924Board.org

[Danski]

Hey guys had my car on the road now for about a month and loving it! Now that the big issues are all solved I am beginning to iron out any other small issues. One thing I have been wondering is what is normal in terms of tappet noise, temp gauge reading and oil pressure? My car is a 1985 NA running penrite 15w40 oil (good choice?).

Here is her running after a 30min drive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxg_fscS5ec&feature=youtu.be

This car has just had head gasket done, new (but used) cylinder head, all filters replaced, timing belt etc. I did adjust the tappets back to stock spec and the engine was quite(ish) for a bit, I just noticed yesterday that maybe they are a tiny fraction louder than normal but could of just been me after adjusting the idle/mix again. What are everyones thoughts? Should I pop off the camshaft cover again and check or does all sound ok?
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1985 Porsche 924 NA

[9xx]

Sounds good to me. 924 engine is not particularly smooth sounding, there will always be some mechanical sound there. Good oil pressure and no overheating. Looks like a nice car you have there
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Mikko

All gone: 931 '82 Alpine White, original option "220" G31 with LSD + 3 x 944

[morghen]

Wrote you on youtube.
With a hot engine you get 3.5 - 4 bar at idle? i think thats a tad high, is this a freshly rebuilt engine?
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Supercharger and EFI kits
https://www.the924.com

[Ian89C4]

Engine sounds good.

Oil Temp is a bit high for idle, but it could just be the higher viscosity oil you are using...takes it a bit to thin out and drop in pressure. The big one is to make sure that you are increasing above above 7 at full tilt.

To get her to warm up the coolant a little you could try swapping out t-stats with a higher opening temp one. When using her hard she should really be up around the center of the gauge, although we want to keep them as cool as possible, cars do like certain operating temps to perform at their best.

Car looks fantastic!!

Cheers,
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Ian Edgerly
North Carolina

Current:
1981 924 SCCA/ChampCar Weissach Race Car ("Serenity")
1987 924S ChampCar Endurance Car ("Der Weg")
1980 924 Euro ("Wahala")

[emoore924]

I dunno. Sounds a bit on the noisy side to me. Since these cars are known for eating cams and followers, it might be worth popping off the valve cover and checking follower clearances with the engine hot.

[jason c]

[ThomasJoseph315]

It really depends mostly on the heat index of your area as to what weight you use. Over the past few weeks when the temp has been 90-100°F I have tried multiple different options and see how the car drove. I have been using pretty much 20w-40 or 20w-50 for the past year and wasn't really happy with it. When it gets hot around LA, it really gets hot. For me the 20w-50 was to much of a oil thickness swing so I began doing some research. The first mistake I made was running modern oil with low ZINC. The Tappet engines, much like push-rod engines rely on zinc to keep the banging of the tappets and push rods around at bay. This is when I learned that Mobile 1 high mileage had a larger amount of ZINC, and that is the main ingredient in all High Mileage oils. I used Mobile 1 10w40 high mileage for about a week. I know, I know, I widened the gap, but the oil said it would protect from temps of 25-105°F,.. BULLCRAP! Driving on the highway it was fine, but when I was in a traffic jam it felt like I was running water it was so thin. 2 days ago after a few days of research, I switched to Valvoline VR1 straight 30 weight. This is what the Haynes manual says to use up till 85°F then after bump it up to straight 40 weight for constant summer weather, but in the mornings it's not over 85 and after work it's not that hot as well, only around 2-3pm is it over 85. VR1 has high ZINC in it and between that and the weight of the oil it's been a pleasure driving this week, tappet noise was at an all time low, no abnormal noises from the engine, it sounds wonderful!

As per the 4-speed manual I put in 2 bottles of 75w-90 and 1 bottle of Lucas oil stabilizer. The transmission sounds the quietest it's ever been under my care. Low noise = no metal to metal wear =

So to sum it up,..

In my 85-100°F area I use Straight 30weight VR1
and Transmission Valvoline SynPower 75-90 (2 Quarts) & 1 Quart Lucas oil stabilizer.

[Raize]

Sounds like mine has sounded for the past year/8000 miles. No engine failure yet. I don't drive it sympathetically either.

[Danski]

Thanks guys for the response! I think i'll warm up the engine and pop off the cover to re check clearances, but glad the noise is nothing alarming. Car is going great, just got to do gearbox oil now.
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1985 Porsche 924 NA