davepnola

Car seems sluggish lately ? Thanks

Stephenwz968

Try unplugging the solenoid and see if you feel a difference then. The variocam unit is basically just an oil filled tensioner that's activated by the computer, so unless you take off the valve cover and look at the unit itself, (mechanical failure), or take it to a dyno and pull and see if you see it come on (program problem) you may not know. Have you tried reading the fault codes with the blinking light test?

Steve

968workaholic

Im not 100% sure but I don't think that the computer would trigger any fault codes if the vario-cam assembly wasn't working. All the computer does is send voltage to the unit. There is no way for the computer to check if it is working properly or not. Unplugging it might give you an idea if its working or not, but you would need someone else to drive it that didn't know there was anything different. E.G. Have your buddy take it out around the block, unplug it, have him take it out again and ask him if he can tell any difference between the two times. The only 100% sure way to see if its working is to take the valve cover off and look at it. Besides its not bad to look and the cam teeth and the pads on the vario-cam every once and awhile. Good Luck!

Stephenwz968

I'm thinking the fault code would give an indication if it's something else-02 sensor or knock sensor that's retarding the timing. Taking the valve cover off and checking the cams is always a great idea.

Steve

ltc

FWIW, when I bought the 968 Cab for my wife (1.5 yrs, she still hasn't driven it.....), I took it to my Porsche mechanic and told him to do whatever he thought was needed.

He replaced the Variocam assembly (new unit directly from Porsche Germany) and the engine ran very poorly. It was obvious.
Turns out, the solenoid assembly was defective; it would extend but not retract.
Got a second assembly from Germany, it was fine.

davepnola

Ok I opened it up this afternoon, power tested the solenoid and everything seems to be functioning. Though not sure if it is functioning properly.I plugged a bosch connector and added 12volts and heard clicking and oil squirt sound form the solenoid. The car seemed to run better today. I did add a K&N air filter. Looks like the pads and gears are in excellent condition the part # on the upper pad is :944-905-508-00 , I hope that is the updated pad and control . Here are some pics. Thanks

RajDatta

Its the same pad for top and bottom. For some reason Porsche only sells the upper pad. Its hard to see the lower pad, I would take a mirror and have a good look. Also, your pads look very dark which tells me they have quite a bit of life on them. I would consider changing them soon. How many miles on them?
Upon further look, your intake cam teeth are very pointy which tells us that they are worn. Your chain has stretched and taken the cam teeth with it. Not trying to get you paranoid but I would seriously consider new pads, chain and cams.
Raj

davepnola

Question , you can see that the pad is out pretty far ? In other words, is this chain stretched and that is why the pluger on the actuator is out pretty far ? Will a new chain be tighter with the plunger compressed more with better performance ? Also I think the pic is not showing thte teeth on the cam gear correctly. They both looked to me about the same and had a good amount of meat left on the gears. I think it is possible hading from the pic. Ther is no noise coming from under the valve cover when the car is running. The car has about 100k miles on the engine. I wonder if this is original stuff ? Where to get cams at reasonable price . Also ther was hardly any grooves in the pads not even the bottom. I remember when these are worn out, the pads get grooved pretty good ? Thanks Dave

Here look at this pic , save it to your computer than zoom in with picture viewer , you can see that the teeth look pretty good .

968workaholic

More than likely the cain is the origional because it has the off color links that are used to set up the cams (the replacements don't have those). As for the teeth on the cams, unless you see any pitting on the sides/base of the teeth, then i wouldn't worry about changing them. The teeth normanlly tend to were on the sides more than directly ontop of them, causing them to shear off. As for the pads, if you can see grooves in the top at all, multiply that by two and thats what the bottom will look like. To answer your question, the top pad isn't out unusually far. Porsche built a lot of movement into the unit to take up the slack. Your car won't run any differently with a new chain. The only place that i know of that sells cams at a reasonalble price is RS Barn, not that it looks like you will be needing them. Good Luck!

Stephenwz968

Here's a pic of my engine w/ 20k on the top end for reference of the colors, and shape of the cam teeth.

968workaholic

I must say, you might have one of the cleanest heads i have ever seen on a car. It almost seems wrong.

Stephenwz968

Thanks! It's very fresh (about 24k on it), and the mechanic that worked on it is the best I know, so I know it was done right!

Steve

davepnola

Are the new aftermarket chains better ? Heaver, also do they come with a master link like Mercedes or do you have to pull the cams to change the chain. Thanks

968workaholic

The chains are not any different in quality. Also, unfortunately you do have to pull the cams to change the chain. If you do decide to change the chain, get new pads as well, even if the old ones have light wear. Might as well since you are in there.

Stephenwz968

Actually, the new chains are heavier duty, and I don't believe you have to remove the cams to change the chain/pads, there is a link (the blue one) that comes out. Hopefully someone more experienced than me will chime in, I haven't done the work myself, but I've read quite a bit about it.