Advice sought for camshaft deviation - 2001 C4

Hi everyone, Last July I bought a 2001 Carrera 4 with 42k miles. I had originally intended to buy a 997 and had done most of my homework around them, but the price and the condition of the 996 were right, and I needed to replace my previous cars fairly promptly, so I pulled the trigger. I also knew the car from a previous owner; the selling owner had beat me to the punch on the purchase last time, then subsequently garaged it for four years as a 7th vehicle. The C4 was 3 hours away in a small city with limited availability for the PPI - the selling owner lived there seasonly and met me the day before he left town for several months. The only shop that was available for the PPI did not check camshaft deviation, and I was unaware of the potential issue. Clutch, RMS, and (I believe - need to double check) IMS had all been done at the same time in the late 30k mile range. Bank 1 is normal, but bank 2 has gone from roughly -10 to -11 degrees during my ownership in the past seven months / 8,000 miles. Brownish plastic was found in the oil on the last change so it looks like the (pads? guides? rails?) are going. I bought a Durametric so I can check it as desired. I’m not sure what to anticipate with a repair and am trying to understand all the problems that may be causing it. I know this can be a sign of IMS failure, so I need to find the documentation confirming that first - but I’m 90% sure I remember seeing it when I bought the car. One shop refuses to touch the problem. Two shops say that there’s a suspicion cars came with this way from the factory, and that the problem becomes progressively worse as the chain burrows further into the plastic, becoming a self fulfilling prophecy - they claim that replacing the rails and tensioners would put a final end to the problem. Other shops, and what I read online, say that there are other potential causes of the problem from the VarioCam system, and it could be as bad as a failed balance shaft. I am out of my depth, as most of my background comes from wrenching on simpler Japanese stuff, and I do not currently have garage space. Estimates for repair range from between $1,000 and $2,000 to tens of thousands. I’m otherwise on the fence about keeping the car - it’s my first 911, and I bought it to try out since I needed a car and the used consumer market was otherwise inflated. My exit plan if it didn’t work out was to wait for the new STI or Golf R, but time may force me to execute on an expensive repair sooner rather than later. I say this to explain that I’m not as committed to solving this problem as other owners might be. There have been many posts about this issue on the forums, but I’m hoping someone might be able to distill them into simple terms for me - this decision has been keeping me up at night, and I’d be very grateful for any help understanding the problem before I pay to have the engine dropped. Thanks you very much for your help! PS: If you have a recommendation for a shop to tackle this job in the Portland, Oregon, area, I would appreciate that as well. Everyone in the area is well-reviewed, but the diversity of opinions is unsettling.

Working on variocam pads now. Most likely your problem.

Keep the car and pay a shop to swap out the variocam pads. It's a relatively easy job but tedious.

Mine has 11 degrees of deviation. I was quoted ~$7600 to correct it and replace the IMS bearing, which is near failure. I only paid $14k for the car so I plan to fix it eventually and drive the hell out of it. I just took a significant salary cut and I can�t afford it at the moment... so I�m going to have to let the car sit for now :/

Zeitgeist, I am sorry to hear of your dilemma. As De Jeeper said, your problem may be the Variocam tensioner pads. You have a 5 chain engine, and there are a number of chain guides that could be wearing abnormally. You are faced with tough decisions: 1. Fix the pad/tensioner problem only if possible $$ 2. Dismantle engine and replace all pads, preventative items $$$ or 3. full rebuild done the right way $$$$$. Problem is: just doing 1 or 2 doesn't reduce your chance of other failures. Good luck and please keep us updated on your decisions.

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The variocam wear pads are a normal wear item on the 5 chain M96 engines. When doing an IMS procedures, anything greater than 4 degrees of camshaft timing deviation usually indicates they are worn and need to be replaced. Good thing is that Porsche did update them and the new ones seem to be much better, however it's still common to see them need replacing every 60k miles or so. How the car is driven, what oil is used, and how often the oil is changed all will affect the longevity of these variocam wear pads.

After I purchased my '00 C2 with 60k miles it turned out I needed to change the variocam wear pads, actuators, solenoids and chains as well. It's not cheap but it did fix the issue completely and I now have zero cam deviation on both banks. Better to just bite the bullet and do it -- and watch out for all the "while the engine is out" bits: in my case lifters, injectors, plugs, coils, water pump, and thermostat...

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Smart man. This is what we recommend when budgeting for a purchase of one of these cars. Get as low mileage and new as you can afford, get a PPI, and do all the preventative maintenance you took care of. Then you can enjoy and have peace of mind.