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My rally will run tomorrow - rain, or shine. Looks like rain. Maybe even freezing rain. We can only hope...
The trophies are ready to go. I was a little lazy with the "feature". Rocks are a lot less bother than "trees".
Might have some time to start work on getting the heads off the engine.
All right sports fans; lots to update. The rally went well. We had 24 cars competing. Not a great turn-out (I've had as many as 45, in the past). But it is a nice number. There were some mistakes made by myself (course measurement at one checkpoint) and four leg calculations (by our rally app expert). Other than that, just about everything was good. There is still a lot of learning and growing as we get better with this concept. I do think it has the potential to revolutionize Road Rally competition, as we know it.
But that's not why you're here. The real update is that I had some time to mess with Speedy's engine today. I pulled off the little green cam caps. Some already had holes in them and were reused! Who ever did that, at least put a little blob of silicone sealer inside them to prevent oil leaking. Then I installed my no-expense-spared cam holder tool.
Popped off the scavenge pump assembly from bank #1.
Got the cam cover off. Removed the VarioCam solenoid and all the stuff so the cams can come out. Looks as though the guides are not too old. This is supported by a receipt provided by the previous owner, as well as the tell tale signs that this has been worked on by someone other than an approved Porsche mechanic.
I set the cams and the VarioCam mechanism in the box with a few other parts. I suspect the spring that appeared out of nowhere is from the VarioCam assembly. Any leads would be appreciated.
Lots of photos to document the nuances that could easily be overlooked on reassembly. This is a little bolt that is hidden behind a little baffle, that could go unnoticed. These photos and the Raby DVD should help...
it wouldn't have been long before more cylinders started failing due to crack propagation. I didn't see any in cylinder #1. That's because the piston was in the way...
Yep, that small spring goes under the valve/plunger in the vario-cam actuator. Snell Gelb lost his unnoticed and reassembled without it. We had a hard time diagnosing the code that he had not knowing the spring was left out. I mailed him a spring from an old actuator after I asked him if the spring was in there, he said "what spring"..lol
FWIW the actuators and valve/plungers are bank specific, so pay attention, also the vario-cam pads are different upper and lower, and not installed the same bank to bank.
Good to see! Curious what the second bank uncovers. Mark the position of those scavenge pumps as you remove, they are interchangeable and position sensitive (ask me how I know )
Yep, that small spring goes under the valve/plunger in the vario-cam actuator. Snell Gelb lost his unnoticed and reassembled without it. We had a hard time diagnosing the code that he had not knowing the spring was left out. I mailed him a spring from an old actuator after I asked him if the spring was in there, he said "what spring"..lol
FWIW the actuators and valve/plungers are bank specific, so pay attention, also the vario-cam pads are different upper and lower, and not installed the same bank to bank.
Hey Doc - I figured it was part of the solenoid. I payed particular attention to the plunger, as there was clearly an innie and an outie. I found the same spring under the other plunger when I took the other bank apart.
Originally Posted by Porschetech3
That's what I have been waiting for, the "smoking gun". I love failure analysis,I know I'm weird that way...
Not yet. Stay tuned...
Originally Posted by JTT
Good to see! Curious what the second bank uncovers. Mark the position of those scavenge pumps as you remove, they are interchangeable and position sensitive (ask me how I know )
Yes - I did that. Have to pay particular attention after parts are cleaned that the marks don't get washed away. I do have a lot of photos though. I find it's a hell of a lot better than my memory. Now if I could just remember where I left that camera card...
Oh look, I found it. Just about ready to take the head off bank #2.
It's off. #5 looks a little different.
Here's the real smoking gun. A crack large enough to catch a finger nail. Smaller cracks visible at about 8:00 in #5 and about 7:00 in #6. Good thing things didn't go beyond this point. Glad I was paying close attention and took it out of service when I did. Now it's just a matter of working out the logistics of getting the heads checked over, then getting the case halves separated and shipped to LN. That shouldn't take long...
Proof that the LN bearing was installed. I had no reason to suspect otherwise.
Little bittersweet when you see that crack, isn't it?! On one hand you now need to split the case and spend more money on the rebuild. On the other hand...you have an excuse to go big!
Sheesh! That’s a huge crack in #5. Any idea why the liners are coming apart? Did you track the car? Apologies if I missed the reason. Haven’t read the whole thread.