Hi, I have owned my manual 993 for just over a year and absolutely love it. I really appreciate all of the advice and insights from these posts.

I am based in the Cayman Islands and although we have a small Porsche service centre here, it is exceptionally expensive (US dealer pricing multiplied by at least 2), so I try to source parts directly and use a great local independent mechanic where possible, other than for Porsche critical works and regular servicing.

The car is low mileage for its year (40k) and I have had to address the usual wear items, for instance it is currently in the shop having a refurbished steering rack installed due to an excessive leak.

I have already swapped out the lower valve covers and gaskets for new and that went smoothly. My independent mechanic now wants to tackle a leaking timing chain cover. I have ordered the cover gaskets through Pelican, but am looking for some advice to confirm whether this can be done without dropping the engine and if the gasket replacement is achievable without disturbing anything critical with the timing chain etc.?

It had a full clutch replacement a couple of years back and is otherwise running very nicely, so I would prefer to avoid a full engine drop and overhaul whilst it is such low mileage, but keen to have it all sealed tight to stop any leaks progressing.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

 

Jon - The timing chain box on my 96 C2 is leaking, also. I've got about 52,000 miles. I have a favorite tech at my local Porsche dealership and he would do the work if and when I decide to have it done. I went all last year with it dripping. It is not under hydraulic pressure, and my tech says there is no urgency to fix it as long as I am diligent in monitoring the oil level. I did remove the engine tray so that the dripping oil does not get on my heat exchangers. My tech would drop the engine to effect the repair. I have the repair estimate back home and I can offer you an approximate cost when I retrieve it. I have owned this car since 1997 and just love it. If I were to sell it, that would probably motivate me to repair it, but I have no intent to do so as of now. I guess I am waiting for some other repair that requires an engine drop before I spend $$ for a small leak that has little impact on durability or performance. It hardly drips in the garage anyway when the engine is off. I suspect I am losing oil while driving with the oil swishing around.

 

Many thanks for the reply - seems like similar status. The leak isn't generating too much oil loss, but is clearly noticable around the cover.

My mechanic is confident that he can get to the covers without an engine drop, but I would be glad of anyone's advise as to whether this is advisable or not.

I would very much appreciate feedback on your quote when you have it available.

Regards, Jon

 

I'm not sure the specifics on the 993, but on the 964 it requires significant teardown at the back of the car. It's not overly technical, just large amounts of work. At that point you can run into many slippery slope items you can also address while you're in there. Things like reinforcing the engine carrier, powder coating the engine tins, replacing the gaskets/o-rings on the oil crossovers, etc. On the 964 (and possibly the 993), the a/c compressor bracket obstructs the right side chain cover, so you need to remove the bracket, but in order to do that you need to remove the crank pulley first.

 

Yes, my tech gave me some additional items I should consider replacing with the engine dropped, if I were to proceed. I don't recall specifically what they were at the moment, but can review my notes later tonight.

 

this is a fairly common leak / seepage area for 993s. we have 3 choices; drop the engine or significantly remove a large portion of the rear end - bumper, engine tin, etc. either one involves a lot of time. Third choice is that many people just manage the seepage and wait for another reason to drop the engine. at that time the gasket change is easy. I did replace many of the chain gasket sealing donuts that surround each bolt. you can change most (but not all) without removing much. in my case it didn't help much. just needs new gaskets. but the leak is very minor....
good luck with which ever path you choose!

 

Live with it until you need plug wires. Then drop the engine and do gaskets, plugs, wires, power steering belt, and engine mounts.

 

Also agree with above.
Live with it, monitor oil level, and wait till more HAS to be done.

 

I have not done the PS belt, but there is no need to drop the engine for plug wires, timing cover gaskets, and engine mounts. Remove engine tins, bumper cover, cat, mufflers, etc., undo the lower transmission mount, unbolt engine mounts with a jack securely underneath, and lower the engine down an inch or two (been a while so there may be a few wires you need to unhook from above). At that point it is a simple job for the timing cover gaskets.

Of course, if you have gotten that far and are paying for labor, you might as well do the clutch at the same time. Undoing the rest of the engine is not a big ordeal at this point. I had the engine carrier removed in this photo to weld on some reinforcement brackets.

 

Left side is not to bad with te engine in, right side is more difificult because the A/C bracket is blocking one ( just one...) of the cover bolts. It can be done with engine in place but expect many hours of labor on your invoice

 

Ah, yes. I cut the A/C compressor portion of the bracket off prior to removing the timing covers, so my advice just got a bit less helpful. Not sure if it can be shimmied out of the way after removing the engine carrier to get the blocked nut off of the stud.

 

There is a guide on Pcar that shows you how to move the A/C bracket enough to reach all nuts.

 

Once I had the a/c bracket out of the car, I cut it so that in the future I won't have to remove the crank pulley to remove the bracket/access the right timing chain cover.





Lots more reading and pics of the slippery slope you can find yourself heading down once you tear this far into the car in the thread where I documented the process.
https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...g-project.html

Keep in mind my car is a 964, not a 993, so your experience may vary.

 

You can see the left cover is easy enough, the right side has some heatshields and the A/C bracket that prevent easy acces to the cover bolts. I decided to reseal the left side and only replace just the rubber donuts on the right one.

 

I like that mod, Vandit. I was befuddled that the factory would not trim the bracket. It is so friggin' close to being able to slide it off without removing the pulley.