New 944 Owner - NO Oil Pressure - Help

Guest · Apr 4, 2008

Hi all,

Purchased a 944 Lux late last year from Ebay. (I know, not the wisest move) Oil pressure gauge was malfunctioning at the time.

Anyway, had the Timing and Balance Shaft belts replaced by local Porsche Specialist and car was running pretty well for a while, albeit with low pressure (Having also had new Sender Unit fitted).

Now I have NO pressure whatsoever, top end of engine is rattling like a bag of nuts and is overheating big style. Obviously I am not driving the car, but what with the good weather coming in, I really wanna get it fixed.
Anyone have any ideas as to where i should start to diagnose and cure this problem ?
AA man did suggest that the oil pickup may be clogged or fallen off, would this involve engine removal to check this out ?

I am going to be doing most of work myself due to limited funds, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Derek

333pg333 · Apr 4, 2008

Oil pressure regulator? Definitely don't drive it until you know what it is. I would get some very considered opinions or better still have it towed to a specialist. Spend money now to save big money later. Find a trusted person in your area by asking in here would be my suggestion.

Peter Empson · Apr 4, 2008

I had the oil pick up pipe on my Lux break off, it was a little intermittent at first and then it just failed, sadly I wasn't able to stop the engine quickly enough which caused the top end to be damaged. You need to get the sump off to inspect it so it's a bit of a pain, but the engine can stay in place.

rcsalmons · Apr 4, 2008

Check the front crank bolt the oil pump drive gear relies on this being v.tight.

Rich

peanut · Apr 4, 2008

to save a lot of possibly un necessary work I would get hold of a oil pressure guage ,one of the old analogue type that actually measures and displays pressure and connect it in place of your sender. The guage will give you a true reading of the oil pressure in lbs per square inch .
Oil filters are cheap enough. Might be worth changing yours and do a quick oil change with some cheap mineral oil . Your filter could be blocked and your bypass also.
You can also check the oil for sludge and contaminants like bits of gasket seal which is a common cause of oil feed blockage.
If all of these come back negative then its check the crank nut then sump off

If you know a tame Surveyor you could borrow /hire a wall cavity inspection boroscope and stick it up the sump drain plug hole to view the oil collector tube they are illuminated like the surgeons use.

Guest · Apr 15, 2008

Thanks for that. But is it really true the sump can come off with the engine in place ? Are there any particular tricks involved in doing this. My friend who is gonna help me thought it looked like we would have to remove the crossmember to get this off.

Diver944 · Apr 15, 2008

Sorry, but the crossmember does have to be removed to gain access to the sump [

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peanut · Apr 16, 2008

what are you going to do if you get the sump off and find nothing wrong with the oil pick-up tube ?

Guest · Apr 22, 2008

Well Guys, Thank you very much for all your help. Finally looks like being a dry weekend this weekend so gonna try your suggestions and hopefully get my wee baby back up and running....

Here's hoping.....

Guest · May 27, 2008

Just a quick update on progress...

I managed to get a quick look at the car yesterday. As suggested by a friend removed the oil filter and cranked the engine as he suggested that if i get some oil coming from where the filter should be then the pump and pick up should be working. This was indeed the case.

I then removed the nut wher the oil pressure relief valve should be. Along with this nut came a spring, but nothing else. On looking at pictures on net, I believe there should be a sleeve over this with an o-ring washer at the other end. I think this is either missing or jammed in position. Unfortunately it got too dark to investigate further so hopefully, i will try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, does anyone have any advice on what i should do next once i have the "sleeve" removed. I was advised that i should change the o-ring washer and rub the outer part of the sleeve with fine emery paper to "polish" it up, would this be correct ???

Thanks again,

les richards · May 27, 2008

Only just seen this thread but when I had my 944, whenever this problem was mentioned it often was due to the crank bolt not being tight enough, as an earlier contributor has already suggested.