Botsy67

Great tips, thanks Schnell Gelb, I will definitely try your method the next time around, hopefully not too soon though. I bought the Porsche OEM tubes and O-rings so I hope they will last a little bit longer this time. Great forum, always learn new tricks and tips. Cheers,

Schnell Gelb

You are most welcome.
The OE label on your tubes - it is no guarantee - like the AOS defect problem.To make matters worse there is a generic supplier called "OE" !
Measure the the inner seal groove for out of round. A cheapo HF caliper will do it.Takes seconds ,saves a lot.

DBM_911

I've just used this 5" bolt and washer tool which worked a treat for 5 of the six tubes. Unfortunately one of the tubes broke and a half of the circumference of the plastic from the bottom of the tube has dropped into the void. The piece of plastic that is missing is about 1mm high, 3mm deep and 24mm in diameter and half a circle in shape.

It looks like the void that has dropped into would be the rocker/valve cover in a standard 4 cylinder upright engine setup.

I'm thinking I have three options to get this piece out
1. Take of the rocker / valve cover. This looks a tricky job probably beyond my DIY capabilities.
2. Try and flush it out by pouring oil into the chasm that it fell into and drain the oil system
3. Possibly take off the sump after flushing the chasm if its not coming out. Probably within my DIY capabilities.

So question is anybody had experience with this and what is the best solution.

I currently have the car stripped down at the rear with the mufflers off so have reasonable access to the area.

Thanks.

Schnell Gelb

Removing the cam cover requires one special tool.It can be made diy. Be very careful to rotate the engine to the correct position before you remove anything. Pelican has a diy. It is a tedious job.It is also quite exacting to get the sealant applied correctly.

DBM_911

Yeah, I had a look at the DIY to remove the cam cover - that is beyond my capabilities unfortunately.

Is there a chance it might flush through to the sump if I pour oil into the chasm it fell into ? I am thinking the plastic piece is very light in weight so should not take much oil to move it along. Just not sure on the path to the sump from that location..

Schnell Gelb

The broken piece could move and get caught in the rotating ex cam.
Try an endoscope on a smart phone to see where it is?

DBM_911

Schnell - thanks for the replies.

Looking at some pictures of the engine with the cam cover off it appears to me that as soon as the plastic piece clears the ex cam it has a clear short path to the oil pan. Is that right?

If that's the case I will try and flush oil into the void, keep the cam cover on and remove the oil pan and see if I can shift the piece of plastic to the oil sump. That looks like a job within my capabilities. Does that sound like it will work? Is there anything that could go wrong with this approach and put me in a more difficult situation?
Will I be able to see the ex cam from below with the oil sump removed?

I don't have an endoscope for a smarthpone unfortunately.

Cheers.

Schnell Gelb

an endoscope on Fleabay is really cheap .You'll need it for other tasks - like wrist pins when you rebuild the engine !

dkraige

Not do be a downer, but no, and no. It's not an easy path for that big chunk to get to the sump, and you cannot see the exhaust cam from the sump. The sump is only below the block; your loose part is way over in the cylinder head, quite far away. I think the only way is to fish it out where it was supposed to come out through the spark plug hole, or if that's impossible, the cylinder head cover will have to come off. Hopefully somebody else can dream up a more creative way to do this easier, but I'm not seeing it. Good luck.

DBM_911

I've used a dentist mirror to inspect the camshaft void and can't see anything there. I think I am in too deep with this so it will be a trip to the local indy to get this resolved....

I think it was the washer size (maybe on the small side) and cold weather that may have cracked the back of the tube. It needed some torque to pop that stubborn one out that ended up breaking. I may also have used a thinner bolt than that shown that may have flexed under torque.

So be warned when building your tool!!

jarhed123

Schnell Gelb

The best way is to look at Post #1. take an old/new tube to the hardware store and rummage.You'll need a spacer tube/bushing and an assortment of nuts and smaller washers to make a pukka tool.Yes, there is some fiddling to get it right.

Botsy67

Sorry for delay in getting back, but I took some quick measurements on my setup, the long bolt is 12 mm length, the large washer OD is ~3.2 mm & ID is ~1.3 mm, the smaller washer OD is ~2.2 mm & ID is ~1 mm. But as Schnell already suggested above, it's a good idea to take an old tube to HW store and size it up for best fit. I think 12 mm bolt length is good for the limited space you have for this DIY. Please read up on the other tips & warnings from others using this method before starting. Good-luck, cheers...

cds72911

Botsy67

Oops, good catch, thanks cds... Thanks,