RPMulli

Here are some pics of the work I accomplished today. Lifters were good IMO. As you can see the lower chain guide was pretty worn versus the top one (not bad for 100k miles). I was pleasantly surprised how clean the inside of the engine was... amazing. I am going to hang tight until Thursday when the majority of my parts show up.

Quick question... What is the best way to bench test the variocam solenoid? Hook a 12v or 9v up to the solenoid?

fbgh2o

Ryan

I really admire your skill and courage to do this....

logray

Hey that cam hold down tool looks familiar

To test the solenoid you can put an ohmmeter across the leads, it should read around 13 ohms.

To test the actuator out of car is black magic, from what I can understand, unless it's already in the engine.

Did you remove the lifters or leave them in?

Keep the engine well covered and dirt out, cleanliness is very very important. If you can clean the cam cover you can temporarily place it back on the head and use a couple bolts to keep it from falling off.

If you want to buy new lifters I found a place in Florida with great price, but they've raised the price significantly. Here is an alternate supplier I had which still has a decent price. These are gen 1 lifters:

http://www.dasautosport.com/khxc/eco...1_748_884.html

logray

Wow, 210 EU shipped is a fantastic deal, but I don't see USA destination listed.

There was a auction in Germany I missed out on last year, I could have had 24 new lifters for about $150 USD.

RPMulli

I pulled each lifter out and inspected it (they look good). I tried to "pump" them in oil but I could not get any of the lifters to move. Is this normal? How much should that piston move if at all?

speed rII

There is small ballvalve inside the lifter, so it's normal that you can't get those move.
At least not with fingers.

RPMulli

Good, all of mine on the 1-3 bank appear to be fine then. I did notice that there was some sealant in the journals for the cams that I had to scrap out. This surely effected the oiling of the camshafts.

dcdrechsel

I probably shouldn't post this but ......The fact that the plunger doesn't move is not the entire story .In my research it appears that the when these things clog up they tend to fail collapsed .I do not know a real definitive way to check this but this is what I did .I took several and soaked them in boiling oil which with some pushing on the plunger got out enough oil to ascertain where the top of the plunger should be .Maded a template and measured the rest -7 of 24 were stuck .Not saying yours are good or bad .
I think Jake Raby had a post on lifters sometime back .

RPMulli

Do I want to ask how you did this? What was your measurement on the good plunger? Also, I don't recall having that much lifter noise on the 1-3 bank, the 4-6 bank might be a different story.

dcdrechsel

I am not sure you want to know .I ended up replacing them because I wasn't confident they were right .If you want to try it -hot plate -good sturdy muffin tin -oil and start cooking .Use a tick (dowel ) and just keep working the plunger .Ultimately you will evacuate the oil and if stuck it may free up .These things are small and at the end of the oil food chain .
The only reason I originally brought it up is that you are into a major reconstruction and stuff like this can spoil the party .

dcdrechsel

$20.00 each at Partsgeek .

RPMulli

Yeah I hear ya. Unfortunately my pockets aren't very deep for this project.. I'm already around $1.5k in parts/tools. I was expecting to drive the car all this year without any unusual maintenance, until this clank noise started.

dcdrechsel

If replacement is not an option I would boil them.Perhaps others on here have a diffent experience or opinion .Really didn't want to ruin your day

RPMulli

Hahaha, I don't know how comfortable I would be boiling oil. How about using a propane torch to heat them up?? j/k

I still have not clearly found the source of the clanking noise. So far everything points toward the IMS tensioner/IMS bearing combination. I'm thinking about dropping the oil pan for the heck of it.. if I have enough sealant to re-install

dcdrechsel

Let's change boil to simmer .You could use the propane to heat the pan the oil is in (not as good as hotplate )The only way this procedure works is with hot oil .In the old days we used to soak them in gasoline but that would probably have the Porsche police descending .
I would not put a torch directly on a lifter .Does stuff to the structure .
As far as the clank -I thought the tensioner was stuck and also the contact point on the arm was partially worn away ?Don't think removing the pan will reveal much -although good to check screens for sealant -debris etc .