F Series engine owners don’t worry just enjoy the car

 

I am considering a 2015 with an F series engine that had its heads replaced at 12,000 miles back in July 2017.

The work was done at a Porsche dealer. The car now has 35,000 miles. The CarFax shows regular service with plenty of oil changes at the Porsche dealership.

The car in service date was Dec 2014 so the 10 year warranty will end this Dec.

I am curious if the heads being replaced on the F series engine means it shouldn't have the top end issue?

If I do look closer at this car, I will get a PPI done and will also be sure to get a few track days in this summer to stress test the motor.

I am interested in your opinions.

Thanks,
Carm

 

I am getting requests for additional info on this problem. I can understand why. This issue is a serious one that could be called a "ticking tine bomb". Will it or won't it?

Fixing it will be expensive. The labor is intensive, special machining is required to the heads to fit the new parts, the parts are expensive and there are 24 pieces of each. So the more information I can provide, hopefully this will arm those with these cars to have a better understanding of the issue, how it is "fixed" and what is involved.
This may take several posts to attached all of the photos.

Factory finger assy's fitted to head. No valves but shows how they fit into head bores.


Factory finger assy. Piston is hydraulic which is pumped with engine oil. This pushes the finger pad into the camshaft base circle removing any lash clearance. No oil can get between finger and camshaft to remove any heat generated by the sliding friction. This is what causes the failures. The images of the head shows the oil spray nozzles on the exhaust side only. This oil has to get past off of the exhaust valve train parts and try to find its way to the Intake side.



This is our replacement parts. These are "solid" types that require lash pads to be used to set the lash between the finger and camshaft. Oil is pushed up through the body and sprayed between the finger pad and the camshaft.

 

What is the cost of the parts and machining of the heads alone, as I guess fitting will be done locally in most cases which can be on the other side of the world.
New parts means: 4 cams (OEM ones or some custom dlc coated?), 24 lifters(these finger followers) and 2 heads machined and sprayers added? is there something else?
Cams need to be replaced if the FF plague did not made its effects yet?

Thanks.

 

Here are photos of the 0.2 finger assy. I need to check but I am sure that the 0.2 heads will fit onto the 0.1 block. Our conversion to the 0.1 heads is converts the 01. heads to an 0.2 head.

Oil ports that feed oil into the finger assy.


Jets can be seen on the top of the fingers that feed oil to the finger pad and camshaft.

Finger assy fitted to head

 

Yes Cams have to be replaced. This is something I did forget to add. The cam profile has to be changed when going from hydraulic to solid valve motions. Its hoped that these will be recut on original cam shafts when damage is not too severe. Included in the conversion design are new cam lobe designs. We did new cam lobe designs for the 02 fingers as well as this was a simple follow on design.

 

I made a mistake in my previous post. I think the 0.2 will NOT fit onto the 0.1 Block Sorry about that. A lot to do on a Monday morning and my fingers are slower than my brain.

 

You can get a service contract from your Porsche dealer with a liability limit of the full value of your car at the time of the claim.

 

Thanks for the helpful info Neil. I know your team have been talking about this upgrade path for a while. Has any final or estimated pricing ever been determined? Is this a 20K solution or a 50K solution?

 

i guess we’ll find out later this year if not Mid 2025

 

Yup. If it's ~20K, I'm not even waiting. I'm just shipping the car to them now. If we are closer to 50K, then I am stuck. Does selling and upgrading to the RS or .2 make sense? That's a tough one.

If they offer the kit and then sell it through qualified speed shops, that may make a difference too.

Hopefully, the next few months will help clarify options.

 

Quite interesting, a couple quesitons:

1. How much?
2. Works on GT3 RS as well?
3. What are y'all seeing on GT3 RS wear wise on G0 Engines?
4. What would need to be sent to Dundon, heads only?
5. What oil are you seeing the best wear on stock engines?

Thx

 

Double post

 

[QUOTE=el0designs;19248191]Yup. If it's ~20K, I'm not even waiting. I'm just shipping the car to them now. If we are closer to 50K, then I am stuck. Does selling and upgrading to the RS or .2 make sense? That's a tough one.

If they offer the kit and then sell it through qualified speed shops, that may make a difference too.

Hopefully, the next few months will help clarify options.[/QUOTE

I would bet the upgrade will be upwards to 50k?

 

Great stuff Neil!

Would be awesome to see a separate thread focused on the technical issues - the .1’s design and design issues, solution, etc.