924/944/968 Frequently Asked Questions

944 Oil/Water Heat Exchanger Seal Replacement Procedure

The following note was co-authored by Albert Broadfoot - my thanks to him!

Note that the 924S, 944, and 944S have an oil/water heat exchanger, while the 944 Turbo and 944S2 have instead an oil filter console that routes oil to an external radiator. This procedure applies to all 944-series cars as well as the 924S.

Preparation

Identify the type of oil pressure relief valve on your car. There are four versions of the valve that Porsche has used. Two are obsoleted by two newer versions, so there are in fact only two versions that you need to be aware of.

model year	model(s)	qualifier	version
1982-86	924S, 944, 944 Turbo	all	A
1987	924S	up to engine no. 43 H 01919 - manual 43 H 60384 - automatic	A
1987	924S	from engine no. 43 H 01920 - manual 43 H 60385 - automatic	B
1987	944, 944S, 944 Turbo-	all	B
1988-forward	924S, 944, 944S, 944 Turbo, 944S2	all	B

Version A

In original production from 1982 - 86, a three-piece spring and piston oil pressure relief valve was used. In 1987, a one-piece version was introduced as a retrofit to early production cars. There does not seem to be any service bulletin which suggest the retrofit is recommended except where the original relief valve is not operating properly.

The following part numbers are relevant to servicing early production cars:

part	number
valve	944.107.035.11
o-ring	944.107.935.11
seal ring	N.043.815.3
alignment tool 9215	000.721.921.50

Version B

Porsche began producing model year 1987 engines in July '86. These engines received a new type of one-piece oil pressure relief valve. Unfortunately, in engines produced between July and October, the relief valve was not anit-corrosion treated. Porsche recommends that when servicing these engines, the oil pressure relief valve be replaced with the corrected, anti-corrosion treated part.

The affected engines are as follows. The second column has the first engine numbers in production that received the Version B, untreated valve. The third column indicates the first engines that received the corrected, treated valves.

model	engine number, untreated valve	engine number, treated valve
924S/944 manual	43 H 01920	43 H 05373
924S/944 automatic	43 H 60385	43 H 61268
944S	42 H 00140	42 H 02847
944 Turbo	45 H 00086	45 H 01256

The following part numbers are relevant to servicing Version B relief valves:

part	number
valve	944.107.035.01
o-ring	944.107.935.01
seal ring	N.043.815.3
alignment tool 9262/1	000.721.926.21

Tool and Supplies

You'll need a 24 mm. open crowfoot socket to perform this procedure.

You'll also need the correct alignment tool described above. Some folks just use the oil pressure relief valve itself to do the alignment, but we recommend using the proper tool for better accuracy.

Parts

You'll need a kit with new style seals and a gasket for the housing ("console"). It costs roughly US$20.

Procedure

The job takes about 45 to 90 minutes, once you have the car safely jacked.

1. Remove plastic under-tray.
2. Remove two 8 mm. bolts (13 mm. head) from upper right sway bar mount and pull it down.
3. Remove oil pressure relief valve from oil cooler housing, using a 24 mm. socket.
4. Remove oil pressure sending unit and wires. 24 mm. crow's foot or wrench and 7 mm. wrench for one term. The other terminal pulls off.
5. Remove two 6 mm. bolts (10mm head) from heat shield mounted on oil cooler using 10 mm. socket, 1/4" drive with a 2" extension.
6. Remove four 8 mm. bolts (13 mm. head) from all sides of oil cooler housing. Remove oil cooler housing from engine with oil cooler inside.
7. Remove oil cooler from oil cooler housing. Clean with part cleaner. Must be free of particulates!
8. Remove old o-rings (eu! that's a touchy subject) from both sides of oil cooler and install new green Viton o-rings. Reinstall cooler into clean (must be clean) housing after applying lube to o-rings.
9. At opposite end of cooler install black o-ring rubber spacer (with grease) and reinstall cooler to block. Hold in place while reinstalling 8mm bolts (13mm head). Do not tighten all the way! Just barely snug down so the cooler can be moved from side to side.
10. Install the alignment tool into the oil pressure relief valve's bore in the cooler housing. Tighten it snuggly into the engine block, aligning the housing with the block.
11. Now tighten down the four 8 mm. (13 mm. head) bolts.
12. Remove the alignment tool, install the oil pressure relief valve with a new o-ring and seal ring.
13. Now reinstall heat shield, oil pressure sender and sway bar mount.
14. Change oil, filter and flush coolant.
15. Bleed cooling system using tall cut off funnel that fits snugly in res. and loosen 12 mm. head bleeder at top of coolant neck, pore fresh coolant into funnel untill a bubbles are gone from bleeder valve and tighten.
16. Start your engines!