944 Sump Gasket

[me01mp]

Anyone know how fiddly it is to change a sump gasket on a 2.5 944?

I've noticed a general increase in the drip drip since its got hot.. i'm guessing the oils got a bit thinner.

When the engine is fully up to temp its fine.. the castings expand an nothing drips, but on short runs, when the oil gets hot and the engine doesn't its not so good.

So i guess its time to change the gasket. any pointers would be great

Cheers
Martin

[hartech]

The sump gasket bolts tighten up on to spacers sittong in betweem the rubber gasket face - which prevents the rubber gasket from being compressed any more however tight you do them up. Rubber shrinks so eventually the gasket leaks and needs replacing.

The problem is that to remove the sump you need to remove the cross over casting - but the engine mounts sit on this - so you need to support the engine in space first. Now you cannot do this by putting a jack underneath the sump because you need to get that off os well.

You could use a crane over the bonnet space or make a frame that sits on the strut top mount areas.

Then you disconnect the steering shaft and drop the rack and cross member- finally dropping the sump and replacing the gasket.

It is a big job and often the leak is from the balance shaft end "pennies" - so it might be worth checking them and replacing the seals at the same time by removing the balance shaft housings as well.

Not for the faint hearted.

Baz Hartech.

[pcn1]

Martin,
This is one of the times you have to look at the value of your car, see how much the repair will cost and decide if its just a case of living with the problem it its not to bad.

[me01mp]

oh god.

Why cant these people just build something simple!

The car's a Hartech car from the past so its in decent nick and i'd like to keep it up to scratch, so i might just have to bite the bullet and get it done..

What do we reckon then.. 4hrs in an OPC/Specialist??