Another 944 Turbo Engine Rebuild Thread

[blade7]

Ahhh Wuf - I remember that car, used to belong to Rick.

Ben was selling WUF when I had a drive in it. But the huge turbo felt very laggy, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's been off the road for years since he sold it.

 

[dlknight]

Quick update time!

I've now covered 895 miles since the rebuild and the only issues so far have been bleeding coolant (literally), fuel smell around the back of the car after a long drive on a hot day and a slight leak of oil from the steel cam tower gasket (on the list to replace with the standard gasket over the winter).

I took the car for a 4-wheel alignment in August at a place I'd been to before in the 996 (one used by Harry's Garage for his Jaguar Project 8 car). After a couple of hours, they admitted defeat and couldn't work out how to setup the rear torsion bars. No charge but a wasted afternoon.

When I got home, I checked and found that they had been turning the wrong eccentric, adjusting the ride height instead of the toe or camber. They also then messed up the front toe with the altered ride height.

I had to spend a couple of hours getting it reset back to my "ball-park" measurements, ride-height and toe much improved!

Dimension	Front Left (mm)	Front Right (mm)	Rear Left (mm)	Rear Right (mm)	Comment
A	298	305	310	307	Centre of axle
X	144	152	268	272	Front = head of bolt on lower control arm pivot block Rear = centre of torsion bar
E	154	153	-42	-35
Basic	641	654	653	653	Ground to top center of wheel arch

My coolant issues seem to be much improved; level is now consistent and it hasn't boiled over or needed bleeding for some time. Seems happy sitting between Max and Min when cold (goes up to Max when hot).



New Varta E44 Dynamic SLI battery fitted as I needed the old one for my new project (see below), spins the engine over much faster!



I redid the fuel breather hoses on the fuel filler, this time I used some proper ethanol proof fuel hose from Cohline (2240), which is quite expensive. I'd previously used cotton braided breather hose that was similar to the original but I wasn't confident about it's quality (from a popular eBay seller). I also replaced the seal on the filler cap.



When I noticed the fuel vapours, I also found that the gearbox and fuel tank were very warm, obviously the fuel will get warmed up on a long journey as it goes around the fuel rail in the hot engine bay and back to the tank. So, I decided to insulate the new fuel lines in the engine bay to try and reduce the heat transfer.



Finally this is what has been keeping me busy and I will start a thread about it somewhere soon!

NOW


11 YEARS AGO

 

[TTM]

Did you not install the steam vent thingy at the back of the head? It helps very much with bleeding the circuit.

 

[scam75]

Did you not install the steam vent thingy at the back of the head? It helps very much with bleeding the circuit.

I did not know that benefit. I did the steam vent thingy and come to mention it have had zero bleed issues since.

 

[dlknight]

Did you not install the steam vent thingy at the back of the head? It helps very much with bleeding the circuit.

Yes, but didn't seem to help in my case, I did mess around with it quite a bit before I tracked down the main issue that made it boil over (the faulty second radiator fan connector). Changing the fan switch didn't help as I introduced a whole load more air into the system

All good now though so hopefully it stays that way.

On another note - got the suspension setup at Center Gravity today, and the car now handles like it looks, superb!

Steering feels great and not heavy anymore, I'd actually managed to get the rear camber and toe pretty much spot on which they commended me for doing in my home garage! I will blame the last guy who tried to set it up for knocking out the front settings

BEFORE


AFTER


And now around 1050 miles since the rebuild.

 

[blade7]

Yes, but didn't seem to help in my case, I did mess around with it quite a bit before I tracked down the main issue that made it boil over (the faulty second radiator fan connector). Changing the fan switch didn't help as I introduced a whole load more air into the system

All good now though so hopefully it stays that way.

On another note - got the suspension setup at Center Gravity today, and the car now handles like it looks, superb!

Steering feels great and not heavy anymore, I'd actually managed to get the rear camber and toe pretty much spot on which they commended me for doing in my home garage! I will blame the last guy who tried to set it up for knocking out the front settings

BEFORE


AFTER


And now around 1050 miles since the rebuild.

I had my suspension set up by Chris at Center Gravity after I'd fitted a new set of KW's. Must be over 16 years ago, does he still take the car up the road, to make sure he's happy with it? When we got back he put it back on the ramp, to make sure it was still in spec, but the settings had been lost. So he checked everything again. I had set it up beforehand with string lines and a spirit level, so it wasn't miles out. But I couldn't check the hardness of the tyres, like he did though.

 

[dlknight]

I had my suspension set up by Chris at Center Gravity after I'd fitted a new set of KW's. Must be over 16 years ago, does he still take the car up the road, to make sure he's happy with it? When we got back he put it back on the ramp, to make sure it was still in spec, but the settings had been lost. So he checked everything again. I had set it up beforehand with string lines and a spirit level, so it wasn't miles out. But I couldn't check the hardness of the tyres, like he did though.

It was Pete who did my car, we went out for a drive first and then another after he'd set it up. They balanced my front wheels on the road force machine and adjusted the front wheel bearings as well

 

[TTM]

Whenever air gets into the coolant circuit it is very helpful to do what I call a cold bleed, and that is blowing air with your mouth in the coolant tank to push air out and fill with coolant until it comes out of the bleeder screw. Tightening the screw whilst blowing into the tank as coolant comes out takes some practice but it makes the normal, hot bleeding much easier and quicker afterwards.

 

[blade7]

It was Pete who did my car, we went out for a drive first and then another after he'd set it up. They balanced my front wheels on the road force machine and adjusted the front wheel bearings as well

It was over £300 all those years ago, despite passing on the corner weighting. They'd have to put more weight on the drivers seat now too . I think Chris had just taken someone on to help him back then, and I had to wait over a month for a slot. I have the tool to adjust the rear suspension, so if you get a chance to take a pic, it would be interesting to see where your adjusters are sitting now.

 

[dlknight]

It was over £300 all those years ago, despite passing on the corner weighting. They'd have to put more weight on the drivers seat now too . I think Chris had just taken someone on to help him back then, and I had to wait over a month for a slot. I have the tool to adjust the rear suspension, so if you get a chance to take a pic, it would be interesting to see where your adjusters are sitting now.

It is a bit more than that now, but it is worth it considering the level of detail and attention, not just a quick and fast setup at the tyre place for £150. I could take a picture of the adjusters, but I don't think it will help much as moving them even a hair changes the alignment. What helped on mine was starting with the height adjustment in the center of the slots. I then marked the current toe and camber settings with a paint marker and made small adjustments. You can estimate how much and which way to move the adjuster to get in the ballpark.

 

[blade7]

It is a bit more than that now, but it is worth it considering the level of detail and attention, not just a quick and fast setup at the tyre place for £150. I could take a picture of the adjusters, but I don't think it will help much as moving them even a hair changes the alignment. What helped on mine was starting with the height adjustment in the center of the slots. I then marked the current toe and camber settings with a paint marker and made small adjustments. You can estimate how much and which way to move the adjuster to get in the ballpark.

All the rear suspension and the torsion bars were removed and refurbed, and elephant racing and poly bushes were installed. So it could be miles out. I'm not sure if any tyre places know how to adjust the rear alignment now?