markus7062

Not good News....I just got a call from my Porsche mechanic....a fair amount of shavings on my magnetic Plug and in the oil filter. I am 4,000 miles on a rebuilt motor which i completed. Car has been running okay but has been misfiring, and getting P0021 error Codes among a number other error codes ( replaced the adjustors...same problem of the P0021). I believe the timing could be off by 180 degrees (a potential huge screw up on my part) which is why i wanted the mechanic to look at it as I have ruled out almost all the other regular culprit's (fuel injectors, ignition coils, MAF, CO2 sensors).
I have done 3 oil changes in the 4,000 miles break-in and did not see any shavings...but now about 1200 miles after the last oil change, i have shavings. What are the potential causes? everything inside the engine is brand new. I am trying to understand what i should be focusing on. I am going to have my car shipping from my mechanic to my house where it looks like i will need to drop the engine and starting searching for the issue. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated

CAVU

Obviously not good news.

What is the oil lubricating that is ferrous is where my mind would go...but an engine teardown is in order.

Rings, timing chains, timing chain gears, oil pump gears, camshaft, ...

markus7062

Yes....an engine teardown unfortunately will be planned for the winter. I am thinking that whatever is happening is caused by me mistiming the engine 180 degrees off. Not that new components can't fail....but everything has been replaced inside the engine.....Timing chains, rails, bearings, rods, Hartech bore out (with new cylinders, Pistons and rings) and rebuilt heads. I am waiting to meet with the mechanic to show me the cut opened oil filter.
Do you know generally where the ferrous shavings are likely to come from?

CAVU

anything with iron (-> attracted to the magnet) in it...the list I shared and am I certain I missed something. If the failure took any non-ferrous material with it, aluminum, rod/crank bearings, etc with it, that will not show up at the magnetic drain plug but everything will show up in the filter.

It is my hope for you that all of the shedding material was pumped to the oil filter and that the crank, cylinders and pistons are OK.

SpectreH

Maybe I don’t understand fully, but how could an engine even run if the timing was 180 degrees out? I know an older engine with a distributor will not.

markus7062

My mechanic has kept the split filter so i can see the shavings. Will need to pull apart the engine and look for the problem. Literally everything inside was replaced, polished and checked with the exception of the chain tensors (3) which i tested and looked good. My gut is telling me they could be the potential problem and i might find chain damage/sprocket damage. They confirmed that the timing of the engine is fine as the misfires are intermittent and if it the timing was off , we would see constant misfires. Either way, it does not matter as i will have to drop the engine. I have been chasing the misfires and P0021 error codes all year and have changed the oil twice in the break-in period....no shavings found! Back to the drawing board as i have no idea what is the problem.

markus7062

That would have been my thought but I was told it was possible...and i was running out of potential causes for my misfires and other error codes. Mechanic just told me my timing looked fine based on his Porsche Code reader. If timing was off I would consistent misfires whereas mine are random.

groovzilla

Did you do the rebuild yourself?

markus7062

Yes using Jake's step by step rebuild course. Block was bored out with new cylinders, pistons/rings by Hartech. only internals not replaced where the chain tensioners....which might be the potential problem. Crank, Cams check measured and polished, all other internals replaced. Waiting for analysis of the ferrous shavings found in the oil filter

CAVU

It might be worth liberating the shavings from the filter into a plastic container of solvent. Decant the solvent a few times until it is mostly clear. Then stir a magnetic pickup in it. Place the collected material on a some thick white paper or piece of poster board. Repeat a few times. Some non-ferrous material might find its way with the ferrous material but it won't be much. The material left behind in the container is non-ferrous so place it on its own white piece poster board. Now start having a detailed look at the two samples.

Also, you might as well drop the oil pan, wash off the collected material in its bottom and do the aforementioned steps on it too.

This may give you some hints as to what happened.

groovzilla

What would be your reason for not replacing the chain tensioners when performing your rebuild?

markus7062

stupidly ...comments on Various forums putting them less critical for replacement if they tested fine. Car only had 55,000 miles....now i would just say potentially painful mistake if they are the route cause. My penance is to drop the engine and hope that was the only problem

markus7062

Thanks....was planning to do exactly that....good idea.