cam guides replacements - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Has anyone replaced the cam guides with the engine in the car? Is it possible to semi drop the motor to take the valve covers off etc., put the motor and tranny on jack lift? I want to change out my cam guides, but do not want to drop the motor......

Are you talking about chain guides? [img]

As with many things, this job is doable with the motor in but is easier with it out. I have done the job, but with the motor out. Make sure you have the right tools (I fabricated mine), and proceed methodically and with patience.

I did this job with the motor in on my 2000S. However, it was necessary to remove the headers and I also had removed the airbox (because I was replacing it with a different airbox). I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to do the job with the airbox in place.

Lew, yes, I want to change these out. Any new design, material that has been updated since 2000? I want the newest material for it. For those of you that have done this job with the motor in the car, how long did it take you to do both sides? is it as easy as taking the valve covers off ? sincerely, Mike

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Doing this with the engine in the car is like building a ship in a bottle; drop the engine and plan on updating everything (AOS, RMS, IMS, water pump, etc.) while it is easily accessible.

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Jeff's right, however if you have never done this, and you alone want to drop your engine, you might be interested in seeing Part 1 of this 3 part video. It's a job dropping the engine, and a number of things you may not think of doing. Keeping up with fasteners, etc., is very important. https://youtu.be/OZvWOZTa42E

I replaced mine with the engine in the car. I did remove the front motor mount and dropped it some (semi drop?) which also allowed me to move the engine laterally to give a little more room for the job. I didn't remove the headers or airbox. But honestly if I have to do it again I will either remove the engine or pay a shop to do it. It would have been so much easier with the engine on a stand instead of laying on my back fighting gravity replacing the cams with the actuator chained together to get them set properly and affixing the retaining tool. Edit: It took me two days but I wasn't in a hurry. I probably spent more time staring at it than working on it. I was trying to be cautious and not do anything that I couldn't undo or fix. I did make all the tools ahead of time and ordered the reverse threaded rod in advance for compressing the actuator (not needed but again I had time before I started the project and like the idea of the screw vs. a zip tie). Dave in TX 2001S

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You would not do it again! Really, come on now that you have the experience changing the guides, next time it will only take you one day. LOL! Just kidding ya! Now we understand why it cost so much to have a certified Porsche mechanic do it. What was the condition of the old guides when you removed them, and how many miles were on them?

HA! Yeah I probably would do it again but I hope to not have to! Had 95K on the guides and they were pretty chewed up but I replaced the actuators because I had green bits in my oil from one (most likely) of the actuator's internal o-rings.

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I just did mine on Saturday. Engine out during a full rebuild due to a seized rod bearing. Make sure when you remove the valve covers to use the holding tool on the back side of the camshafts. The cover has the bearing journals for the camshafts integrated, so when you remove the cover the camshafts will get pushed up by the valve springs while the tensioner end is fixed. I was told you can damage the valves or camshaft if you don't hold them during disassembly. If I wasn't told this I would have whipped them off figuring they were just covers. Out of the car the job wasn't terrible, but getting the engine out took me around 8 hours with a 2 post lift. I did the IMS bearing in the winter, and I can't even imagine how tedious it will be to remove the camshafts, fit the tensioner pads, then reinstall with the engine in the car. I know it can be done, but you will need a ton of patience.

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Removing the engine is not a piece of cake my no means, and one better make sure they know how the job of replacing the guides is done.....like you said, you don't just remove the valve covers. I have heard cam shafts have been broken by the super strong valve springs.