Oily Waft ?

[sulzeruk]

THe large bolt head is a coolant blanking plug so doubt you would get oil from there. Mobil 1 is no good for these cars. Get a decent semi 10w/40 or 15w/40 (what I put in all cars I service) in it.
Alasdair

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Quite likely - a number of air cooled 911 owners have found the same problem. On some versions they dont have any gaskets on some joints and the Mobil 1 leaks where the stuff they were designed for doesn't!

 

[J4CKO]

This car is wierd, it doesnt seem to be doing it now, it hasnt "dropped one" the last few times I have used it despite being sat in traffic, giving it some stick and generally keeping an eye open for it, my first htought was there was no oil left but as usual it is full to the brim, have never needed to top it up.

Just had a thought, if it does it at the same time next month do I need to worry, it may mean the car is female, it is a cab after all....

 

[J4CKO]

Ok, the chap who is doing the belts confirmed it is the Cam Cover gasket so going to order one and do it over the bank hol weekend along with an oil change to a thicker oil, think whilst the cover is off I will paint it, can anyone recommend the best paint for this job, colour, type etc ?

Also, will check the tensioner pad whilst it is off, if it is looking like it needs doing is it best to not put it back together or will the cam cover gaskets stand being taken off again ? the top end was done a couple of years back

Any tips on the cam cover, I know not to attack it with a wire brush !

Last owner bought the car in 2006 on 86,000 miles, and there is a bill (Hartech) from Sep 2008 for,

Supply and fit Timing belts
Supply and fit new tensioned gear
Supply and fit Net Timing Chain and tensioner upper
New camshaft bearing and heaxgon bolt
Exhaust cam front seal
Cam cover seals
New Camshafts
New Clutch
Exhaust Bracket
Starter Ring gear
Replace Starter motor

£2922.58 !

This was all at 95,246 miles, car is now on 116,000, so all that lot done just over 20k ago so I am thinking it should be in good order, belts being done today, on time rather than mileage.

Was re tensioned a couple of months later and a starting problem investigated, along with a brake fluid change,
another £386.64.

Apologies for boring you rigid

 

[ChasR]

What oil do you put in (grade, 0W40?).

A number of S2 owners run their cars on 5W40 or 10W40.

 

[J4CKO]

Chas,

I have not actually put any in it yet, despite having had it 15 months, when I got it, the previous owner had just serviced it with Mobil 1, its only done 3000 miles since then, with winter it hasnt been used and its to frigging cold to work on it so it has had to wait, also wanted to see what the leak was and get the beslts done beofre I changed it, will do it over the bank hol weekend along with the cam cover gasket.

 

[944 man]

Re paint, the cam cover should be silver. From memory, and its a long time since I saw one which was new enough not to have changed, it was a slightly darker silver.

 

[zcacogp]

Yes, it was a dark silver colour when new (titanium-esque), but for some reason they all faded to the dirty cream colour everyone is familiar with.

I sprayed mine with black smoothrite, thinned with some acetone to go through the gun. It's worked fine.


Oli.

 

[J4CKO]

Was thinking more along the lines of does it have to be specific paint or will a Rattle can do ?

 

[Copperman05]

If its not burning much oil then I doubt its a viscosity issue, sure its not leaky PAS fluid? Now that does stick.



Edd

 

[J4CKO]

It is definitely engine oil, it runs down the back of the block and onto the exhaust, it stinks, I was thinking (worrying) Head Gasket but Tony Greatorex the specialist who is looking at it just put his hand down the back on the head and it came out oily, a less hi tech technique than my endoscopic camera but more effective.

It is losing a bit of oil, dont think the engine burns much, I think judging by the stink it does occasionally its coming front here, doesn't leave any on the path and doesnt blow any smoke.

 

[Sandspider]

There's a small cork gasket that fits at the back of the block (underneath the rear engine lifting point). This costs a couple of quid and is easy to replace. Worth a go!

 

[924nutter]

My two penn'orth. I had an oil leak on my 8v turbo. No name no blame, but it manifested itself after a journey back from the car having a complete once over by, let's just say, recognised experts. Turned out to be a leak from the amusingly named hippo seal, and when you remove the back (nearest the bulkhead) cam shaft end plate/housing and look at the cork seal you will immediately see why it is called a hippo seal. The interesting thing here is that one of the three 6mm bolt threads were stripped and I wonder how a bolt that is not moved during a 30,000 mile service, and previously uncomprimised and secure, can self-strip in situ. (and as a little aside I have heard some americans pronounce this 'in sytoo', but for them this is probably "normalcy" lol[]). The conclusion is obvious but difficult to prove. I had an interesting Sunday afternoon helicoiling the thread with the head in place on the car, (copious amounts of grease on the tap before you ask about swarf) as it is just a little awkward but achieveable. The net result was and still is a completely sealed hippo housing, and a note to self not to take the car to the same place for any more work.

 

[J4CKO]

Anyone got a picture of the seal in question and where it fits ?

 

[944 man]

Do you suspect negligence / ineptitude or do you think that it was damaged deliberately to generate more work?

 

[924nutter]

ORIGINAL: 944 man

Do you suspect negligence / ineptitude or do you think that it was damaged deliberately to generate more work?

I suspect heavy handedness due to over zealous care with good intentions. I do not suspect for one minute a lack of integrety on the part of the people concerned.

 

[924nutter]

ORIGINAL: J4CKO

Anyone got a picture of the seal in question and where it fits ?

J4CKO is yours an 8valve?

 

[J4CKO]

Mine is an S2, with sixteen valves, all the best 944's have approximately this many valves, some inferior variants do apparently manged with as few as eight and try to make up the difference with some kind of air pumping device, like an Asthma inhaler, but for engines.

 

[924nutter]

if 8 valve then;

 

[924nutter]

I am afraid you will have to work a lot harder than that to wind me up J4CKO. I am very happy with my Turbo. It does have lag if you don't think ahead and get it in the right gear, but we know this and change our driving style accordingly. As one Mr Scott, he of the white S2 said once, "Mate when you let it go in second I couldn't keep up". Oh and because the windscreen is 2 1/2 inches shorter it will go on to 163, but then again mine has only done 45,000 miles.
On the back of the 15 1/2 valve head, (I'm sorry my six appears to have stopped working inexplicably) there seems to be two plugs, one appears to be threaded, on the other, behind the exhaust cam looks like a steel cup held in place by a steel strap and a single bolt. It might be worth getting in there with a rag and some meths to clean it all up then run it up and use a mirror to see if the leak is from there or, as been suggested, from the cam cover seal.