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944 head gasket gone again

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bradster

New member
1986 944 head gasket gone again
In a dilema weather to sell the car with second f**ked engine or keep the car and replace the 4 cylinder with more reliable rover v8 engine, i Would scrap the car but ive just paid £360 on fuel lines and the body work is good . Iv been looking at 944s on ebay and thay going for around £500 with running engine,non turbo. I not letting the car go for that.
thanks brad
 

ORIGINAL: bradster

1986 944 head gasket gone again
In a dilema weather to sell the car with second f**ked engine or keep the car and replace the 4 cylinder with more reliable rover v8 engine,
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Sorry to hear that, but wouldn't it be more logical just to replace the head gasket than try (a fairly ambitious) engine transplant?

944 engines are in my experience far from unreliable, and even a consumable like a head gasket seem to last an average of 20 years/100k before going, and other problems are pretty rare too.
 
i'd sort the head gasket,& check you retughten after a few warmed up miles, or better still use a torque wrench ...... how has it blown 2 !!
 
Having had a few Rover V8s, I do not believe it is more reliable than a 944 engine. Very few of those go for 20 years without cam failure and/or sludging leading to lubrication failure
 
Hi Peter yes second engine still got first engine in garage .iv only had the car for 6 mouths and the head gaskets have put me off the engine plus engine seemed under powered mybe iv had some bad luck
Thanks for replys
 

ORIGINAL: bradster

Hi Peter yes second engine still got first engine in garage .iv only had the car for 6 mouths and the head gaskets have put me off the engine plus engine seemed under powered mybe iv had some bad luck
Thanks for replys
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Stick with them, they're great engines really, you've just been unlucky. They are not the most powerful, especially for the weight of the car, but as a package it all should work really well.
 
Where are you in the UK? Get the head gasket done and drive the car.Depending on where you are depends on who to do it.Or do it youself .
 
Sounds like your 'new' engine could be as worn as your old engine.
What went wrong with the first one? Are you sure the head gasket failed?
 
Do you know how much it will cost for parts full rebuild and skim block/head ,engine done 160 000 miles because I'd use original engine and is it possable to gain a few more horse from engine .
Brad
 
Check the radiator and cooling system as that may have done the damage, i was about to start to change a headgasket a couple of years ago but due to work commoitments at the time took it to my trusted local garage, they checked out the cooling system first and found a faulty radiator.
I would not have done this and would probably be looking at another popped headgasket.
 
Just bought a full top end gasket set for my S2 was only £150 from Porsche Glasgow.It has every seal gasket you need . Good value in my opinion.
 
just for the hell of it could you describe the symptoms the engine has now ?

what temperature on the gauge did the engine used to run at normally ?
Did it tend to run hot ? did it lose any coolant ?
Are you sure you bled out all the air in the system ? they are notoriously difficult to bleed ...even garages have problems with them

A common cause for head gasket failure is a faulty coolant system. The electric fans on these cars are supposed to run with the ignition switched off but due to faulty wiring or a duff temperature sensor many owners remove the fan fuses because their batteries run flat . My fan used to suddenly switch itself on at around 4am on a cold morning and run all night outside the house ???[:(]

I'm very suspicious that two head gaskets have failed like that. There is more to this than coincidence
 
Two engines with same apparent failure would be unusual.
On 8v cars oil in water or vice versa is often the Oli cooler
Abnormal build up of pressure in the coolant system can be the little bleed hose from the top of the rad to the top rear of the expansion tank (probably right where it fits on to the tank)
As the guys have said 160k is nicely run in!
 
can i describe the symptoms now the coolant system is full of think chocolate milkshake,the second head gasket went due to the 90degres hose pipe split from engine to or from heater at bulkhead .temp running normal untill this point notices smoke in rear view mirror, looked at gauge in red so pulled over steam bellowing from engine bay and havent done nothing since. the first time head gasket went i purchest car drove 20 miles not a problem till i got home then temp gauge went high expansion tank going crazy so i thougth head gasket so got second engine for £250.
 
first time head gasket went i purchest car drove 20 miles not a problem till i got home then temp gauge went high expansion tank going crazy so i thougth head gasket
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Mine did this, as I was driving in to the garage for a service. It was nothing more than air in the system, they are VERY hard to bleed thoroughly. I'd suggest getting that engine looked at first, as it just could be something simple.

Sadly a lot of cars seem to be suffering HG failure over the last couple of years; I'd guess that 20 years is about the limit and it's worth considering replaciing an original as a precautionary move. Whether that's a sign of the engines being unreliable I don't know. What other cars from the '80s, with 6-figure mileages, would not be needing a new HG by now? Let alone the other problems that would probably have sent them to the scrapheap long ago.
 
It's a piece of cake to change the head gasket. The old ones rot through which messes up the coolant path through the block which could in turn lead to temperature issues which fail the gasket further. How many head gaskets are going to last 20+ years?
 
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