Dsalillas

This one shows where the tensioner mount broke.




and a side view of where the pad got wedged




It's not looking as bad as I had thought since there was no damage to the plug holes. What to do now? Suggestions?

BeerBurner

Sit down and have a beer?

BB.

Jay W

Man those pictures freak me out. Mine appeared to have a tiny crack in the side exactly where yours looks like it let go. It supposedly was a new one last year. I think I will order a new tensioner very very soon. You still could have weakened the head and got a crack below where that broke loose. You wont know that until you pull the head. I hope you lucked out though! Looks better than most of the 16V carnage I have seen

Riff

Ugly and one of my worst fears. Though I think that the pad let go and the damage to the mount was the result.

Dal Heger

The damage to the plug holes is inconsequential. The damage happened as I described earlier. You are going to have to get the head off, sent to a shop in hopes that it can be welded up for a new tensioner mounting point, have it checked for cracks, have the cams looked at for damage (are the teeth sheared, or pointed as if they were worn down in the middle), a new chain, new tensioner, and all the work that goes with that. Good time to have a valve job done, new stem seals and guides. MAKE sure that they check for cracks before they do any work. If the head is cracked, you might as well throw it out and get a new one from Porsche.

Sucks when it happens.

Dal.

Dsalillas

Would a 968 Head bolt on to my car?

Dal Heger

it's close, but there are some differences.

The Intake valves are 2mm larger and the cams are different. You'll also be looking at rebuilding that head before putting it on and all the costs associated with that.

My advice. Take the head off, find out what the real damage is, and go from there. The tensioner mount can be rebuilt. Get in touch with a GOOD welding shop that knows how to weld aluminum. If the cams are damaged, you're going to have to find used or new ones anyway, you can't use the 968 cams from that head. The tensioner is a no brainer, and you'll have to get a new one anyway, as is the cam chain.

The valves and the rest of the work to fix the head shouldn't be too bad.

I'd stick with yours. This guy is either hiding something for such a cheap price for that head or doesn't know what he has.

Dal.

Luis de Prat

That worn pad slid off the tensioner like butter...

I'm really sorry this happened. Fellow 'lister aribop recently had the exact same scenario in his S2. Similar damage, too. What's the mileage on your car?

I know it's no use to you now, but seeing this happen twice in this forum over the past 2 months, I'm beginning to wonder whether we should put a warning at the top of this screen in big bold red letters that says "New S2 owner, have you checked your cam chain tensioner?!"

Dsalillas

Are the S and the S2 cams the same?

jonnybgood

Bummer, I thought that the spark plug hole would be damaged. That is a S2 head right? In another post Dal pointed out the three generations of dual cam heads. As a matter of curiosity does your damaged head have a checkerboard pattern on the intake side? If it does then it is a 3rd gen head.

Yea familiar picture to me, ala Joseph Mitro and others.

Shouldn't Porsche do something about these failures like a recall or something. I know it isn't safety related but damn it seems to happen frequently. I suppose they would say it was the result of not adhering to their service intervals. Oh well.

Luis de Prat

Actually they couldn't, as there is no specified service interval for the cam chain tensioner from the factory, believe it or not.

It's just one of those things that the original owner was never going to have to deal with and by the time it's begun happening to 3rd and 4th owners, I believe the cars are too old by industry standards for Porsche to address the issue in a recall.

Jonas Goldsmith

Luis hit the nail on the head... Porsche never fore-saw this as being a problem.... Thus they never said anything about it... Usually it is known that you want to change the chain tensioner (from what i have heard) every 30-45K...

As for what you should do next... besides having a beer... i would say whip out the checkbook... its not going to be cheap... Head rebuilds are about 2-3K not including labor... (i just had one done, i should know)... If you are planning on doing it yourself, pull the cams, and then the head and see what the damage is...

Hope it all turns out ok...

Cheers,
Jonas

jonnybgood

yea I guess so, on a 14 year old car I don't suppose any manufacturer would care anymore.

That leaves it up to us!!!

jonnybgood

Nope, different part number

Dal Heger

Nope different overlap and duration, not sure about the lift though.

Dal.