Thom

I did the oil on the car last saturday and found some pieces of broken pinion teeth in the old oil;
I haven't looked at anything else since and the car works no better and no worse than it has until now.
Anyway I had previously planned to change the cam tensioner pad, which will be promptly done next saturday.
What am I to expect?

(PLEASE tell me the camshafts are not going <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> )

Dal Heger

Heh....

I took out the intake cam and found two teeth broken and the rest nicely worn. They exhaust cam actually broke, but that's another story.

I can't think of anything else in the engine that could have pinion teeth, so I'm guessing that it's from the cams. Get the cover off NOW and see what's going on, it's still cheaper to get the cams fixed (or replaced) before they break the head and bend valves/crack the head/etc.

Good luck!

Dal.

993Maineiac

I'm with Dal-but I didn't tell you (in line with your request), he did. I would not drive before I checked it. You're on borrowed time at this point.

Good luck

Thom

Thanks for your answers.
For sure the car won't be started before the cam cover is removed and everything is checked.

Although I am not sure if this is it, I have resignated myself to the possibility of replacing both camshafts.
Friend of mine told me a pair of new ones costs around 1000$ by OPC;
Should I try to get mine *repaired* or buy new ones instead?

My engine is 74.000 miles old. Should I also replace the cam tensioner and the chain as well or should replacing the pad be enough?

Any thoughts welcome

Z-man

The S2 head is more rugged than the 944S head, which was prone to cracks. I wouldn't worry too much about the head, but I would worry about the rest (valves bending, cams broken...etc.)

HOWEVER: if the chain goes, there is always that possibility that the heads gonna get messed up.

Don't delay: check it out ASAP.
-Z.

Bryan

You might want to see about locating a nice used cam set. There are several Porsche breakers in the UK, and Van Zweeden in Holland I think. Shipping to the continent is probably pretty reasonable.

<a href="http://www.v-zweeden.com" target="_blank">http://www.v-zweeden.com</a>

Bryan

"At Porsche, we only make sports cars"

Perry 951

I recall someone posting a link to a shop that will repair the cams at a reasonable price. I did a search and could not find it, but perhaps someone will chime in with it.

Goos luck.. sorry to hear about the troubles.

Phooz Busta

If you still have the teeth, Tim Richards did a great job welding some cam teeth back on for me. Not sure if he's game to do it again but give him a call and I'm sure he'll let you know.

Thom

Thanks for your replies.

Tonight I removed the cam cover and it is with big surprise I noticed none of the teeth had broken...
The pad is barely worn out, with the chain having dug approximately one millimeter in it.

I am extremely confused because with an engine of this age I would have expected the pad to be nearly dead!

And where can these pieces of pinion teeth come from??
AFAIK the camshafts have never been replaced on my engine and I don't know of any other component which would share the same pinion format.
Oil pump?

<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Luis de Prat

Thom, I can't figure out where those bits would have come from if the cam pinions arent broken, other than perhaps the inner valve springs? Not sure if those would find their way to the oil pan, though.

AFAIK it's important to check the tensioner pad for wear, but it should be OK for up to at least 80K miles. The tensioner spring does lose resistance over time, though.

I had mine changed at 124K miles and the pad was worn to the extent that you describe, but then again, it had considerably more mileage than yours.

Be sure to replace the cam cover gasket now that you have opened the cover, or it will leak later.

Thom

Sorry, back on top again.

I forgot to mention there are some chain marks on the inside of the cam cover.
(However they're not significant enough to bother replacing the cam cover)

Any idea(s) on the reason(s) why the chain would sometimes beat the cam cover?
Oil pressure in the tensioner too high?

In advance, thanks for your thoughts

Danno

Or a loose chain would cause those marks too. It would be slapping around in there. Change those tensioner pads!

Also doesn't the S and S2 use the same tensioner?