Porblems solved on engine transplant.

[Ian B Walker]

I am in the process of putting a fresh engine into my shed, err car [] I have been using all sorts of electronic reference manuals to assist me. In one it says that to fit the exhaust manifolds you need to remove the studs, true. What it does not tell you is that your steering shaft needs to be removed too. Or at least disconnected from the steering box. I toyed with the prospect of dissconecting the shaft, not that I really wanted to as it took me hours to fit it in the first place. I could have removed the engine mounts and slid the engine over two inches, but once again this is something I wanted to avoid. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The best way by far is to fit it while the engine is out. Something else I learnt. The power cable to the altenator should be routed above the engine mounting. This will keep it out of the wet. I have changed the torsion bar bushes. Because I need them then and my nearest dealer is 2 hours away, I used ones from a Volkswagen. I will add to this list as I go on. No doubt I will have the more knowledgable members telling me that I have it all wrong and I will bow to their superior knowledge. I am just a newbie with 944's

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: Ian B Walker
I am just a newbie with 944's

Possibly. But you are learning in the best way possible - with a spanner in your hand.

Do carry on sharing your knowledge as you gain it. It is in doing this that everyone else can learn as well.


Oli.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Todays progress. Remember to connect your overflow pipe to the radiator before fitting it. I did not and as a result had to remove it to fit the pipe. Engine is in and everything is connected. Bad news is that I have no oil pressure and it runs like a bag of spanners. Prior to starting it up I did a compression test resulting in 10 bar per cylinder. I have a sneaky feeling that the engine is not timed properly. Hit the accelerator and there are clouds of grey smoke out the back. Tomorrow going to check the timming again, get some new plug leads and a new oil filter. Anyone any words of advice / comisseration? Wish me luck.

 

[zcacogp]

None apart from check the obvious (which you are doing), and the less obvious.

I recall fitting a Mk2 16v engine to my (beloved) Mk1 Golf GTi. It had a vacuum pipe from the inlet manifold to the brake servo. When I first installed the engine, I didn't connect this, thinking that it had nothing to do with the running of the engine. Then spent nearly a whole day trying to work out why it didn't suck any air through the air meter when I tried to fire it up ...

Carry on with it. You will get there in the end. The next one you do will be a million times easier. And the problems will seem trivial when you are hooning it along your favourite twistie.


Oli.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Started it this morning and have 5 bar oil pressure, strange. Going to prime the pump after leads etc. I wonder if I have tightened the crankshaft pulley enough?

 

[Ian B Walker]

Explored the oil pump removal today. To do this the sump has to be dropped, the crankshaft pulley removed, the woodruf key for the crankshaft taken out, the cam belts and timing belt removed and the plastic belt covers (inner and outer) removed. Its easy when the engine is out of the car but I would suggest that if you were to do it while the engine is in situ then you should remove the engine mounts, raise the engine 2 inches and suspend it. Then start to remove the above items. The sump needs to be removed (dropped only) so that the sump gasket can be freed from the oil pump housing, (as it sits in a groove). New plug leads ordered as I found it is only running on 3 cylinders. New filter fitted and Oil pressure sender changed. Life goes on [&:]

 

[peanut]

blimey you've got some work in front of you. I hope you have some assistants (wife, daughter etc) maybe that should be assistance lol
I can't say I would relish the prospect of waking up this morning stretching and saying to myself `yippee I'm taking my engine apart again today!'

 

[Ian B Walker]

Actually I quite enjoy it. I must be some sort of masochist. Todays lesson learnt. The distributor. I wonder how many people struggle to put it on and take it off? If you undo the three bolts holding the Aluminium cam cover, it comes off as a unit and makes working on it dead easy. Fitted new plugs and ignition leads, cleaned out and tried another oil pressure relief valve, still the same problem. So in the morning its oil pump change. If that does not cure it then its big ends, however I don't think they are causing the no oil pressure problem when engine is hot. Timeing is still an issue I cannot resolve as yet, but I will. Its either 5 degrees advanced or 5 degrees retarded. I may just end up changing the cam. Who said Porsche ownership was a breeze lol.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Mr Sad here again. Changed the oil pump today and actually got the engine timed to perfection. [] Started the car and it ticked over lovely. Watched the engine temp rise to normal. Still have oil pressure! Looked under the car, big pool of oil. Guess who forgot to seal the oil pump, yep, me, dumbo. Start again tomorrow. Found out today that these engines will run quite happily without a balancer belt.

Tip for priming the oil pump. If you have a compressor use the air line down the dipstick tube to prime the pump. Tip curtesy of Porsche Kendal who have been more than helpful.