JayRogers

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have an 87 944 N/A with a nasty knocking sound. At first I thought it was stuck lifter so I removed the top cam assembly and lifters. Upon inspection i noticed the 5th lifter hole was warped, i could not get the lifter to seat properly or slide in and out with having to force it in. (no matter how much grease I used.) I so replaced the whole assembly with a new one, replaced the lifters and put it all back together again.

I'm still getting a knock somewhere in the engine! However, I forgot to mention, like before it only knocks below 1700rpm. Do you think it's the oil pump? I replaced almost everything else I could, including the whole oil cooler assembly.

So I'm stuck. Do I rip apart the front end to get at the oil pump? Has anyone ever come into this problem before?

Spidey944

First off, welcome to Rennlist! Putting your year/model etc in your signature line will help down the road so you're not always having to post it.

A lifter noise would be more of a ticking than a knocking, but good catch on the lifter bore being messed up! The oil pump is drivin off the crank, what are your oil pressures from the gauge at cold start and when idleing warm?

M758

Could be external vibration causing something to hit and make the sound. Or a spun rod bearing. If you drive it and it blows up you had a spun rod bearing.

Scootin159

Is it possibly rod knock? These cars are renowned for their ability to quickly dispose of the #2 rod bearing.

Mamooguy

Now that's advice you can take to the bank!

JayRogers

I just turned my car on, the oil light comes on now, I didn't notice it before. If I put my rpms up to about 2000 the knock goes away and the oil light comes on. Oh boy!

Oh and were can I edit my signature?

Spidey944

Sounds to me like you are looking at an oil pickup tube issue or a rod bearing issue.

JayRogers

Sounds to me like I'm glad I have a parts car! Suppose I'll be spending the rest of the summer building a new engine. Thanks for the help Doug!

I look forward to posting more of my exploits and progress. (Hopefully not 2 junk 944's for sale.)

Spidey944

best thing to do, albeit labor intensive, is to remove the cam cover and inspect the bores. If you have, and they are fine, remove the oil pan, check the crank and check the bearings. There are a few other steps, but this is a step in finding out the real issue.

JayRogers

Fantastic! I probably won't have a chance to get to it till next week. But I'll most certainly keep you and everyone else up to date.

FRporscheman

Welcome to Rennlist! Unfortunately, users don't get signatures. How much mileage is on the engine? A stupid question, but you have checked the oil right?

JayRogers

I paid for a membership so hopefully that will go through by today or tomorrow

As for the miles, it's an automatic tranny and the speed/odometer sending unit is dead. it says 95+ but I would venture based on the condition that it's at least 125000. As another post said there are well maintained cars and then there are abused cars driven by kids. I think I found the kid car.

Oil wise I'm using Mobil 1 0w-20. Could that have started the problem if it is indeed the oil pump? As for the oil level it's stable, no burn, no leaks.

M758

That is big concern.

Scootin159

+1 - 0w20 is VERY thin for a 944, it would be like running water through the system. Would give good hp & gas mileage, but your engine won't last very long. I run 20w50, but 10w40 is probably acceptable. 10w30 is probably even too thin.

Go & put some 20w50 in there & see if the noise goes away immediately, if not, you may have damaged a rod bearing due to oiling issues.

JayRogers

Oh dear. I'm going to find that Service Tech and wring his neck! Glad I went to a "Reputable" Porsche dealership. Not any more. I've got a million things to do today. So I'll change it up tomorrow and let ya know how it goes. Thanks!