996.1 engine woes

[Alex]

Something similar happened to phil997 on here and he ended up having a full engine rebuild. A bit of the cat got sucked back in.

 

[Haalex]

Do you have a link to that thread? Phil seems to have thousands of posts and I couldn't locate the one you mention.

 

[Alex]

Gen 2 not intended as a scare story and is just my Car

After 4.5 years of gen1 ownership with no issues other than servicing and replacing the coolant pipes and one rad. I saw a lovely gen2 C4S at my local indy and was smitten .The car belonged to one of the guys involved with the indys race team he had wanted a car with 4 seats as close to a GT3 as...

911uk.com

 

[911UK]

that was damn unlucky,
it was a damn fine sounding car

 

[Haalex]

I just got the time to speak a little longer with my indie. The diagnosis is confirmed and no rebuild is needed. That's the good news.

On to the not-so-good news. They are:
-several coolant pipes look bad. Since the exchanger was replaced in the past, the shop thinks it probably failed and oil went into the coolant lines, which damaged them. They want to replace all the ones that can only be accessed with the engine out. Seems reasonable.
-at least one lifter looks like crap and isn't coming back on. This might explain my start-up tick. The question is : should the 23 others be replaced as well?
-being the engine is out and a head is off, my indy wants to replaced the variocam chains (i.e. the chains between cams) & pads on both sides out of precaution. Is this necessary? Should be under a grand with labor.

AOS will be done, flywheel checked, and the engine mounts appear good so they're staying.

Alex

 

[bananaz]

If all that is under a grand with labour then I'd press the button. The advice sounds very believable and comes from a place of knowledge.

The variocam chains are a common wear point into their tensioner pad, lots of youtube vids on this. If you're having the rocker covers off to do this work, then it might make sense to change all 24 tappets but this may be overkill if all you have is one that is a bit lazy.

The main thing is that it sounds like you are in safe hands which is key.

 

[FZP]

What a stroke of good(bad) luck. The suggestions seem reasonable and a good idea whilst the engine is out. Cheaper than getting it done at a later day with re-work.

 

[Haalex]

Just got a call from my indy. The car is ready and working, picking it up this weekend.

The invoice is on the better side of what I expected: 4.8k€ w/ tax for everything (engine out / in, gearbox check, head off / back on with new bolts, etc., 24 new lifters, new variocam pads & chains, oil change & filter, AC refill, etc.).

 

[bananaz]

Great, back on the road again!

 

[911UK]

Just got a call from my indy. The car is ready and working, picking it up this weekend.

The invoice is on the better side of what I expected: 4.8k€ w/ tax for everything (engine out / in, gearbox check, head off / back on with new bolts, etc., 24 new lifters, new variocam pads & chains, oil change & filter, AC refill, etc.).

good progress, keep us posted

 

[Haalex]

I collected the car yesterday and drove it appx. 50 miles home. It runs well, on 6 cylinders (yes, that's a small victory) though haven't really pushed it beyond 4.5krpm.
Wanted to make sure the ticking noise it had on cold startups was gone, so I let it cool overnight and listened closely this morning. It seems gone and I hope it's not coming back:



I also think I found the source of a headliner rattle, which is quite nice as it was driving me nuts.

The next expenses -and hopefully the last for a while- will be a Rennline phone mount (already ordered), and set of new tires. The current ones are P Zeroes (which I don't like), and they're getting very close to 10 years old. They're in very good visual condition but wobble a bit and I don't want to spend on balancing a set of 9.x years old tires.

 

[ATM ATM]

I collected the car yesterday and drove it appx. 50 miles home. It runs well, on 6 cylinders (yes, that's a small victory) though haven't really pushed it beyond 4.5krpm.

I can understand being gentle but I believe running in is more to do with pistons, piston rings and big end bearings. So if these have not changed you should be fine to drive as you see fit.