Noz1974

Could you have a crank thrust bearing issue ??
If this was the case maybe the crank moved back more than usual causing the RMS to pop out, might be worth a look in the sump ?
Also maybe check the crank pulley for end float play, if a thrust bearing has failed and it can on these engines you should feel lateral play on the crank pulley with the belt off?

DBJoe996

Okay, I'm totally confused. The car as you described- It's a 2001 transition year C2 Cabriolet with a tiptronic
The original 2001 engine and transmission was a manual and it died because of the IMS
So you replaced it with a donor 99 3.4 and tiptronic transmission
You swapped the engine harness from the 2001 C2 transition year toasted engine to the 99 3.4 engine because of the E-gas throttle, the 99 motor which was originally cable throttle
But you kept the original DME for the 2001 C2 manual transmission car and are using it on a now 99 3.4 engine with E-gas and tiptronic transmission
I just don't see where anything could go wrong........

kondata17

just saw this thread. If it helps at all, I was the one that sold the engine to the PO. Engine was rebuilt less than 5000-7000 miles ago due to worn IMS chain guide. We had no choice but to tare down the engine to get to that bastard. In the process of the rebuild we replaced: chains, guides (all), rod bearings, machined heads with fresh valve job, inspected bores (they were perfect), new chain tensioners new gaskets for everything, new Tstat and I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch. Most gasket, bolts and assembly parts came from Pelican Parts. We did not replace the cam actuators but did replace the guides for them.

After the engine was re-assembled, we checked for cam deviation and it was within spec (cant recall exact numbers, but I believe it was less than 4* difference). I monitored short and long term fuel trims and they were all within porsche spec. Maf read 3-5g/sec and 150g/sec at 5K. Timing was dead on, no hesitation or a single misfire during my ownership. I can try to find the dyno graph to show power band, but it was healthy without any weird dips or drop of in power (made roughly 250whp).

When we pulled the engine, there were no signs of any leakage from the motor either from the IMS or RMS. This is a very bizarre case, I feel really bad for TheBird here. If anyone has any questions that they think may help in the situation I will do my best to answer them.

TheBird

Thanks for chiming in bud. I hold no grudge. I can't. We'll figure it out. When we post the results the info will be here for future reference because we can't be the only ones! Cheers!

dporto

^^^^ No disrespect to the OP, but this is what I was sort of getting at. While I concentrated on strictly mechanical issues (which as far as we can tell is what's going on) there are many potential issues with swaps such as these. I think as far as hardware goes, the sensors themselves should be the same

TheBird

No worries. I am hard to offend online! :-) all information is good. Whether it is to rule things out or open other anvenues to consider it is all good. I appreciate everyone's input.

DBJoe996

From a quick look at the parts diagram, I see differences in part numbers for the head parts. M96.01/02/04 are one set of part numbers. The M96.03 engine is different with separate part numbers. Which engine do you have? In particular I noted there are different part numbers for the entire heads M96.01/02/04 vs M96.03. And what version of the DME are you running?

Where I'm headed - you had a 2001 engine and replaced it with a 1999 engine. The 99 engine was run with an earlier version of DME, where now you have a 2001 DME version running a 99 engine. Could be subtle differences throughout the engine and DME version that is causing your deviation difference.

And from your Post #3, the car was running super smooth then developed a lopey idle. Mech said a vacuum leak. Have you checked for a vacuum leak? Smoke test? Wonder if we are just chasing down a vacuum leak since the engine was running fine before.

dporto

The M96/03 is the 3.6l engine.The M96/01, 02, and 04 are 3.4l engines and I believe they were produced through 2001 (and probably later due to the warranty replacement program etc.). As we all know, there is no strict cutoff dates regarding the codes. It seems Porsche uses/used parts that they have on hand at any given time to build various different engines. How they keep track of this stuff internally is beyond me, but they've clearly been able to do it for quite some time...

TheBird

Yes... found a mssive vac leak. The RMS has almost fallen out. not sure if there is more. but why would a vac leak make the cam positions wander + and -? I wonder is the sensors are slightly different as suggested before...

The major DME change is from a cable throttle to an e-throttle.

Ahsai

So your engine is a 5-chain variocam engine. Its timing is infinitely adjustable by the 4 screws holding the exhaust cam sprocket (see Figure 8 here). Your cam deviation reading is possible even without the chain slipping a sprocket. I think someone needs to remove the cam covers and check the cam timing physically. -8 degree is at the end of the limit.

Also the FRA on both banks are close to 0.9 (ideal value is 1.0), which means the DME is pulling fuel when the engine is under load. May want to check if the fuel pressure is in spec.

DBJoe996

^^ OP said he was going to drop the engine and transmission for the RMS replacement, so a really good time to check the cam timing. Could be just needs some adjustment. Tricky business to get it right.

Ahsai

That's good. May also want to measure the crankcase vacuum before that. RMS seal popped out is disturbing. You would think a high vacuum in the engine case would have sucked the seal in, not pushing it out.

DBJoe996

With the cam deviations being so far out, I wonder if the crankcase developed positive pressure at times, pushing out the RMS as a relief and ended up causing a massive vacuum leak. Either that or it was installed incorrectly, or it was a knock-off Chinese seal. Any way it goes, something somewhere is out of whack. What a mess to deal with......

TheBird

Well the engine is out of the car and it turned out the timing had been set up wrong. One bank was out by a link. The rest seems OK so she should be back together by the middle of next week.

dporto

^^WoW^^ !!! I'm surprised that that wasn't evident as soon as the engine was started for the first time, and that the DME would be able to compensate for that. In any case, it's great that no collateral damage was done and hopefully your RMS will behave now.I bet you can't wait to drive it!