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[joecitizennn]

I am interested in pinpointing the problem causing blown heads in 1987 924S cars. No one seems to know if it is bad head gaskets, or improperly installed gaskets, or head bolts that dont keep torq. What is known, is that the 1987 924s has a spooky tendancy to blow its head around 70-100k miles. To help pinpoint the likely cars, I think it would be a good idea to start recording vin#s and which ones have blown and which ones have not.
Just state the mileage, last 6# of your vin, and if the head blew or not.

[924guy]

i suspect alot of the "blown head" diagnosis are actually bad oil cooler seals. the mixing is almost always assumed to be from a bad head gasket. when i had 924S , i did have an actually blown head in that mileage range, but i suspect it was more due to a oil seal failure combined with continued driving resulting in an overheat, rather than an actual head issue. on the upside, i got a bargain and after a new head install, got several years of use out of it , probably still going today, somewhere in the midwest...
im thinking the mileage to failure ratio has much to due with lack of proper service interval, more than anything else, but itll be interesting to see if that theory holds up..
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[gohim]

It is entirely possible that some head gasket failures were the result of improper maintenance. The 924S was the least expensive New Porsche available during the years that it was manufactured. To this day "posers" who are more interested in claiming that they are Porsche Owners or Drivers continue to purchase and abuse or neglect these cars.

While it is possible that some "headgasket" failures were actually cooler seal failures, this would have/should have been discovered during the repair process. It is very hard to misdiagnose a cooler seal failure as a headgasket failure when there is a gallon of coolant in the oil pan. Oil Cooler seal failures do do pump the coolant expansion tank full of exhaust gasses either.

BUT, I have personally inspected something over three dozen used 924S cars that were available for sale, since 1990, and with very few exceptions most all of the ones with the target mileage range had either already suffered from a blown head gasket, or were suffering from a blown headgasket. The condition of the cars varied from running wrecks to showroom fresh. The quality of maintenance does not appear to be a significant factor to whether the headgasket failed or not, since virtually all failed.

It is interesting to note that I have also seen dozens of 944s from the same period (I am always shopping for more Porsches), and very few of them suffered from blown headgaskets when they were in the same mileage range.

As I have written before, I suspect that the problem is due to a difference in assembly procedure, or materials that was unique to the 150hp U.S. Market 924S Model Year 1987 engines assembled in 1986-1987. It is interesting to note that when the problem engines were repaired, most all of them did not suffer from a blown headgasket a 2nd time. Two of the 924S that I test drove had just had replacement headgaskets, and suffered from repeat headgasket failures while I was driving them. I suspect that the problem with them was a poor headgasket replacement service.

Could it be possible that Porsche assigned an/some inexperienced mechanics to the 924S engine assembly line (sabotage or they just plain screwed up), or that the equipment (torque wrenches) on the 924S engine assembly line was not calibrated correctly, or that the 924S engine assembly line got a batch of defective or inferior headgaskets?

1988 924S models did not suffer from the headgasket problem, and they shared the same exact engine and assembly line with the 1988 944 engines.

[Lynn Dykgraaf]

1987 924S, 131,000 miles, complete service records from new, all required services completed on schedule. First owner was fanatical... My kind of guy. NO RECORD OF THE HEAD EVER BEING OFF. Last owner was the type who wanted to say he had a Porsche but slacked on service. He only had the car for one year and did almost nothing. Very few miles were put on the car by this owner. Service stuff piled up and rather than do it he sold it to buy a Boxter. I am the third owner from new.

Serial # WP0AA0922HN456277

[dgz924s]

87 924S and no issues since birth, same great boat Lynn sails on.

Now there are going to be a ton of variables causing HG failure and to try to nail down a common issue is not realistic.

Water used in the coolant is a major one on an aluminum block.
Poor installation...torque values, scrape/gouges in the mating surface.
Defective gasket
Warped mating surfaces
Wrong gasket used ie; thicker one for a shaved head on a non shaved engine/head.
_________________
Dal Glassinger

[924guy]