Michael Benno

I purchased a S4 motor from a local dismantler about a year ago. You can read about that in this thread Purchasing a S4 motor - what to inspect beforehand. It's taken me a year to find a hoist and a stand, arrange transportation and convince my wife to let me take on this project. I had to finish a few house projects first, as well as, wrap up the GTS 5-spd manual transmission swap. So all that took about a year and now I am ready to start this journey. Here are some shots of the before photos. The build date on the car (WP0JB0922HS861120) was 12/1986 and the engine code: M28/42 81H 06549 with 144,544-miles.


I wanted to start this thread to document this journey, entertain some of you, frustrate others with my uninformed questions, laugh at my mistakes, and celebrate awesome outcomes. I'm not a very experienced auto mechanic, nor an engineer, but I really enjoy learning this car stuff and I've always wanted to get deeper into an engine and this was an opportunity to pick up an motor locally and use it as a learning opportunity and hopefully create something good (or just sell off the parts). At this point I don't have an outcome in mind other than to disassemble and asses the re-buildable condition of this motor.

Earlier this week, @PorKen helped me load the motor form the truck to the stand and roll it into my basemen t. Only to realize my careful measurements of door width and motor didn't account for the wider stance of the stand. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the motor inside. I was able to squeeze it into my already very small 1-car garage. Special thanks to @PortlandTom for the use of his hoist and stand. This is where the motor will live for now:

Working on in in the garage is probably a better thing, given how dirty and oily the motor is.

I was pretty excited the first night and started pulling the intake off. It has this nice GB fuel line but it's so badly kinked it's not usable.


The CPS housing is chipped, it doesnt seem terminal but it may be nice to have it fixed. Question: what do I need to know about block repairs. Is it specialized?


There does seem to be evidence that there was a fire at the back of the motor. These cam plate holders were melted on both sides. The injector covers were replaced with GTS style, the harness shows evidence of repair in this area and the cadmium coating on the injector rails looks burned off. Plus both dampers look to be new.


Looks like late GTS injector covers. Note the hole for mounting the breather hose between left and right valve covers.


Notice the 928.104.413.1R heads. Quite a bit of oil in the valley made for some fun cleanup. Notice the fancy oil cap. Q: Who makes that oil cap?


The injectors were replaced with these Bosch 0-280-150-556, AKA Ford Yellow top injectors. I noticed that one of the injectors was not properly sealed in the manifold. They look like nice injectors and I may want to swap them into the GTS when I do the intake on that car. Q: How should I store these to prevent them from clogging with old fuel?

Well that's a start, hopefully it not too boring for you all.

Speedtoys

hwyengr

Oh thank goodness. On seeing the thread title I was worried your just-finished trans swap car ate a belt.

skpyle

Michael, good work so far!
Take your time, and enjoy the ride.

RennHarry

All in that tiny little garage? You, sir, are an inspiration. Following.
Pro Tip Request: How, exactly, did you talk your wife into this? Asking for a friend...
Cheers

Zirconocene

That oil cap looks a lot like what is (was?) offered by 928 Motorsports. There seem to versions on eBay, as well, so I don't know what to make of that.

For the injector storage, a little Marvel Mystery Oil in them and on the outside, then stored in a ziploc should keep them safe and happy.

Cheers

Michael Benno

I took a peak under the left side cam cover, looks pretty clean under there and all the cam lobes looks to be in perfect condition, but I’m not really sure what to look for so please take a look at the photos and give me some advice on how I should be inspecting this



The left side intake cam PN 928.105.292.6.R. I looked up this part number and the WSM calls this the Club Sport version Q: Is this part number a Club Sport intake cam?


left side exhaust cam PN 928.105.294.04.R . Q: What cam is this? I can seem to find a reference to it? the XXX.XXX.294.XX designation seem to align to S3 engines but I cant find that XXX.XXX.294.04 designation.


below are some close ups of the cam lobes and lifters.








what is this port? Is this an oil pressure supply?


Here is a video of the cam chain and tensioner block. Is that gap correct? I can see the pads look new and I can still read the raised part number under the chain
Edit: after turning the engine by hand the oil pressure pumped up those retainers.

From my untrained eye it would appear as though the cams were replaced, no info on springs or lifters also being replaced but the lifters look new. Comments and questions appreciated.

Speedtoys

"Is this an oil pressure supply?"

Oil drainback valve for the head.

http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=103-00

#44 area.

You'll want to replace 44 and 43 in there

Kevin in Atlanta

Definitely the o-ring needs to be replaced. Take a look at the spring and ball bearing for corrosion. I've replaced the ball bearings in the past.

Zirconocene

If you remove the cams, I have hold down blocks you can use while you remove the caps.

Cheers

Michael Benno

I'll take you up on that. I do plan to remove the heads so the cams will come out. If anyone has other special tools for the head / cam removal, I would be interested in renting them.

Thanks for the recommendation Jeff and Kevin, I'll definitively add that to the list of items to service.

Before I go much further with disassembly of the motor, I am want to put some thought into what tests and inspections should be done before I remove the timing belt or the heads. Q: Are there any tests I should conduct to determine the health of the valves or the rings like a compression or leak down tests? Should I inspect the main bearings before going futher or can they wait until the heads are off.

Kevin in Atlanta

But, what you are really going to have to do is repair the CPS mount. It's a mess. It was hammered on from all directions.

Darklands

Better an engine in the garage than a mistress! My wife goes in the gym, I wrench in the barn.

Nice project! I will do the same in a few weeks.

GregBBRD

The casting part numbers mean very little, since all the various cam grinds (for each location) come from the exact same casting. I use the casting number to quickly identify intake versus exhaust and 1-4 versus 5-8, when I'm looking through the pile of used cams, on my shelf.
The stamped numbers, on the rear end of the cams, are what identify the specific cam grind.

The color of the chain guide would indicate that it is old...they start out white.
The amount of wear is also consistent with the mileage.
The "wear" occurs on each side of the part number....the grooves in the surface.
If the part number is gone...that would be insane wear (I've never seen one that worn.)
Look at the chain cross section and it all makes sense.

GregBBRD

Fixed it for you...

Under this aluminum part is a spring and check ball, which closes as soon as there is no oil pressure. And opens when oil pressure is present.
This keeps all the oil in the head's oil galleys from returning to the bottom end of the engine, when the engine is turned off.
Helps with "dry start" wear issues.