[speedysprocket]

Hello,

I have this 92 968 engine with 155,000 miles sitting on the floor that I'm getting ready to put in my 87 944S. I'm doing the belts and rollers, front and rear crank seals, and I want to change the cam tensioner pads. They are all intact and the sprockets look perfect, but grooves are starting to wear in the pads.

The motor supposedly ran strong, the lobes on the cam look perfect and there was absolutely no gunk in around the cams. The lifters were noisie, but it had been sitting a while- I'm hoping some SeaFoam can fix that.

So is there anything else I should replace? I have a set of rod bearings for a 944 motor; are they the same and should I put them in while the engine out? Do the timing belt tensioners go bad or should I reuse the one I have? Any other updates I should consider? I'm not looking to do a few rebuild, just make the engine reliable and leak less oil than my current S motor...

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[DaveN]

There is a tensioner upgrade for that engine, cheap part from RSB.

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[Cloud9...68]

I'm in a similar situation, but it sounds like with slightly different goals. Pulling the engine out of my car was quite a job, so I only want to do it once. So, I plan, and would advise, to replace EVERY seal on the thing, especially the o-rings inside the balance shaft covers, as the ones on the lower one in particular are VERY difficult to replace with the engine in the car, and they tend to spring leaks.



Are you planning to pull the head off? At 155K miles, your head gasket is on borrowed time, so this is another thing I would do. And the same goes for the rod bearings, although I don't know if 944 bearings would work in a 968 engine; my suspicion is that they won't. If you really don't want to do a full rebuild, i suppose you could leave the rings alone, although at 155K miles, there probably somewhat worn as well.



It becomes a very slippery slope; once you start taking a few things off, it's easy to talk yourself into doing the next thing, and then the next, and then pretty soon, you've stripped your engine down to the bare block! At least I know that's where I'm headed...

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[Scott Collins]

Hello speedysprocket,



You are in a very enviable position, to have that engine out of the car. It's about 8 -10 hours to pull one. I'm sure that you are chomping at the bit to get it in, but have patience. Here are some things that I would seriously consider doing, especially because they are really tough things to do with the engine in the car and much, much easier with it out. I thinks it's also piece of mind when you get on it, knowing you have no worries about something just waiting to fail.



1. Head gasket - unless it was recently done. If it's original, how much time does it really have left? Relatively cheap preventative step, especially since you want to do the belts.

2. Cam chain, vario-cam tensioner pads. The chain stretches over time. I had RS Barn replace chain and pads for me about a year ago, with 80K miles. Pads were original, and well on their way to failing.

3. Oil filter housing gasket ( this one is a must, if it's not leaking it will, and when the engine is back in, you will curse the day you decided not to do it.)

4. Balance shaft housing seals. These "weep" over time, and are really tough to get to with the engine in the car.

5. Timing belt hydraulic tensioner. - just replace with new unit. About $100.

6. Power steering hoses/lines - these things are a real b*tch to get to normally, but with the engine out, it should be a breeze. They always get brittle and leak.



There are many other things, like the oil pan gasket. I don't know much about the connecting rods and bearings, but like was mentioned in an earlier post, it's a slippery slope.



Best of luck with all of this. Keep us up to date.



Yours,



Scott

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[Cloud9...68]

Also, take a very close look at your firewall where the clutch slave cylinder mounts to it. Check for any sign of any cracks; if you find any, this is a good time to find someone with a welder to weld them up, and to install the D1R firewall brace. It isn't an easy job, even with the engine out, but it's probably a little easier.

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[speedysprocket]

I've never heard about 944 firewalls cracking... Is that a 968 thing?

What is the "tensioner upgrade"?

Thanks for the responses!

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[Cloud9...68]

The clutch slave cylinder is mounted at the very edge of the firewall, close to where it meets the left inner fenderwell, and the firewall isn't connected to the fenderwell, so the firewall tends to flex when you push in the clutch. Over the years, particularly on cars that live in a snowy climate, where they salt the roads, cracks have been known to develop. It isn't exactly a common problem, but there have been plenty of reported instances. It's common enough that our very own Flash has developed a nifty support brace (available through RS Barn) to provide some extra support for the firewall by bracing it against the left shock tower, thus limiting the flexing. It's a great piece of preventative work that I would highly recommend. I'm planning to do it to my car for sure.



You can check how much your firewall is flexing by placing a pry bar or large screwdriver between the inner fenderwell and the clutch master cylinder, and gently pulling on the pry bar. I was amazed how little effort it takes on my car to significantly move the clutch master cylinder, so I can see how this could eventually lead to a crack. I don't see any cracks in mine, but I definitely want to put in the brace.

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