Robert Henriksen

Holy crap!!! If you'd been in a warmer climate, I don't know if the engine would have survived that.

JasonAndreas

This looks like something I would like to do to my 964.

max911

Jason, do you mean check for nests?? or change your 964's hydraulic lifters??

Tito

Hi John,

Great write up.
For a non mechanincally minded person like me it was fascinating to see the guts of the beast as it were.

I could not help but notice that there was a lot of oil around the lower rocker cover (? correct term) on your pre clean up pic. I remember having the lower rocker cover and in particular the ? gasket changed on mine due to a minor oil leak there. I remember my mechanic telling me that these leaks were common on 993s.

Far be it for me to offer advice as you seem to know your stuff, but I wondered if while you had the engine out you had thought about replacing the lower rocker cover/gasket.

best wishes

Tito.

John D.

Hi Tito..!

Great eye! Yep - the right side was drenched - and I had replaced the lower left last week-end (the rocker cover gasket).. Anyway - you and your mechanic are absolutely correct - as the valve cover gaskets get old, they begin to leak. When that happens, the only fix is to replace the gaskets. When folks do that - it's a good ideal to replace the cover bolts as well - at least for the lowers. On the right side of the engine - it's also pretty common on the '95s to see a lot of oil in the engine tin and lower, that is a result of spills from the oil tank hose being filled too fast (I think they changed the pull-out hose in '96 to a more efficient design?)...

Anyway - yes - I replaced all the valve cover gaskets - top and bottom. The bottoms are 1 single gasket - and the top "gasket" is actually comprised of 3 small gaskets..!

Best to you!

John

John D.

Yea - and his whole extended family!!!! From the looks of it - they were "going condo" over the upcoming months..!~!!

GabiOsz

Wow, it looks like the PO must have had it stored away for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if you found something cooked in there!

Tito

Excellent !

Best wishes
Tito.

CM993

Were you able to due the lifters on the exhaust valves without taking off the exhaust manifolds. Was there enough clearance to properly torque the rocker arm shafts and the all the valve cover bolts? Great pictures and information.

Thanks,
993cm

Rick Lee

Excellent write up. Can't wait to tackle this if it happens to me! My goal for this summer, after I install all the new car stuff I have sitting in my kitchen, is to pull me engine, clean it up, do the LWF/RS clutch upgrade, yada yada.

So John, how long did it take you pull your motor out and how many times have you done it? I've done many engine drops on pre-89 911's (probably have it down to under 2 hrs. now), but the 993 engine drop is still virgin territory for me.

John D.

Hi 993cm and Rick..!

On the exhaust lowers - yes, remove the muffler hanger (bottom nut, as the top barrel bolt will be out anyway for the engine tin) and you should be just fine with a 3/8" torque wrench and a stubby allen drive. It's tight - but "doable"

Also Rick - thanks!! On my previous 911's - like you, about 1.5 to 2 hours. The 993 is a bit more time consuming given the structural cross members. As well, with a C4 as in my case - the forward drive shaft/housing also takes a bit of time. So - not counting beer and bio breaks, about 3 - 3.5 hours from start to finish. Next time, it should be a bit less the 3 hours, as I spent some time wrestling with corroded fittings in some areas...

Anyway - the top end proceedure is really similiar to the pre-993/964 cars - and you'll whip through that as it will all look pretty familiar once you get going.. Well - except for that damned PS pump..!!

Finally - I removed the top-end to clean out the "mouse-house", and spent some time last night (after Alfie, Sonny and Meg left - THANKS for coming by folks!!!! Alfie/Meg - your new suspension makes your 993 look OUTSTANDING!!!! And Sonny - thanks for coming up AND buying the beer!!!

Tonight - the new rear seal, the new clutch/flywheel go in, as well as new belts, oil return tubes, and pulling the old cat to renew the hardware. At that time - I'll also pull the A/C mount, as the A/C system is out of the car......

So - here is my rodent free - clean - 993 top end




Here is what it looked like BEFORE...



Other end....



Here is what it looked like BEFORE...

chris walrod

looks great John! Your giving Laurier a run for his money

Alfie

Hey John!

Thanks so much for your help this weekend. The car feels great, in terms of firmness. Cant wait to get it aligned this week. Im hoping your car will be done this week so we can finally drive the cars...

Sonny, great meeting you this weekend as well.

914und993

Having found rodent nestings on top of my cylinders when I did the RS pulley mod, I think having a look inside there (with a borescope, maybe?) should be a required part of any PPI of a used 911.

This happens so commonly, and has the potential to significantly decrease the life of the engine, that to not check to make sure everything is clean is being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Chip

TomF

Great write-up, John! Thanks for the info. I was wondering if you had enough pics to do a engine removal DIY... Like Rick, I have done plenty of '89 and older engine drops, but not a 964 or 993...