OK, if you are serious, and I really can't tell anymore!!... it was pretty easy working around the cat (I am going to resist the temptation to use the other obvious term that comes to mind here). I did have to cut a screwdriver so it was very stubby (oh, no, another inuendo!). I didn't find working on the cat side was significantly harder than doing the other side.

I really struggled with getting the right feel for how tight the gauge should be. This was the first vavle adjustment I've ever done. I ended up going through it 3 times before I was somewhat satisfied. I could have tinkered with it endlessly trying to get it just right. But the fact that it's damn near impossible to set the gap and then tighten the bolt without changing the gap... well, I'd never be satisfied I had them "just right."

The biggest issue I had was the feeler gauge would become contorted after a while and it then rendered an inconsistent feel. Move it to the left, it felt to too tight. To the right, too loose.

So my best advice --- now that I am a professional --- is buy a lot of extra blades. Change them as soon as they get jabborwacky so you have a consistent feel.

There is a lot of subjectivity to this process. It should be a straightforward "the gauge goes in or it doesn't" but that is far from the truth. At least it was for me. Next time, they will be tighter.

The whole job took me about 13 to 15 hours. That's from the time I put the jack under the car until I had it all bolted back together (oil change, oil filter, new spark plugs, new distributor cap and rotor, valve covers back on, new oil in).

I spent about 1 hour on the first valve! Last vavle took about 15 minutes. There was quite a learning curve.

 

Good... I want to use the allen key bit (thanks for giving it a name). I need the ability to put some torque on it.

I'll leave the wheel hub on to break the bolts free. So if my brake isn't enough to hold, I've got an alternative. Never thought of that... no wonder my buddy had such a fit with his C4

 

I ordered the boot kits from Pelican, but they don't carry the tool for some reason. I think I can buy it from Performance. I'll check into it.

Tie wraps?! The other Porsche pilots would laugh at me.

He's an idiot. But, I love him anyway.

 

I got the tool from Performance, but it was kinda weak. The claw did'nt get much crimping done before the handle started to bend. It has held for 9 months or so. Good luck, it's a dirty job.

 

On my early car (1969) letting the wheels/tires hang (while jacked up) put too much angle on the rear joints to allow access to all the bolts (boot was in the way at the top). However, by turning the wheel/tire by hand and slowly removing the bolts part-way ...I finally got them out.

Installed in the reverse manner.

I used large, black/plastic zip ties to seal the boots. Time will tell on endurance of these.

 

I looked at the Performance pliers and like Douglas mentioned, they look pretty week for the job they have to do. Mine are Oeticker brand and heavy steel and aren't going to bend in use. I'll box em up if you decide you want to borrow them.

Tie straps....Who's gonna crawl under there and look?

I will let the "boyfriend is an idiot" comment lay, but he is lucky.

 

I have done lots of CV joints on different cars. My SC has fuly rebuildable inners and outers, yours may have sealed inners but I am not sure.

The parking brake should definitely hold. If it doesn't theres your next project. A few other points from my many CV joint rebuilds.

1. inspect your bolts carefully. They may be " triple square" bolts, this driver is readily available at most retailers and ataches to your extention. If it is a allen key or " hex" even better. My 944 was tripple square , my SC was allen key. Getting the wrong ones could cause it to strip. Also clean the bolt holes and make sure you have your driver well seated.
2. You should replace the bolts on this project, they are cheap insurance.
3. You should have schnorr washers on the bolts . if not add some when reasmbling. These are serated bevelled washers that use friction to hold ( serated ) as well as spring tension. ( More on this in a minute )
4. When cleaning and inspecting yor CV joints you should NOT use solvents , just soap and water. If you do use solvents make sure you wash your CV joints throughly with soap and water afterwards. trace solvents can brake down your CV grease very quickly and destroy your joints. ( i put mine in the dishwasher while my wife went out shopping. )
5. inspect the components carefully. chck for breaks in the casting like the pic I posted. Personally i thought 90.00 per joint was cheap so just replaced them all.
6. The SC requires paper type gaskets on reassembly, not sure what you are driving or if it requires gaskets. This is one of the reasons you want to retorque and use the the serated washers. After you tourque, down the road the gasket compresses and that in effect loosesns the bolt. Also getting grease in the bolt holes cause them to back out. if they get loose enough they can get fall right out or shear off.

7. One method of assembling is to assemble with the old bolts. and when you are done take the bolts out one at a time, clean the bolt hole with brake cleaner and a test tube cleaner, and reinstall with a fresh bolt and schnorr washer. Torque to spec , move to the next bolt hole and repeat. Takes a while but is a sound method.

8. No matter the method reinspect and retorque after 1,000 , then 3000 miles ( next oil change. )

I hope this helps, you can repost or PM with questions.

WOW ... all that with no inuendo ... I like to have fun but working on your car is serious business.

BTW having the axle hanging actually helped in my case as sitting by the car made it easy to get in the top of the cv joints to get the bolts.

As far as the valve adjustment goes. I do have 10 spare blades. and the special J tool . I will probably do it over the next few weeks as my car is in the garage for the winter. my plan was to just tighten it down with the feeler in there , then wiggle it out .. if it wiggles out and I can wiggle it back in , it should be fine right ? .. what do you think having done it ?

 

I will accept your offer to borrow your Oeticker clamp. Thank you.
Yeah, my boyfriend is a lucky guy --- he has an 89 964 C4.

 

You've pretty much got me pegged except for point #1. My family gets the vast majority of my time. It's pretty clear from reading this thread (and many others) that you know a ton more about cars than I do. I think one of my local Porsche mechanics is going to get the job of replacing my CV boots. I'm going to start out my Porsche ownership with some smaller DIY projects first (unless my local p-car buddy offers to help me with the project).

 

They are hex nuts. I have a socket with hex (allen) insert. If I can cut the bad boot off, I can get it in there. I will be careful to clean the nut first so I can get the allen properly seated.

If I have these washers, can I reuse them? Or do I need to replace them along with new bolts?

Great tip. I would have never thought of that. Probably would have soaked them in gasoline. Dawn soap it is.

Geez, I hear these comments all the time. I sure am glad I don't have a wife
No wonder I'm not a wife... I would never be able to live up to the reputation. I'd be the one putting them in the dishwasher myself. Oh - and I drive with the top down. Even when it messes up my hair. That's what pony tails and baseball caps are for! And just one more rant.... on the last local PCA drive, I was the ONLY female driver and I was the ONLY one with the top down!! The other drivers were wusses. You know the type... Boxster drivers mostly OK, I feel better. Back to the important stuff:

I considered buying a whole new drive axle. But my CV joint feels ok when I try to find slop by manipulating it by hand. I can get medial/lateral movement only, which I assume is normal.

Thanks, you may have just saved my life.

I like to have fun with y'all. But I am a serious Porsche owner. I find working on my 911 to be a Zen experience. I'm in the moment. Thinking of nothing else. Just me and the car and the tools. It really is calming. Well, until I can't break a bolt loose then I go from Zen to Rambo and really want to hurt something. I usually end up hurting my knuckles.

Gee... I got off on a tangent again, didn't I?

It's my inside boot that is torn. So I think I could do this project by just dropping it. However, I decided I would not do anything so rational. Instead, I'm removing the whole drive axle so I can replace the outer boot at the same time just as a preventive measure. I'm an idiot, aren't I?

 

You will need the spare blades. Don't be stingy with them. I recommend replacing them as soon as you think it's buggered up and you can no longer gauge the gap reliably. That was my biggest obstacle.

You've come to a real expert. I've done one valve adjustment in my lifetime! But, here's my observation. Your method sounds about right. But, it's not quite that easy. The trick is holding the adjustment screw as you tighten the nut. Not easy in the spaces you're working in.

If you intentionally leave a little slack and let the nut draw it down, you're going to end up with inconsistent results (in my humble opinion). Though that is some people's prefered approach.

I think you have to be able to actually move the feeler gauge a little before you pull it out. If it can't move, you are too tight and you won't get it back in.

The advice I got was "if gravity were allowed to act on it, the blade should NOT fall out. It should just be held in place." I found that useful.

By the third time through, I figured out I needed to feel that the top of the blade was in contact with the rocker foot, and the bottom was in contact with the valve tip at the same time. As in, "It should drag, not slide." Sound obvious... but when I kept that in mind, it helped.

I had them too loose the first time through. Because I was going on the advice there should be a "magnetic feel." And I'll say that I did detect that, but I needed to think a stronger magnet!

When I was done, I could get the feeler back in but I had to work at it. Some went easier than others. I stopped fretting over that, since I realized that no matter how "perfect" I had the adjustment before I tightened the nut, it was going to change. So I lived with a little inconsistency. Trying to tweek each one could drive you slowly insane after a while.

Lastly... I suggest that before you begin your adjustment, note the position of the adjustment screw (i.e. the top of the slot is at it's at 10 o'clock, 12 o'oclock, 2 o'clock etc). This allows you to have some confidence that you aren't somewhere out in left field when you're done. And if you end up in just about the same spot you started... you should feel pretty good you haven't really botched it. That helped me be a bit more confident I was opening up a valve to some crazy setting.

In the end, I had an engine that sounded pretty good to my untrained ears. I can hear some ticking. But, it's a Porsche 911. If it didn't have some ticking, I'd worry.

Let's put it this way... I won't be embarrassed at the next PCA drive when someone listens to my engine and I tell them I adjusted the valves myself. It sounds good enough for that

SO.... if I, with ZERO internal engine experience, can do this by myself in a friend's garage on a couple of lazy winter afternoons... you can do it.

Have fun.

 

Nope not at all.. that is what I did. Then I took the whole axles in the basement and worked on it in peace. I just layed out lots of newspaper and card board.

besides, it is likely the outside one will start clicking as soon as your done if you don't do it.

When I did it I used lots of latex gloves, newspaper , and wore clothes I could throw away when done.

I Still have no idea what you are driving ? If it is a car with the inner cv joint sealed, you have to remove the outer boot and CV joint to replace the inner boot anyway.

You may need a circlip remover, then it will slip off. A few blows with a dead hammer may be needed. look carfully how it is configured. I may have a pic of mine .. but what a mess.. Yuck ...

 

Here is a pic of mine when I got it out..

Oh BTW I can't remember if I told you . I had NO symptoms. but my CV joint was busted up all the same.

 

The outer may be the sealed on looking at the PET but I can't get a good look. Pete Z or Steve may know. IF that is the case you may have to remove the axle disconnect the inner and drive the axle out through the hub. that axle nut will be seriously tight ..

 

Wow, that is a mess! Hard to believe it wasn't making some noise. I have no symptoms either. I found the torn boot when I took the wheel off for the valve adjustment. I'll do a careful inspection once I get the drive axle out.

I bought 2 boot kits from Pelican so I can do both the inner and outer --- like you say, the outer would go bad if I didn't.

I'm not sure what tools I will need - I don't have a circlip remover. I'll get one. amr89C4 is going to loan me his tool for installing the new clamps.

87 Carrera Cabriolet w/ limited slip diff.