I bought a 1999 996 about three or four months ago, that's pretty much when I discovered the short falls of the engine. Soon after I bought it the CE light came on with a long list of faults, not to mention the car didn't ant to idle very well and liked to die upon start-up. So my worries got the better of me and I began buying parts to fix the engine. Obviously the IMS was first on the list. I completed the IMS upgrade today and started on the cam chain noises and idle problems. I hadn't found anything really wrong until I removed the 1-3 cams and seen the bottom of the actuator. who ever had been in there before me hadn't put the bottom cam chain guide back on, (cam chain noises), luckily I had already bought a new one, anticipating the old one being bad. So I had to share, it isnt everyday your going to see something like this!
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCH996 VarioCam actuator
1 matching discussions were examined; no attributable action/outcome evidence was detected. No consensus or repair conclusion is claimed.
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Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
6 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
- Pelican Parts: 1 discussions
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Sorry the last photo was a bit blurry
Wow! What did the engine sound like with no chain guide on it? Was this a project car or did you drive it before you bought it? Post more pictures....this is interesting.
It started out as a project car. A good deal presented its self and I couldnt pass it up. I also own a 1974 914 I drive regularly. I always wanted a 911 but they were always outside of my reach. To answer how it sounded, when I would start the engine the cam chain would make some noise until the oil pressure came up and the noise would go away. Of course I was getting the CE codes that kept pointing to the actuator being bad and when I would turn the solenoid on and of it wouldnt make any difference in the motors idle. Reading all of the horror stories about the IMS going out and destroying the motor, I started worrying and decided it may make the difference between selling or becoming an expensive mistake. So here I am. I think I am going to have to keep it for a while, just to make sure everything is okay
Did you pull he oil pan to see if any of it was in there?
Wow...what did the chain look like? Good thing you were proactive - could have been disastrous!
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