Lorenfb

"Adding an MCU so that you can interrogate and display the readiness codes was a great idea ( MarcR) but is absolutely not required."

Exactly! Why add more than what's necessary, i.e. more to fail & cause future OTHER
problems, more to raise emission questions, more installation complexity.

Bottom line: An overkill!

98993c2s

You guys should see the unit before making criticisms. It's no harder to install with or without a display, and LCD displays last pretty much forever. What other problems, what other emission questions?

Why all the negativity? Come up with an elegant solution to a problem that people have spent thousands of dollars and much time addressing, and what do people do? Bitch about the solution having too many features...jeez.

dhicks

Have to agree with Robert here......at least something is available for all the SAI CEL .....I know the DIY electric solution was there before but this is SOMETHING off the shelf and a very quick fix......At least somebody actually did something other than just talk....so it does not suit everybody.....well .... dont buy it!!!!

JasonAndreas

I think the product and the readiness code display is a great idea. I don't see legally how they're going to sell it when I was already warned by the EPA but that's not my problem. I'm certainly not going to say anything. What I did need to comment on was the false marketing blurb, "There are specific ECU conditions that the TurboWerx solution handles with ease that a transistor based design simply cannot...meaning, continuing CEL issues."

98993c2s

Amazing. And so the negativity continues...

Claiming my post is false when you haven't even seen the product. There is no basis for this.

(And further, it's not a 'marketing blurb' as those are my words, not TurboWerx, and I'm not affiliated with them in any way, other than loaning them my 993 for testing.)

Oh well. Be skeptical if you wish. Meanwhile a lot of 993 owners are going to be very happy. That's all that matters.

Dave Crellin

i am utterly thrilled that this solution has come around. I'm stoked - no negativity here!

Quite frankly, this thread has restored some of my faith in Rennlist. here is someone working on, finding and sharing the best solution yet to a very serious and expensive flaw in the 993. this is why I joined over 6 years ago.

Lorenfb

"finding and sharing the best solution yet to a very serious and expensive flaw in the 993"

A solution - No
A work-around/patch - Maybe

dhicks

Dave Crellin

You're quite right, or course. I should described it more carefully. I will nevertheless take the work-around if it prevents me having to spend so much of my money on a top end overhaul again.

2ndof2

I'm not really sure if anyone has irrefutable evidence that clogged SAI ports is directly related to "worn out" valve guides. There seems to be a significant correlation between the two but despite many professional mechanics' assertions that (clogged SAI = the need to rebuild the top end) I have not seen evidence from any data source, only heresay. Given that there has been many times my mechanics were wrong about various issues related to different porsches I've owned, I do not see why anyone should immediately conclude that they need a new top end when they get a CEL for SAI clogging. This is why I believe that this clever little electronic box represents a good solution for many 993 owners. My mechanic did a "wiggle" test of the valves when my lower covers were being resealed and said the guides seem worn but that isn't scientific. I have yet to hear of a motor failing due to worn guides, only high oil consumption. If somebody here has something to add here...something conclusive on the risks of not replacing the top end lets hear it. I got a CEL for SAI and my oil consumption is on the high end of the normal parameters at 80K miles. I don't see the need for new guides unless consumption goes way up from here.

Mike J

When I was at Gerry Woods taking the engine rebuilding course they had a few examples of valves that faileda at the stem which fell into the combustion chamber and gernaded the engine. On those engines the guides were quite worn so the theory was that the heat transfer from the valve to the head was impeded becuase of the air gap and the valve had some severe heat cycles causing it to fail. Its not pretty if a valve drops into a cylinder.....

Cheers,

Mike

Garth S

2ndof2, I tend to agree ....
I've had CEL P0410 ( left bank SAI) ring in twice early this year: oil consumption was modest with Mobil 1 15W-50, but not accurately measured. Since switching to a 5W-40 ( Porsche, MB, and VW 501,505 approved), oil consumption is exactly 300ml for 3200Km, equates to 1 US qt/6300 miles - and that's at 71K miles on the motor. While I'm not suggesting that oil type has any relationship to the SAI issue, the code has not returned, and the engine is tight and has modest oil consumption by any standard: a top end rebuild is the last thing I would entertain should the code reappear.

Back to the first of the two SAI mods discussed here .... jrb964, do you have pics of the check valve end/head port plug of your mod? I would appreciate seeing the whole project, for the hard piping bypassing the heads is an approach that appeals to me - it is simplistically elegant and still meets the design intent of cold start air injection into the CAT entry.

2ndof2

Mike,
Now I can say I have heard. Just to be clear on this, do you have any information about the mileage on those motors? Were they 993 motors or other types of 911 motors?

Dave Crellin

My own sense is that the valve guides and the SAI are not directly related, but indirectly related in that they can be problems that occur together for similar reasons.

I believe that the reason my car threw the SAI CEL, and had worn guides is because it was did low mileage in it's first 3 yrs of life, in a hot climate, and it turns out not because it was used infrequently. In fact it was used frequently, but in a slow traffic commute. About 5yrs ago there were many threads about the SAI CEL and a common theme for this and the guides was low milage, hot (overheating?) and lack of 'italian' tuning.

Net of this is that I had both things fixed when the heads came off (at 39k miles), and there was no doubt that the guides were shot and oil consupltion rose quickly in the first months of ownership. since then, oil consumption is very low (now at 87k), used daily, redlined daily etc.

Davies

Worn valve guides can contribute to gunk in the SAI passages, or so the story goes. Problem with an SAI work around is that it most definitely is not legal (regardless of what one, ahem, "thinks" of the rules).
Chances of being caught if you and your tech fashion an elegant bypass? Probably negligible, but I'd be very curious to see how long an entity can market an actual product that openly fools EPA requirement regulations.