January, 1999

A month or so ago a customer from Baltimore (Charles) mentioned to me that his friend (Bill) had recently purchased a 944S.
He said he would ask Bill to call me, since the car had been acting "funny".

A few weeks later when I talked to the Charles, he asked if ill had called me, since the car was making an odd "ticking" noise.
Bill had not contacted me, so I urged Charles to have him do so since funny noises can lose their humorous appeal rather dramatically.

The next time I talked to Charles, on a  Monday, he mentioned it again, and asked if Bill had called.  He had not, and again, I expressed concern.  That firday I received a call from Bill.  He had had some trouble with his car.

Bill related that his car began making a "ticking" some time ago, and it got very bad earlier that day.  He noticed as he was driving to work that the oil pressure was falling off and the ticking became a tapping became a clunking became a single loud "BANG" and then all the red lights on the dash came on.

"Hmmn.....not good" I said....
"Either you threw a rod or broke a timing belt, and it sounds like the rod.  Either way it's gonna hurt!"

He said the car had been towed to the "local garage", where his very nice mechanic, who didn't know much about them "for-in' carz"
said there weren't no oil on the dipstick"

He asked if it sounded serious.  I commented that it did.  I told him that if he was lucky, a rod bearing spun and the engine seized.
That would require a rebuild, a new crank, a new rod, and a couple of thousand dollars.  He asked what the worst case was, and I said
the motor goes in a very large dumpster.

The next day he called to tell me that his mechanic said he "Couldn't turn the motor ovr...even wid a big 'ol Rench".  I suggested he have
it towed up...which he did.

When I put the car on the lift, a put a socked and Mr. Breaker Bar on the crank nut and the engine spun freely...for about 20 degrees, which was then terminated by a very solid "CLUNK".  Same thing in the other direction.

I pulled the motor

What a treat that is on an "S". The head's so big it looks like Ted Koppel!  Impossible to get to the back of it until it's lowered a bit.

Here it is, out.  Looks OK.  No major oil spewage or holes in the sides...

Time to pull the bellhousing and pop it on the stand.

What a surprise!  Can you believe the clutch center is blown out?  Who'd a tunk it?!?

Uh-oh...a nice long crack in the oil an.  Not a good sign....That still doesn't explain the lack of oil....
 

YOUCH!

That's a rod bolt wedged into the case!  Shrapnel Everywhere!

Here is a 3" long chunk of rod speared into the block

A close up of the rod bolt.  Number 2 (Surprise). Notice the bearing shavings all over the top of #3?  THis took more than a few minutes!

Aluminum Armageddon.  Look at the shavings on the oil pickup!

There's where the rod flailed on the case for a while (pardon my 911 terminology)

Pieces are everywhere!

Ooooch!  Another clunk of the bearing cap!

Jumping ahead a bit in the disassembly, (we will get back on track in the next pic)
here's the bearing cap.  It's wedged in the cylinder.  Let's flip it over and go in from the top....

Time top look at the head.  You can't see it here, but the vibrations blew apart both knock sensors.  Even the connectors are broken!

Here's a funky thing - the "S" motor has an extra roller on he back of the belt
attached to the automatic tensioner assembly.  Looks to be the same roller as used on
the early water pumps without the belt separator.  Also - the cam drive pulley
on the crank does not have a lip on it at all, unlike the 8V engines.

Here's a shot with the cam covers off.

Notice how pointy the cams are, the lobes are almost angular with a very small radius.  That is due to the small base diameter (prime circle).  The cams are covered with brassy bearing fragments and are a quite pitted.  The bearing journals are also filled with particles. Not pretty.

Here's a clue to the another expected problem.  Notice how the #2 intake lifters are depressed...this can only mean one thing....

They smacked the piston.  Notice the exhausts (top) nicked the eyebrows as well.  I'm sure 944S valves are very inexpensive (NOT!)

More apparent from this angle..intakes are stuck open.

So t looks like he head is salvageable, though the cams are rough, and it
will need a valve job, four valves, most likely 16 guides, and a few other things.
The rest of the motor is shot.  All the tensioners are rough.  About the only things salvageable are the nuts and bolts that hold it together!

Oh well.

So we rebuilt him a nice motor and off he went!