Another 944 Turbo Engine Rebuild Thread

[dlknight]

Hi Folks,

I made some massive progress on the car over the weekend and almost killed myself yesterday pushing it out of the garage, turning it around, and pushing it back in the garage. I must have sweat a few gallons!

Now to start on the engine rebuild, I already sent away the throttle body to Simon at SPS and it came back looking better than new! He also kindly offered to answer any questions when I start with the build. I've also read David's and Stuart's rebuild stories, paying close attention to the details!

I hadn't originally intended to rebuild the engine, just change the clutch and fix the leak at the RMS whilst restoring the back end of the car.

However, upon removal of the clutch and flywheel I noticed that was what felt like a lot of movement in the crankshaft. I measured it with my not 100% accurate dial gauge at 0.8mm which is twice the allowed measurement in the workshop manual.

Before this the car ran OK and felt as fast as when I first got it in 2007, however I noticed that the oil consumption had increased (it had always had an appetite for oil however). I also have a feeling that I may have a head gasket leak as the coolant level does slowly drop with not much evidence of a leak. When I changed the oil after the car came out of storage in 2018 it came out looking like milky coffee, but I thought that it smelled of fuel more than coolant.

I will try and capture as many pictures as possible along the way.

The plan is to do as much of the work myself as possible and employ a machine shop to do the serious work.

Next task is to buy / borrow an engine removal crane, stand, and support beam. I'm going to try taking the engine out of the bottom (Clarkes garage says about 21" of clearance is needed to slide the engine out from underneath). If clearance is an issue, I can take the intake and fuel rail off beforehand.


Emerging from the garage after hibernation for 2 years!


After a quick clean, yes the rear looks high, the gearbox is currently in my utility room, so I'm hoping it sits right when that is back installed.


Back in the garage, ready for the engine to come out.




Rebuilt throttle body from Simon at SPS

 

[blade7]

Or, you save a lot of time and perhaps money, and ask Eldavo if his spare freshly rebuilt 2.5 engine is available?

 

[Eldavo]

Well, I guess I can’t just keep looking at it forever.

 

[g59tester]

David, That's a remarkably tidy/empty garage. Where is all the clutter /tools or have you just moved in?
Eddie

 

[scam75]

I'd be tempted for that drop in, freshly rebuilt, 2.5 from Dave. All the worms from that build are safely back in the can!

You could then rebuild your own at your leisure. From memory (and Dave can help!) I'm sure it is sleeved with forged, uncoated, Wossners. Has the oil pick up pipe strengthened, has the steam vent kit fitting tapped into the head, has a MLS head gasket, doesn't leak, and it works! And the machine work was done by AMAC, same as mine.

Dave probably only wants a couple of hundred for it to clear some garage space..............

Stuart

 

[blade7]

I'd be tempted for that drop in, freshly rebuilt, 2.5 from Dave. All the worms from that build are safely back in the can!
Dave probably only wants a couple of hundred for it to clear some garage space..............

Stuart

He could probably fit it in half an hour too [].

 

[dlknight]

David, That's a remarkably tidy/empty garage. Where is all the clutter /tools or have you just moved in?
Eddie

I hate clutter, I try and clear up after each job in the garage. Tool chest is hidden behind the car along the back wall. I'm hoping in future to get one of those nice garage storage cabinet sets like Stanley and others make.

I'd be tempted for that drop in, freshly rebuilt, 2.5 from Dave. All the worms from that build are safely back in the can!

You could then rebuild your own at your leisure. From memory (and Dave can help!) I'm sure it is sleeved with forged, uncoated, Wossners. Has the oil pick up pipe strengthened, has the steam vent kit fitting tapped into the head, has a MLS head gasket, doesn't leak, and it works! And the machine work was done by AMAC, same as mine.

Dave probably only wants a couple of hundred for it to clear some garage space..............

Stuart

I've got £30 in my wallet and a couple of old pound coins? I could throw in a packet of digestive biscuits? (j/k obviously in case anyone takes offense)

He could probably fit it in half an hour too [].

Now that would make a good YouTube video [s5]

Reminds me of Svreten and his Alpina engine rebuild he did multiple times on M539 restorations channel []

 

[Eldavo]

I think my record is MOT done by 10:30 and engine out by 14:00 but I had help - and a fully stocked Porsche independent’s workshop.

Chocolate digestives????

As for the engine spec - there’s literally a whole thread on it! (And it comes with an engine stand too)

Don’t know who this "Dave” fella is that everyone keeps talking about though?

David

 

[scam75]

Dave sells cheap engines David.......

 

[Eldavo]

Dave sells cheap engines David.......

Wants £5k []

 

[blade7]

Dave sells cheap engines David.......

Wants £5k []

Stick up some pics of it on the stand, so people can see what's included. Porsche breakers probably want £3k for tired high milers.

 

[scam75]

Dave sells cheap engines David.......

Wants £5k []

Worth every penny in my opinion. I doubt you could build one to that standard for anything like £5k and it comes with no issues.

Indeed breakers looking for £3k for tired engines, that need thousands thrown at them to get anywhere near the standard yours is.

Stuart

 

[Eldavo]

Cheers guys, I’ll stick a proper post up in the For Sale forum in time but for now I’d rather extend the option to people on here.

 

[Eldavo]

Here:

 

[blade7]

Bargain.

 

[dlknight]

No progress on the 944 this weekend, spent two days replacing front control arms, ball joints and a CV boot on the X3 daily. Had to abort early today as ended up tearing the inner CV boot when trying to get the drive shaft re-seated. Many swear words were said, now waiting for an inner and outer CV boot so I can continue the job. I'm pretty sure BMW engineer these things to maximise workshop hours. The driveshaft blocks the removal of the lower ball joint which is a world of pain to remove.

 

[dlknight]

Finally, some progress after finishing work on the X3 (for now) and doing some central heating maintenance before the winter arrives!

Got the messy jobs out of the way by draining the coolant (managed to save about 3L of it as it wasn't that old) and the engine oil. The oil looked jet black which was better than last time I drained it (was a milky coffee colour). There *may* have been a small amount of coolant in the oil, couldn't tell if this was contamination from the coolant I drained first. When pouring the oil into an empty can I noticed a little bit of water right at the end (underneath the oil). Not that it matters if the engine is getting rebuilt anyway!



Got through some more steps of the Porsche Workshop Manual guide to removing the engine. I've completed most of the steps to do on the top of the engine, and have now raised it to full height on my 3 ton axle stands (around 20 inches clearance under the front of the bumper). I've got some 6 ton axle stands which are slightly taller to stick under before dropping the engine, possibly with some blocks of wood for extra height.

Now to complete the steps underneath the engine to prepare it to be dropped. I put together my engine support beam this evening and fitted it under the bonnet. I realised that I will also need to support the rear of the engine as I've already removed the clutch, flywheel and torque tube shaft. I'm going to use my transmission jack with some big pieces of wood under the oil pan.





About to order a 2 ton engine crane, load leveller and engine stand. Have been checking locally on facebook marketplace but not much around.

Not looking forward to removing the engine mount bolts, I tried replacing them a year or two ago and gave up as it was almost impossible to get any tools on the nuts.

 

[dlknight]

So the stuff arrived and progress was made over the weekend, assembled the chinese crane, which had questionable instructions and not very good looking bolts.

Never removed an engine before so took my time and made sure I'd completed all the steps in the Porsche workshop manual.

The wiring on the left side by the brake master cylinder would have caught me out if it hadn't been mentioned in the manual.







Coming next, trying to squeeze the engine out from under the car, wondering if it is ok to tilt the engine forwards slightly?

I've got more extension on the front axle stands, so could raise it up to the next position, and the last option which I really don't want to do it remove the front bumper.

 

[blade7]

Good work. I've pulled a few Ford 4 and 6 cylinder engines in the past, but I wouldn't fancy pulling a 944 engine unless I really had to. I might remove the head first, so I didn't have to lift the car as high.

 

[JohnCRS]

With the engine on the ground, could you secure the engine crane and use that to lift the front of the shell?