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Three hours in; stuck on exhaust. May have to torch it off after the header as everything is pretty rusted up.

[Fara]

You might have some luck with some penetrating fluid (WD40 or similar) and a couple of taps from a mallet. If it doesn't come loose, try heating the mounting with a gas torch and giving it another go.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

PS. How much can I tell my wife I'm saving by DIY?

[Fara]

Well, if you're anything like me, it entirely depends on how many times you go to the hospital.

[porschetub]

The problem is the stud nuts, they corrode with the heat and after a good soaking in rust penetrant they require the use of a smaller size spanner to start with 1/2" then 12mm if they are real rusty.
I found a lot of the studs came out rusted up with the nuts and thats ok cause the need the room anyway,not sure if you can pull the head with the exhaust on remembering my car is right hand drive,you may be ok.
Best of luck.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Plan is to leave the exhaust manifold on the head if I can. The bolts that are stuck are where the exhaust manifold ends below the car.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

I know the jack point is on the side of the car. Is it also OK to jack at the crossbar under the oil pan? This would allow me to get it up a little higher, I believe.

[NoTheOtherMikey]

Car is back together. I don't seem to have spark, though. I didn't take anything apart but the distributor to remove the cam tower.

Any suggestions for troubleshooting?