mike993c2s

Just completed my 1st venture under the engine.... and I'm still alive. Anyway, removed engine tray, placed car up on 4 jacks, and proceeded to replace the exhaust hydraulic lifters. Well, took much longer than I expected, the biggest problem being the right bank..... that snorkel hose is right where my wrench wants to go! (I had the mufflers, rear wheels, and the heater hoses removed to get to the valve covers)

The lifters I took out didn't look too bad (75k on the car), but the seals seem to have separated.... I had to use a hook to fish it out. Put everything back together, cranked the engine for a bit with the fuel relay out, then started her for good. Warmed up the engine and went for a drive...... still ticking. Now I wonder if it's coming from the intake side.

After the trouble I went through in removing the lower valve cover bolts, I am thinking of having a shop do the intake lifters. Any tips from fellow rennlisters who have replaced the intake lifters without dropping the engine? Does anybody have any recommendations for a reputable shop in the SF East Bay area?

Edward

Have a knowlegable wrench listen to it as your lifters may be fine. The key is knowing what sounds normal and what doesn't ...only someone who knows this engine very well with LOTS of expeience would know that. FWIW, I do't recall many replacing the ones on the intake side. I replaced only my exhaust side/left bank about 50K miles ago and haven't heard any undue lifter noise ...for what's that worth.

Edward

mike993c2s

I've had a mechanic listen to the car before, and he thought it was the lifters. However, the shop wanted a lot of money for the job so I did it myself. I'll probably take the car to a different place for another opinion.

pcar964

This is a little concerning, I'm doing my exhaust lifters soon, hope that cures it.

mike993c2s

Drove a little more today, and it's quieted down quite a bit. I'll take the car to another mechanic this week and have him listen to it if it's still ticking.

Droops83

If you don't soak the lifters in an oil bath prior to installation, they could still have air trapped inside and can make noise for awhile will they completely pump up. If you still need a good shop in your area, try Bauer Repair, they are good guys and know their stuff. 411 W. 26th St, Oakland, 94612, 510-834-2772.

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Chris Andropoulos
Schneider Autohaus
Santa Barbara, CA

mike993c2s

I did soak them in engine oil overnight, but there could still be air inside them. The guy I talked to at Bauer does seem knowledgeable, but they wanted 80 bucks for each lifter (just the part alone). I'm gonna try Porboys next.

JasonAndreas

Has anyone noticed a difference with OEM INA lifters ($???), aftermarket no-name ($20-30) and OE INA from Porsche (MSRP for $88 but available for half that)?

Flying Finn

Did you check the length of the lifters (there are 3 different lengths)?

pcar964

Wait, there are different lifter lengths? I thought there were different sources, but the lifters were all essentially the same??

texas911

How about using different oil?

Edward

Soaking does not do much (if anything) to pressurize them. How does taking a bath in thick oil force oil into those miniscule orifices? AFAIK, you've got to run the engine as forced pressure is the way to bleed them of air. Any real experts, please feel free to correct me

Edward

Flying Finn

Yes, three different lengths. Before you order new lifters, you should see what part number your current lifters are, if you get wrong ones, that's (most likely) the reason tapping noise continues.

Part numbers for lifters:

-993-105-141-05 "regular" lentgh
-993-105-141-51 (0.5mm shorter)
-993-105-141-61 (1.0mm shorter)

pcar964

Thanks Finn - because Viperbob said he would have some ready for me this Friday when we do the PSS9 install, but I'm sure he knows the differences - But I'm wondering, why would they use different sizes? I didn't know they made any changes to the design of the valvetrain?

Have you done your lifters yet?

Macster

I have no experience with Porsche engines, but with other engines that use hydralic lifters the recommended technique is to put the lifter into a can of fresh clean engine oil and using an old pushrod work the lifter until it pumps up and then remove from the oil can and drop the lifter into the engine.

While a dry lifter will pump up in the engine, it is subjected to perhaps marginal lubrication during this time and that ain't good.

Also, by pumping the lifter up by hand, you could possibly identify a bad new one before you put it into the engine and button everything up.

As for the noise still being present, it could the lifters replaced were not the noisy ones; The valve stems and guides are worn and that accounts for the noise; Or the noise is coming from something else, like a noisy injector or two.

Sincerely,

Macster.