Urgent Christmas day help needed

[Asiangunner]

RWhy oh why did this have to happen to me...

I think I'm knocking on the four of engine failure on Christmas eve and potentially going to be stranded 120 miles away from home. My cars a 1983 lux

Ok so yesterday I drained my coolant from the bottom of the radiator then topped the system up with comma g48 coolant , I put a 50/50 mixture in and managed to get in about 4 liters and I thought all the air pockets were out as when I took the car to work the temp was spot on plus constant warm air flow from vents etc.

Right then I thought the car will be fine to drive to Birmingham from London, drove up this morning and no issues apart from a bit of a rasping noise from the exhaust but I put that down to a loose nut in the mid section.

Now the problems start, whilst driving around in brum the exhaust started smoking loads and the car didn't feel right and juddery. The temp really started to go up and I pulled in to s petrol station and let the car cool down. I checked the water tank and it was cool to touch so I opened the cap on the expansion tank and it was empty, I topped the water up but the car didn't take a lot.
I started driving again and the temp went up again.
When I stopped I parked the park on a tilt off the curb and again the water tank was empty so I filled it up and the car took a lot more water this time. I pulled away and the car felt really rough, feels like its not firing on all cylinders and still lots and lots of excess exhaust fumes.
Problem I have now is I'm ment to be going back home to London tomorrow on Christmas day but I don't even think I'm going to be able to limp home:-(

 

[robwright]

It sounds like classic head gasket failure syptoms to me. I would advise not driving the car at all until you rectify the problem otherwise your repair bills will just spiral out of control. Hopefully you won't have to have the head skimmed if it is a head gasket failure. Merry Christmas do you have recovery?

 

[Asiangunner]

Thanks for the quick reply mate, yeah it makes sense it is the head gasket. I'm just wondering why now though, could it be something I've done ?

I have recovery and will call them first thing.

When I've been stopping the car I can hear a hissing noise coming from the bulk head end of the top of the engine. Any idea what that could be?

 

[jwindwood]

Head gasket, without a doubt. Recently had the same symptoms with our 924 and the gasket had gone in 3 places.

 

[Asiangunner]

Could it bd an idea to try use a bottle of K Seal just to get me home today? I know the answer is probably no but I'm a bit desperate at this point.
I do have recovery through footman James insurance incase too

 

[944 man]

With only four litres of coolant in then Id guess that the head and the rest of the system is full of air pockets preventing proper coolant (what there is) circulation.

(

 

[Asiangunner]

Any tips for removing air pockets mate? I do have a few tools at my girlfriends I can use..

 

[Lowtimer]

Asiangunner

It is likely that if you attempt to drive the car before the head gasket is replaced and the system thoroughly bled, which is not an easy task, you will destroy the whole engine. It will be cheaper to hire a car and/or get yours recovered, believe me.

 

[Asiangunner]

Cool man, I thought it was worth asking. Christmas dinner with the family is calling me. I'll give the recovery a call now, wish me luck :-(

 

[Eric_Oz_S2]

Did you bleed the system using the little bleed screw near the top of the engine at the front?

 

[Asiangunner]

ORIGINAL: Eric_Oz_S2

Did you bleed the system using the little bleed screw near the top of the engine at the front?

No mate just from the radiator.

Just got home on the back of a recovery truck. Just in time for dinner!

 

[cococola]

PM SENT

 

[bmnelsc]

944s are very prone to air pockets when the coolant is drained. Porsche recommends pressure/vacuum systems for coolant flush and refill. Seeing as you changed your coolant in the driveway, you need to go through the process of bleeding your system to remove all the air. This involves using the bleed screw on the top front of the engine. Best to jack up the front end (or the side which will put the bleed screw at the highest point possible in the cooling system). Warm it up really well and loosen the bleed screw slowly until you get a steady stream of coolant. Careful because it sounds like you will be getting a lot of steam for a while. Top up the coolant and repeat until no more air comes out and no more coolant can be added. Then you will probably have only a little air in the system [].

The last service I had on my S2 did not have a pressure coolant flusher and used the bleed screw technique. I've also tried to bleed any residual air myself on several occasions and I'm not entirely sure that I don't have air pockets in there still. The temp runs up occasionally - usually when slowing from a high speed run, etc. In the spring I'm going to get the coolant changed again by someplace with the proper equipment just so I can eliminate air pockets and see how it behaves after that.

Good luck.

 

[zcacogp]

Ranjit,

Discretion was the better part. Well done on calling the recovery lorry. Hopefully, you have enough time to diagnose the problems with the car (and fix it) before you need to drive it again.

Given that this is now a bit of a discussion about bleeding, my experience tells me that you NEED to use the bleed screw, and it's a bit of a fiddly job. I found that if you can make a seal with your mouth over the top of the header tank (with the cap removed), you can blow enough pressure into the system to bleed it fairly well. (For obvious reasons you should ONLY do this when the engine and system is cool!) Try not to drink too much coolant in the process - it tastes nice, but is poisonous!

If in doubt, bleed it again.


Oli.

 

[JamesO]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Ranjit,

Discretion was the better part. Well done on calling the recovery lorry. Hopefully, you have enough time to diagnose the problems with the car (and fix it) before you need to drive it again.

Given that this is now a bit of a discussion about bleeding, my experience tells me that you NEED to use the bleed screw, and it's a bit of a fiddly job. I found that if you can make a seal with your mouth over the top of the header tank (with the cap removed), you can blow enough pressure into the system to bleed it fairly well. (For obvious reasons you should ONLY do this when the engine and system is cool!) Try not to drink too much coolant in the process - it tastes nice, but is poisonous!

If in doubt, bleed it again.


Oli.

Or if you want to avoid poisoning yourself, attach your tyre compressor to the overflow tube. Take the rad cap off and seal the filler with your hand, just don't let the pressure get higher than the pressure stamped on the cap.

 

[tref]

An '83 944 should bleed ok using the bleed screw and parking it up hill. You don't stand a chance without using the bleedscrew though, and expect to loose a bit of coolant in ensuring all the air is out.

However... bad news is in your case I still reckon the head gasket is probably gone given your rough running and exhaust gasses comments... and I believe you have two reasons for why it could have just gone.
Firstly anti-freeze will find gaps that water won't, so if your coolant mix was a little on the weak side, it may well be that the correct anti-freeze mix found a way through that the previous didn't. Alternatively, if you did have an air pocket in your coolant system through not using the bleedscrew, you may have developed a localised hot-spot which caused the gasket to fail.

Check your oil carefully for any sign of emulsion... flush and change if there is... I believe Porsche recomend changing the main bearings in the event of oil/water mix, and I had main bearings fail only a few thousand miles after an oil/water intercooler failure, despite an oil change... may have been a coincidence... but it did make me think!

 

[944 man]

Measure the coolant that you put in next time. You need just under 8 litres with the heater on/open (7.8l to be precise).


Simon

 

[Asiangunner]

Thanks for all the replies and advice guys, i need to find time to start looking at the car and with a kitchen and bathroom project going on i think i'm going to struggle to sort it anytime soon.

How much do garages normally charge for head gasket work?

I have a independant place near me which i might call if this job is over my skill base.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: JamesO
Or if you want to avoid poisoning yourself, attach your tyre compressor to the overflow tube. Take the rad cap off and seal the filler with your hand, just don't let the pressure get higher than the pressure stamped on the cap.

Now that is a top tip - thanks James!

Ranjit, head gaskets aren't difficult, I don't believe. If you can do the belts and have a torque wrench then you can do the head gasket. And DIY will be the cheapest way forward; there's a lot of labour in the job, which is what makes it expensive.

When the job is done (DIY or someone else), make sure the head is skimmed and the valves properly ground in. Newly ground-in valves will free up a good couple of horses that have been lost over the years.


Oli.

 

[Asiangunner]

Hi guys,

Right i've got some time in the coming weeks to start looking at my car.

I'm going to change the head gasket myself at home with the help of my brother. I need some advice on what exactly to order and what to do while the head is off to just freshen the car up and avoid oil leaks etc.

the car has gone a oil leak at the mo and hopefully i can find exactly where its coming from,

I'm going to order the gasket kit and timing belt from Eurocarparts as they have a 25% off at the mo.

I'm intending not to do a oil change as i only just did one using some pretty expensive motul 300v 10/40w which i had from you subaru days. Is this a big mistake and should i just swallow the costs?

I am going to check the head as best i can but will probably get it skimmed as i understand this will help with getting the car back to its original kind of power, right?

What size alternator belt do i need to buy? there are a few on ECP's?