Side note - I pulled the exhaust and had a new o2 bung welded on and we saw a lot of oil smoke coming out of the mid exhaust section (waste gate and down pipe and cat) while the guy was welding.
When I got home, I put it up vertically to drain the oil thats still there - maybe an ounce dripped out.
Any recommendations on getting more of the oil out?
I thought about spraying some isopropyl alcohol (90%) from the rear of this section, but don’t want to damage the cat.
Any other ideas?
Btw - there was no oil residue in the wastegate. So everything still traces back to the bad turbo seals.
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2025 4:22 pm
by Black944 turbo
Personally, I would stand it up right and let it drain while the turbo is out being rebuilt. Let it burn off driving it once it’s complete Not sure if that’s the right answer.
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2025 8:14 pm
by Tom
Black944 turbo wrote: Sat Mar 01, 2025 4:22 pm
Personally, I would stand it up right and let it drain while the turbo is out being rebuilt. Let it burn off driving it once it’s complete Not sure if that’s the right answer.
Yeah, I'm not sure there is a good answer for oil in a catalytic converter. I like your suggestion, and would just add that I'd stand it up with the tailpipe up, so that you don't pour any more oil through the cat than already there. I'd worry anything strong enough to cut the oil would compromise the converter.
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2025 10:04 pm
by whalenlg
Exactly what I did so far
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2025 4:33 pm
by whalenlg
Turbo on its way back from Evergreen. 2 day turnaround!
Looking forward to trying out Charlie's upgrades (after break in period of course!)
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2025 4:52 pm
by Black944 turbo
Can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2025 1:46 pm
by whalenlg
I think it's a wrap - rebuilt/upgraded turbo is installed (delayed by having a lot of Sciatica pain the last month. Anyone doing an engine out job, do core strengthening exercises before you start!).
Can't really push the turbo yet - Charlie told me to keep it under 7 psi for a few hundred miles.
Thanks to all of you but especially Tom for extensive advice (in real time and I swear every google search I did had one of his posts going back 20+ years) and encouragement to keep going. Also my friends Anthony, Jon, Robert and son Matthew who would pop into the garage and be drafted to help out.
I think the big lesson in these projects is you normally are trying to optimize against 3 constraints:
-Cost
-Quality/Long Term Reliability
-Schedule
In real life you usually get to pick 2. On these projects, you probably only get to pick 1.
I focussed on quality/reliability, so that meant my schedule went from 3 months to 5.5 (which isn't all that bad). Cost wise I came out probably 4x what I thought going in (lots of surprises like main bearings, head work, blown turbo seals and stuff I thought I might be able to avoid like engine mounts and a new clutch). There were over 100 part line items on my build spreadsheet for this job.
Anyway - there are a couple of small details left (AC recharge new DME/KLR chips to put in), but we are back on the road and after 4+ years finally NO FLUID LEAKS!
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2025 1:50 pm
by Tom
whalenlg wrote: Tue Apr 15, 2025 1:46 pm
I think it's a wrap - rebuilt/upgraded turbo is installed (delayed by having a lot of Sciatica pain the last month. Anyone doing an engine out job, do core strengthening exercises before you start!).
Can't really push the turbo yet - Charlie told me to keep it under 7 psi for a few hundred miles.
Thanks to all of you but especially Tom for extensive advice (in real time and I swear every google search I did had one of his posts going back 20+ years) and encouragement to keep going. Also my friends Anthony, Jon, Robert and son Matthew who would pop into the garage and be drafted to help out.
I think the big lesson in these projects is you normally are trying to optimize against 3 constraints:
-Cost
-Quality/Long Term Reliability
-Schedule
In real life you usually get to pick 2. On these projects, you probably only get to pick 1.
I focussed on quality/reliability, so that meant my schedule went from 3 months to 5.5 (which isn't all that bad). Cost wise I came out probably 4x what I thought going in (lots of surprises like main bearings, head work, blown turbo seals and stuff I thought I might be able to avoid like engine mounts and a new clutch). There were over 100 part line items on my build spreadsheet for this job.
Anyway - there are a couple of small details left (AC recharge new DME/KLR chips to put in), but we are back on the road and after 4+ years finally NO FLUID LEAKS!
Awesome work! 5.5 months is nothing for a project like that for a typical 944. 4X cost is below the over/under too. I'm set up to recharge (but not discharge) r134a if helpful.
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2025 10:35 pm
by whalenlg
Forgot to add the final pic
Re: Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 9:50 am
by whalenlg
As soon as you say "no fluid leaks"....I started seeing a dripping leak from the fuel pressure regulator.
Thinking it was bad since the fuel seemed to be coming from the body of the FPR, I ordered a Delphi replacement that matched the compatibility charts on multiple websites thinking the quality would be better than Uro and not as expensive as Porsche OEM.
Results - see video link of the leak in slow motion. No longer drip drip drip....be careful ordering new parts!
On removing the old FPR, the o ring had a tear, so swapping o rings from new FPR to old, the leak stopped.
I'm set up to recharge (but not discharge) r134a if helpful.