designerguy90

Hello all,


Problem 1
Ive been researching for a while, and while I've found some useful information, I am still not sure what the source of the noise is...

I understand that our engines do make noise, but this noise is almost constant, and continues after the 15-20 minutes Ive been told the normal noise would go away. I've read that the cause could be a clogged lifter, and people have used seafoam or similar products to clean the oil system.

Problem 2
Early on after I bought the car I noticed it was leaking oil fairly regularly on the top of the engine ( http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=zwg86x&s=8#.Uz3XKfldVSh ) and it continued throughout last year. Last week I went to put more of a charge on my battery and get the car ready to take out of storage, and I noticed a fairly sizeable amount of oil sitting in the same spot. Thoughts?

Also, another problem, but unrelated to anything mechanical; my rear wing mounting points, (the ones farthest up the hatch) are kindof disintegrated and the wing rocks back and forth if you push on it. I definitely do not have the money to drop 500-600 on a nos wing from Porsche etc, have any of you had this problem and solved it with some fiberglass cloth, washers and resin?

tamathumper

By the look of it, I'm guessing your problem is the very cheap paper gasket and rubber o-ring that go around that VarioCam unit, and at least from the picture it looks to me like the oil is getting out around them and pooling up a little bit on the top of your valve cover.

RajDatta

I agree with Tama as well. I would suggest doing the valve cover gasket as well as the variocam gasket and o'ring. Check to see how your hall sender looks. Much easier to do with the valve cover off. While you are in the area, check your heater control valve. I would change it if its old.

designerguy90

Hello all,

Thank you for the suggestions on the oil leak. About how far down would I have to go to fix the seal? Take the head off, or deeper and should I then re gasket the head?

Also, I took a video of my engine running (just took the car out of storage today!), is this a normal ticking sound?

Thank you for all your help. I hope to meet up with many of you guys at some point!

-Alex

PorscheG96

The gasket and seal are held in by the 2 allen head screws that are visible in your picture - super easy to change. I'd just be concerned if a meat head had that part off previously then over-torqued and stripped the aluminum threads. I think the torque on those is 5-6 foot-lbs...you basically need an inch-lbs torque wrench.

It's hard to tell from your video but that sounds like a ton of racket! You should remove the valve cover and have a look at the Variocam tensioner, chain and camshaft teeth. It also sounds like an exhaust leak in the video but I could be wrong. Is there any noise from the front of the engine? How is the oil pressure?

designerguy90

I did take off the part held on by the allen screws last summer and the gasket was in great shape, nothing damaged at all.

Yeah, I apologize about the video, my fan just turned on for whatever reason, but I can assure you there is no exhaust leak (to my knowledge) My oil pressure was between 4-5(very close to 5 when started) on my drive from my storage location to my house, but it usually runs right around 3 and idles at between 2-3 when its warmed up.

designerguy90

Ok, so I did some research, and while I think it could still be a lifter problem, I read that different oil viscosity can cause this issue as well. My mechanic uses Castrol GTX high mileage 5w-30 oil, would there be a better oil to use for the Chicago/Midwest, and is this a possible cause of the problem?

car_slave

It sounds like bad lifters to me. You could try some thicker oil and see what that does. The noise may just go away after a little while if it was sitting over the winter.

968workaholic

Nobody has suggested the possibility of the oil pickup tube being cracked yet? Are you balance shafts timed correctly? If it hasn't gone away when the engine is warm it is a possibility, but try changing the oil first

designerguy90

I had read about that (the oil pickup tube) and was thinking about checking that when I have the car up on the lift, but I think I'm just going to change the oil to a different rate, and see what it does. Also, I have read several threads of people using marvel mystery oil or seafoam to clean out the oil system or if they have clogged lifters, any experience with that?

RajDatta

I would not suggest seafoam. Do a search on the forums to see some of the results.
Oil pickup tube failure usually shows high cam chain noise and low oil pressure as you are picking up air pockets.

968workaholic

Not necessarily, I have seen quite a few 968's with a pickup tube failure that only made noise at idle vs high rpms......I think it has to do with the severity of the crack and other factors, IE balance shafts out of time, flat motor mounts, etc. First step is to change the oil and see if the affects the noise. As far as the oil additives, normally they are more harmful than helpful, modern oils are quite good at keeping deposits down. On a side note, you could also have an issue with your Vario-Cam assembly, I have only ever seen a few fail, but it is possible, although unlikely. Let us know how you make out after changing the oil

RajDatta

Please reread what I posted. By high cam chain noise, I mean higher than normal and not at high revs. I never mentioned anything about revs.
Cam chain noise is quite audible at idle of you have a cracked tube.

jksymz75

having a similar problem w my '93 w 83k miles. ticking noise when warm and it increases with the revs. did you ever get to the bottom of the ticking noise?

mel_t_vin

Therein lies [part of] your problem...5w-30 is entirely too thin and HM, most likely, doesn't contain an adequate anti-wear package.

Midwest during the spring/summer/fall...Mobil 15w-50 or GTX 20w-50.