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Hey guys, I own 3 PCars currently: an old pig - 2006 Cayenne, a 996TT, and a 2007 Cayman base that I bought about 4 months ago. Well, about two weeks ago, I was cruising on my way back home in the Cayman 2.7 and all of a sudden loss of power with a weird muted sound, flashing CEL, the car wouldn't rev and then the engine died. The car wouldn't start, but cranked well. There was no white smoke, no clunking or anything crazy when it occured.
I had the car towed back home and got out my budget OBDII reader and read codes P0300, P0343, P0301, P0302 and P0303. In other words, the camshaft positioning sensor + all misfires on the passenger side.
I ordered all new spark plugs, coils and a camshaft positioning sensor and wrenched my way to get all of these components changed. I noticed that the spark plugs on the driver side were normal, but the ones on the passenger side were wet, but had the smell of gas only. The car would still just crank, but normally wouldn't start. I say normally because it happened maybe 4-5 times that it started and it was really rough, but then the stars seemed to align and it would run smooth for about 15 seconds before returning to a really rough state to eventually die unhappily. I tried switching the new sensor from one side to the other. The problem persisted on the passenger side with the same codes.
So I had the 987.1 towed to a local euro car specialist to have the car diagnosed. He brought the car to TDC and noticed about 25 degrees off on the timing of the passenger side ... he says it most likely is the IMS that gave up and the timing slipped.
Yep... less than 1600 miles in 4 months after I bought it and its toast. The honeymoon is over and I don't know what I'll be doing moving forward... sell as a roller, repair, engine swap... time for a brew. The car has 105000km or just over 60000miles...
Very sorry to read this too Keo.
I am curious about the mode of failure. It might be IMS related but it could also be the cam chain tensioner, possibly the variocam sprocket, or several other similar cam timing components.
Does the mechanic think the valves are bent? A person cannot really know extent of damage or cause of failure until the engine is opened.
In the 10 years I’ve been following the IMS issue I’ve only read about two IMS failures (proven to be IMS and not another component) and both were 3.4L engines. I’ve read through a half dozen accounts of engine failure that were at first attributed to IMS, but were subsequently found to be something else, the most common being timing chain or tensioner failure.
Consensus on most forums is that the 2.7 is even less trouble prone regarding IMS issues.
In in any case this is a bummer for you and I can only imagine how it feels.
Thanks for your support everyone. I’ve sent an email to Jacques Rivard, a somewhat unsung legend in the Porsche world, and I’m waiting to see his response. He’s based in Beauport near Québec city. http://rivardcompetition.com/
What a joy to drive these cars are, but boy, that possibility for catastrophic engine failure even when one is diligent with maintenance and doesn't abuse the car will always stick in my mind, whereas I never worried about that with all of the Japanese sports cars I've owned over the years. Still, joy of the drive keeps me in Porsche for now. The 981 has seemed to be stout. Hope it holds true for years to come.
I'm very sorry to hear what happened with your car. The Metzger powered 996TT has proven very stout. At least you have one great Porsche sports car.
Well... timing chain snapped on me... 12-13k to rebuild on a 20k car. Going to sell as a roller.... ##%^ m96/m97 engines. Just lost anywhere between 12-18k in 4 months
07-09-2018, 07:14 PM
987.1 Skipped Timing - The honeymoon is over
