new engine?

[Guest]

Hi all. i was just wondering how much and how easy is it to fit a new engine in my car as i think mine has given up the ghost. would a local garage be able to do it or would it need someone that knows about these cars?

Thanks Chris.

p.s. if i did have a new engine fitted, would it be best just to fit a standard 2ltr in it again or is there anything better that could be put in it?

 

[937carrera]

Fitting a 924 NA engine is not too difficult a job. I wouldn't consider fitting anything else as the differences from 924 to 924 turbo and 924S are much greater than they look. Your local garage shouldn't have a problem but you might get better value from an independant specialist.

 

[Guest]

cool, is there much difference between the years or should i go for something that is the same year as mine, 1980?

 

[937carrera]

AFAIK there's no difference on the main engine internals between the years.......they're all 125HP, in Euro spec anyway

 

[Guest]

would it be best just to fit a standard 2ltr in it again or is there anything better that could be put in it?

I stopped a guy in a West B'ham street who was driving a red 924 with a 'powered by 968' badge, no spoilers or add-on bits.

Looked under the bonnet - it sure was!
He didn't fit the 6-speed box tho'

Said that the whole project cost £2k all-in (more than the value of the car)

Anyone know who he is?

 

[924nutter]

Non alcoholic version. There have been attempts to fit the 5 cyl lump, and articles about this abound on the internet. The turbo engine has a larger diameter central drive-shaft and different flywheel, and even if the 2.5 would fit the fuel injection system is completley different. 2.0 litres of N/A engine it is. There are things that can be done but I dont want to turn anymore people to drink.

 

[924nutter]

This could be Simon Butterworth of Porsch-a-part. He races a red one, so converted.

 

[Guest]

ok guys thanx for that. i much appreciate your help.

 

[Guest]

Iv just had the recovery truck pick my car up to take it to zentrum and the guy recons that my head gasget is gone, sounds about right, loss of power and getting v hot, no smoke out of exhaust though. so i shall wait and see.

 

[usermjg]

good luck []

 

[Guest]

yeah cheers. im dreading what they find tomorrow :-(

 

[924nutter]

A heady is not big deal. 924s don't seem to eat their cylinder heads. The most common place for a failure is into the oil gallery at the back of the engine from number 4 pot. I would expect to do a gasket in 5 hours without the facility of a hoist which would reduce the time further. There are a few bits that need to be reached from below. Worst case sheared studs on the downpipe. The 924 uses stretch bolts at about £2.50 a pop for the N/A engine (the turbo re-uses existing) Gasket about £52 and then add labour. While they have the cambelt off get them to put a new one on they are still under a tenner, and consider the tensioner if you can run to it. You aren't going to see much change out of £300, depending on labour charges, sorry to say.

 

[Guest]

oh thats not to bad, well its allready got new belts on it so they r ok. you mentioned something about oil, and to be honest the oil light sometimes flashes even though it is full, not sure about that 1? i can accept £300, since im willing to spent about twice that.

 

[PaulHere]

Did you know that you check the oil level on a 2.0 when it is still warm around 15 minutes after driving?
May affect the levels to some degree.

 

[Guest]

no i didnt know that. any reason for that? sounds weird to me.

 

[PaulHere]

Actually, now I've re-read it, the way it is worded in the 1983 MY manual is open to interpretation - it says:

"To get a true reading, the car should be on level ground. After turning off the engine, wait a few minutes for the oil to return to the oil sump"

You would naturally wait for the oil to return to the sump anyway, but the "...wait a few minutes - After turning off the engine..." made me think the oil had to be warm to get a true reading.

It could mean that warm oil (which would expand) would take up a slightly different amount of volume in the sump than when it is cold.

Or it could be a case of it saying in super-legal-disclaimer speak - "Don't try to check the oil level with the engine running!"

I suspect the latter now! []

 

[924nutter]

It is acceptable for the oil light to come on when the engine oil is hot, at tickover. This is because as it all happens in an instant it is not generally realised that the light is set to illuminate 'til the oil pressure reaches about 1 bar, to give an earlier warning of low oil pressure and give the alert driver a chance to switch off an prevent secondary damage. Check the gauge to see if it is showing about 1 bar, or at least 4 bar at 5000 rpm. Water from the water jacket leaking into the sump at the point of failure of the head gasket, if left unattended can result in the oil floating on the water. Where is the oil pump pickup? At the bottom, so the pump can end up circulating an emulsion of oil and water, which wont help maintain oil pressure. That said, when the gasket went on my first 924 in 1988 I elected to drive about 30 miles (at reduced speed) replenishing the water as necessary when the temperature gauge started to creep up, and I found the engine fairly forgiving of that kind of abuse, and once the engine was up and running again it seemed to have suffered no ill effect from the experience. I changed the oil, and drove it as hard as ever (one memorable occasion saw me stopped by a police motorcylcist in 1991 on the A3 for going so fast the guy on the bike couldnt keep up through the sweeping bends going towards Petersfield, and he gave me a right bolly when I slowed down for the road works, but no prosecution) for a further three years until I decided to put in a different cam and did a full rebuild at the same time.

 

[924nutter]

When the manual was written, which I suspect was 1978 going by the vin plate numbers in the photos, we didn't have to worry about that sort of ar5e covering memo sort of thing. Imho the idea of leaving the engine for a few minutes is just so that the test conditons can be reproduced every time to ensure that they are comparing like for like. An overfilled sump can lead to oil leaking through the RMS ( rear main seal ) and onto the clutch plate. Severe over filling can lead to excess pressurisation of the sump do to insufficient free volume, and thus, other incidental woes. When you change the oil, you effectively let all the oil drain back into the sump and then out of the drain plug, then remove the filter. You then pre-fill the new filter (don't you?) replace that and top up to the mark, having first replaced the sump plug, with a new gasket. If you can't put the oil in quick enough you haven't put the sump plug back in yet. Seriously though, a quick run to get oil pressure up and then a re-check. By this time the oil will not have sloshed around into all the nooks and crannies that it can, and this is the correct reading.