Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and just bought my first Porsche, a 1982 928S auto.
Bought the car as a project, most of the work can do myself but will need help with the engine.Bodywork is in pretty good condition and interior is clean as well, but the engine has a blown head gasket.
Would it be wise to go down the route of changing head gaskets or looking for a replacement engine? At the moment the oil looks pretty white but engine sounds ok, although I didn't run it for a long time. I found this engine from a 1986 928S2 on ebay, would it be compatible with my model?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260573148292&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Any advice would be greately appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan

Hi Dan and welcome to the tipec forums.

Firstly, I hope you know what you are letting yourself in for in taking on a 928 as a project car!

You are going to need very deep pockets.

The question you have asked has many variables to take into consideration but personnel speaking I would repair the head gasket on the engine you have as this would be by bar far the cheapest and less complex of the two options.

You would preserve the originality of the car and avoid any compatibility issues with another engine with what is probably an unknown or unprovable history. Better the devil you know. etc.

Ben

PS. I am working on my own engine at the moment, but not the head gasket. >

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/ ... CF2696.jpg

The 1986 engine wouldn't be a straight swap as your '82 has mechanical fuel injection whereas the later '86 engine will have electronic fuel injection (doesn't mean you couldn't use the '86 engine, just that you couldn't just drop it straight in).

In any case I agree with Ben in that it makes more sense to replace the head-gasket on your current car, just make sure it is actually the head-gasket that's gone - it may not be the case for your model, but some of the symptoms of head-gasket failure are also caused by the failure of the built-in oil coolers in the radiator.

Many thanks for your advice guys.

After reading some of the posts on this forum I begin to realise this is not going to be a cheap project but I hope I can do most of the work myself ( eventually with the help of a friend who knows a lot more about engines than I do) and keep the costs to the minimum. I will follow your advice and replace the head gaskets, also I can change the timing belt at the same time for peace of mind. With regards to failure of the built-in oil coolers in the radiator, what would be the simptoms? Would this type of failure cause the oil to get like milk-shake?
Another thought that crossed my mind is if there is a cracked head, how would it be possible to test it ( or just a visual check is sufficient?), and how easy would it be to find a head for this engine and at what cost?
It seems that repairing the existing engine is the best sollution as the engines I found on ebay so far are not guaranteed in any way and like Ben said, better with the devil you know.
Cheers,
Dan

Somebody may correct me on this, but can a failed radiator on the 928 give water in the oil, making you think the head gasket has gone? Worth checking if it can, although I'm not sure how you test it.

Hi

You are correct. it CAN and gives the typical head gasket symptoms

The way you test it is this....you have a head/block test done, I have the Snap on Kit if anyone is near me, I will willingly do it for free...(Bournemouth) or you could buy the kit from a Snap-On van or Ebay (around £40)

With this kit (which most garages will have) it tests for COMBUSTION GASES in the water, it will not fail the test if you just have water and oil mixed from the rad...

So get the test done FIRST....

I would hate you to pull both heads and then find it was unnecessary....

All the best Brett

Hi Brett, very kind of you to offer a free test, unfortunately I'm not that close (Worthing), but definitely will carry out the test first. Is there a part number for the Snap- on kit or it's just called head/block tester?
Cheers,
Dan

Bought a Universal head gasket tester on ebay for £30 and also looked up on youtube where there's a few demos of how the kit actually works, will carry out the test as soon as I get it delivered.
Cheers,
Dan

Hi Dan

Engine MUST BE HOT so open coolant cap VERY CAREFULLY or get engine HOT with cap off (easier)

Any questions just ask...don`t forget you need to suck the GASES from the top above the water in the coolant tank...NOT the coolant/water....... test results are....

Still BLUE = head gasket fine

GREEN = head gasket or cracked head (run test again)

YELLOW = head gasket or cracked head

All the best Brett

Hi everyone, done the test and colour changed from blue to green in less than a minute, I suppose it didn't turn yellow as I didn't wait for engine to heat up, don't want to cause more damage. I started stripping the engine, took the bonnet off,drained oil and coolant,took off fan, belts,air intakes, fuel pipes. There's one particular fuel pipe which goes from the front of the intake spider around the back of the engine and have no idea where it goes and how to disconnect it. Also, does anyone know if the engine needs to come out in order to change the head gaskets or can all the bolts be accessed with engine in the car?
Cheers, Dan

Hi Dan

Personally I would ALWAYS do any HG job with the engine IN the car...if possible...

Now with a 928, I know it IS possible but everyone says "its a lot easier" to do after taking the engine out....

They then say....you can do all the other jobs while its out..like sump gasket etc etc...

BUT... any V8 is large and bloody awkward to pull out...you need a good engine crane and TWO people minimum...

So would I do the HG`s in the car ...yes.... but its your choice...

All the best Brett

Thanks Brett,

To be honest this was the answer I was looking for as I don't have a hoist/crane and engine stand and the cost of hiring/buying these would come to a few hundreds. I also don't have the space so it would mean leaving the car out in the road which I'm not very keen on. I agree it's a lot easier to work on the heads with the engine out but I can't afford this luxury. I found a few threads with pictures where heads have been taken off with engine in the car so with the right tools all bolts can be reached. So I guess I'll just take my time and do a bit every weekend, so far I'm enjoying working on it and I'm amazed of the overall condition of this '82 car.

Cheers, Dan

Done some research about shaving the heads and pressure test them prior to installing new head gaskets and found a thread mentioning that ''milling heads will throw off the cam timing. The 16V cams can not be adjusted, unless the Porken adjustment kit is used.''
Does anyone know if this statement is true or it's a straight forward job?
Cheers, Dan