986 3.2 home engine rebuild - Page 5 - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I know, this will only be my second post and it will be about a full tear down and rebuild of the engine in my 2001 Boxster S....at home in my garage..in the UK. Must be a madman So, this is not my first full engine rebuild, Ive done many though admittedly only on Mercs, BMWs and Audis, though a few of those were also performance engines. So lets put some context the insanity. I owned a 2000 Boxster S from new and loved it, then marriage came along, as did the sensible cars, then divorce and then thought, wouldn't be great if I could get a S for my sons first car (he s currently 11) and he can work on it with me restoring it, learning and feeling responsible for it So last Aug, I bought a 2001 S with 70k on the clock, but I could see it needed lots of TLC. Got it home, drove it for a couple of months and then in the garage, gearbox out and IMS fixed with new flywheel, clutch, complete rear suspension, brakes refurb, cats, nuts, bolts, clips, washers, power steering, air con, front rads, air con rads, etc, etc. redone all the soft touch paint, double din stereo, dyed the leather, etc, etc Basically almost spent the cost of the car in parts for the rear end, but I looking at the learning and memories with my son which are priceless. So between my son and I we took the car from this as am example to this The car was so much better and we enjoyed for the summer and even though it sailed though its MOT with low emission values, something wasnt right, there was a slight rubbing sound (I dont know how to describe it ), So I checked the timing and it had a -12 deviation, I adjusted the timing (stupidly with the engine in the car) and got it down to -8.4. It also felt low on power and a few drops on the curve and the fumes smelt wrong. So loads of research and might be the chain guide, might be valve seals, might be rings, etc One thing for it, engine out and tear down and what I discovered was wow, not a really bad wow that many have shared but still, wow. And this brings us to this thread, I would like to share the experience with you all as it may help others, ask for you to look out for me in case you spot something I miss or I am about to balls something up Thanks in advance and here we go...BTW the engine is already almost torn down so no turning back now

So first thing to do was gearbox, bumper and exhaust out. This only took a couple of hours..what? you say, thats BS. No its not as I already spent over 3 weeks doing the first time, breaking ever bolt, stud, etc and spending days to do the most simple 30 mins job. I have to say, I have never comes across the level of corrosion in any of the cars I have worked on. Sure one or two bolts or studs shear off, but I am not joking when I say almost all did or the level or corrosion made the threads useless. As an example the rear sub frame and the anti roll bar mounts. All four snapped needed two new sub frames. Anyway, rambling again, so back on topic. Once gearbox, exhaust was out, it was time to attack the engine. I followed all the great info from Pelican and the great videos in youtube and got the engine onto the hydraulic trolley and lowered in about 2 hours of total time (with lots of breaks, swearing and looking things up in between. On thing I will say is that I spend hours researching before I start. Easily into the hundreds so here we go Engine on trolley Ok, hit a slight problem, I couldn't get the car high enough as in the UK we have tiny boxes as garages. Dont get me wrong, mine is a double but the height is made for mini me's. So the engine was stuck in the drive shafts, raised the car to the highest I could and I was still hitting the rear sub frame so it came out. Quick check from the top and yes forgot return fuel line And finally, engine is out

Straight in striping the engine attachments And yes he is watching netflix as he works, we use the TV to looks at videos on YouTube but hey, he is 11 and hour later engine stripped and items labelled bagged, though I will replace all that is not already new with new as much as possible, especially sensors Next time to strip off the covers, cams and heads. This is where the fun begins

Thanks for the posts. I love this stuff. It's always nice to see how others do things and by the looks of the way that rear end was rebuilt, you take your time and do it right. Please continue to share your journey.

Great posts and even more special as you're doing it with your son! Please keep updating us as you progress, I'll be following.

Thank you to you both. Lots more to come as i believe it will help many by sharing the hows but also the “What the Fanta” moments Have you ever started something you felt would be easy and then wished you never had opened the swimming pool full of worms through no fault whatsoever due to you. BTW, in case I didn’t say, this car is a 2001 S with full Porsche service history with 3 previous owners inc me. The first owner had the car up to 67,000 miles over 16 years I had budgeted £2k - £4K for the engine rebuild depending on what shape the cylinders and pistons where in. More to come tomorrow and thanks again for the words of encouragement

Fantastic journey you have started with your son. We have a same reason I purchaesd the Boxster 2,5 years ago - my son is now 15 yrs and is exited to tinker with boxter and to collect memories together and to learn of the car

What a great post, I will definitely enjoy following this!

With the engine on a stand, next we locked the cams down and removed the covers. So far, nothing looks too bad, chains have seen better days but cams and lobes look ok. Of course I need to take measurements but no real scoring

with the cams out, we had a closer look Some scoring on the carrier but not too worrying

So what about the chain guide rails Some grooving but expected worse and then found worse wow, chunks missing. As the car has only 70k on it and full service history, what plastic was used here. looking at this, they should have been changed 10,000s of miles ago

oh, btw this is what I used to compress the tensioner, Much cheaper than the porsche tool and worked perfectly

When stripping down the hydraulic tensioners, one thing I found was the amount of gunk on the pistons. it did not slide easily. Also there was some seriously black oil inside it. I have only done about 800 miles on the car and had done 3 full oil changes, two when I first got it about 300 miles apart, and another when I did the IMS When I drained the sump the oil was clean but the oil that came out of the tensioner was black so the question is why. I can only think that the it is primed but oil does really flow through it. In any case after I cleaned the tensioner with paraffin as to not kill the seals in side it now slides smoothly. Of course I will be changing the guides for new ones and going to test the solenoid on the bench BTW, important to know which tensioner is which as they have different solenoids. I bag everything in re-sealable sandwich bags that I label and only ever work with one bag at a time as to not mix things up I'll take some photos to share when I strip and clean the second one

next up the lifters and their guides. Loads of the lifters gunked up AND were stuck and took some effort to get them to move, once they did the same black but very stinking oil came out. I was able to polish them up and get them moving freely even when primed but I have decided to replace all of them with new carrier was in good condition though the guides were a little gunked up but they have cleaned up nice and the guides polished out

next we needed to get the manifolds off but I was dreading this as the bolts were rusted to the point the no longer had a hex head. Totally soaked them in Kroil applying it 2-3 times a day over 2 days and used heat, but snap. snap. snap 4-5 bolts each side snapped. Manged to get a few more out with a stud extractor but will need to drill and tap out the others.

Time for the heads to come off and see what the bores look like (gulp) Heads, not too bad on bank 1 and we can now see the pistons and bores and the pistons were caked in burnt oil, grud and ***te The bores, the ones I could see didnt look to bad at all, no scoring visible and felt smooth to the touch

Quotes source post: 643495

Thanks Jgkram, Im a bit OCD when it comes to restorations, also do pinball machines, arcades and antique fans (dont ask ) Here is an example of the suspension and brakes completely rebuilt with new (apart from callipers which I refurbed)

I hink you made a wise choice with new lifters. If there were any particles or debris in your engine, you should consider a new oil cooler too. When my engine was rebuilt, they told me those were two areas that couldn't be counted on to get completely clean on the inside. And if you get a new oil cooler, you can potentially get a bigger one from a 3.4, 3.6 or 3.8 engine that will fit your engine and under your intake manifold.

Quotes source post: 643520

Good call. I actually replaced the oil cooler when I did the IMS but the things I found as we stripped the engine makes me want to ensure everything is cleaned out. The next set of posts will explain why I will be getting all parts ultrasonic cleaned and casings vapour blasted but I definitely will ensure all oilways are flushed and cleaned and if you hadn’t mentioned the oil cooler I would have stupidly put it back on as I only replaced it new a few hundred miles ago and no doubt it is contaminated Thank you PaulE

Quotes source post: 643522

My shop told me there was no way to be sure that the internals of the oil cooler would be completely cleaned of small particles, and a new one was cheap enough, especially compared to the cost of labor and parts for a full rebuild (no way I could do it myself in my lifetime!).

You’re setting a really high bar with your excellent attention to detail. I’m really curious to know how you got everything so clean on your suspension rebuild. I assume everything wasn’t replaced, was it? It just looks so good.

Your work looks great, I can't wait to see how this comes out! I just replaced the variocam guides / cam chains and chain tensioners (The 3 for the ims chain, and b1 and b2 ims to cam - I highly recommend changing them out if there are any signs of reduced tension on the chains (chain slap on startup, etc). While I was seeing some plastic in my oil filter it was a sudden chain noise and raspy? sound to the engine note that had me pulling everything apart. My variocam guides looked similar to yours but were still intact. I do believe the chain noise was because one of my tensioners was failing or had failed). My 01s had 50,300 mi on the clock when I took it apart earlier this year. I did not go as far as removing the heads as you are doing. Couple of thoughts / questions reading your post. 1. you mention that you "redone all the soft touch paint" - does this mean you had the sport design option with the white / speckle finish? I used testors 1830MT on mine, came close.. but not all the way there.. I had a thread here: http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/76906-new-headunit-usb-mic-integration.html Any-rate, I was curious if you have the same which paint you used. In addition to a smuge on the double din that is driving me nuts there are spots on the center console where the original sport design paint has been worn away.. I want to take the console out and respray, but would like to find a closer paint match. 2. You mention the oil gunk in the variocam tensioner, lifters, etc.. I also noticed how "brown" your carrier and the top of the head is. Mine was not like this at all. No oil sludge at all.. I am curious what you find, do you think it is possible there might have been some intermix with coolant at point earlier in the cars life? I saw no sludge anywhere, my variocam tensioners were nice and clean (did not stop me from giving them a good cleaning anyway). And I replaced one questionable lifter. Here is an image from my engine, 50k on the motor, but it is only 20k miles different. This one is with the new chain / guides: this one was taken right after I removed the first bank cover, had not removed anything yet. BTW, I also snagged the fuel return line dropping the engine but on the ebrake cable.. broke the seals on my injectors and fuel was dripping out. Luckily just getting new seals and re-seating the injectors took care of it. Your son looks like he is having a blast! I tried to get mine involved (only a year older, 12).. He came down once or twice, was curious about how everything worked, but did not seem motivated to stay with it We do get to share other hobbies though so I can't complain .

Quotes source post: 643526

agreed, it looks like a new car right off the line. kudos sir!

Here is what my chain guides looked like, maybe a bit less worn then yours but in the ballpark. My deviation on b2 was -9.27, I forget B1 but it was in spec (guides were worn the same as B2 though). Now my deviations are both ~1 degree The other side w/o the oil holes were fine, both banks were like this. When you put it back together note that the guides with the holes (and the o-ring) are put on the right sides of the tensioner. For B1 the the guide with the holes is on the "lower" side (away from the solenoid) and on b2 it is the "upper" (same as solenoid) as I recall.

Quotes source post: 643526

Actually, all the suspension/brakes were replaced with new, except for the callipers which I stripped and refurbed with all new parts and the wheel carrier which I bead blasted clean. So that is: Coils, dampeners, handbrake cables, all handbrake components, discs, pads, shoes, sensors, all suspension arms, bushes, brake shields, speeds sensors, heat shield, cat converters, O2 sensors, gear shift cables, all (I think) mounting brackets (plastic and metal) and every nut, washer and bolt. The only parts I didn't replace with new are the diagonal braces (they were in good condition and needed a clean), anti roll bar and the diamond brace. .The rear sub frame did need to be replaced as the roll bar bracket bolts snapped and they could not be tapped out (photo) but I was soooo lucky as I found two NOS items that were only £60 each instead of £800 each

Quotes source post: 643527

In terms of the soft touch paint, I had the rubbish finish (which was great when it was new) that turns into a gluey gooey gunk I removed of each part, re-painted with black plastic paint then applied a new soft touch top coat that made them look an feel oooooooohhhhhhh, so nice. Can spend hours just gently stroking each plastic part and rubbing my face against it...velvet....erm....ok forget all that I removed all plastics on the dash, doors, etc and gave them the same treatment The top coat I used was this one and when it cures it is super tough as I had to sand a bit back which was near impossible but at the same time it was sooooooooo sooooofffffffttttttt and like velvet

Quotes source post: 643527

I noticed that, mine all had this yellow almost like yellow passivate finish to everything. there was no suggestion at all of a coolant leak but the only thing I can think of is that an oil additive was added, something like a hydraulic lifter additive. In any case all that yellow came off in the degreaser with no resistance at all

also did similar to things like gear stick

Quotes source post: 643529

Good shout about the holes, it would have been an easy (and impacting) mistake to make. thanks for the heads up, very valuable info

So next up is splitting the two halves of the bottom end. First remove the sump and all looks ok, yellowing at the cylinders as expected but all looked ok. Ah, tiny piece of black plastic on the filter the more we go into the strip down the more I believe there is an oil way blockage or restriction due to debris. Will explain in later posts

So one thing to share with anyone who is thinking of doing a rebuild, no matter how much you think you have drained the oil, you havent and loads more than you ever expected will continue to come out. When I removed the oil level sensor over 500ml, which I was able to catch after it went over me, my son, the floor, the engine stand, basically everywhere of the darkest, smelliest, blackest oil came out Left is the oil when I drained the engine and right is the oil that came out of the oil level sender hole and it stinks, not just of fuel, but something else I cannot figure out. Dont have smellavision unfortunately

After a million screws and gentle prying I got the first half off and could see the bores totally an the pistons and wow... Totally crud all over them. I suspect valve stems were leaking but also rings where stuck on two of three especially the bottom control ring. other rings looked far too big as the gap was huge Luckily the pistons cleaned up nice Bank 2's pistons were in no better shape

When I first looked into the bores, I totally bricked it as OMG, is that a crack in the walls?????!!!!!!!! Luckily my son was not around as the amount of swearing that ensued was significant. Those observant amongst you may pick up on what I then realised, the mark is only where I had cleaned directly above is with some carb cleaner, luckily it was only a dirt mark But it did totally throw me for a while. I will check the cylinders once parts come back from cleaning and if there are cracks or oval'ing then I will have the cylinders replaced

What did you use to clean up those pistons? I've got one souvenir piston from my engine before it was rebuilt. It's still on my workbench as it looks like your pistons before you cleaned them up. If I can get my old piston that clean, it will go from my workbench to my desk! Are you going to check the cylinder bores for roundness, i.e., no ovalization? Everything looks great!

Quotes source post: 643547

They got a blast with Carb Cleaner to get most of the oil off and soften the caked on crud. Then 10 mins in an ultrasonic bath with a degreaser at 65 deg C, then removed the piston rings, then another 10mins in the bath Then soda blasted at 50 psi then 30 psi They went back into the ultrasonic bath at 30 deg C wit a very mild carb ultrasonic cleaner and they came up like below. I did start polishing them up with some autosol and a rotary felt pad and then read they are coated so didnt want to polish out the coating. Got into a panic at first as though I had to buy a whole new set of pistons (and still might do mind you) but from what I read they are alloy with an iron coating, so used a weak earth magnet to test the coating is still there and it was on crown and skirts as this weak little magnet was very happy staying on the pistons Yes, once the casing are cleaned up I will check for roundness and magnaflux test for cracks. I prefer to work with clean components casings need a good clean first as does everything else too

Ok, onto the home straight. At this point I have only the crank box and bank 2 on the engine stand. BTW, before this point I realised I had the engine stand mounted across the two halves so I put the engine on the hoist, re-adjusted the stand so it would only be on bank 2 and then removed the bank 1 side. Forgot to mention this, so would have been far less hassle to get it right first. So removed the end caps from pistons 4-6 and dropped them out carefully. then removed the last long bolt on the Bank 2 side, hooked up the engine hoist to four points on the crank box, lots of prayers and gentle coaxing and the crank box separated from the bank 2 half. Lifted up the crank box (with brown pants) and then set down on a trolley Had a look into bank 2 half and looked ok, but wait...what the fanta is that in the top left corner, yep a nut, some rando nut, which looks like its been in there a while and defo not looking like its within the engine. I count everything I take off an bag it, so it is possible I dropped something while disassembly but very unlikely. Next split the crankcase, very carefully. Its not really heavy but awkward shaped. Looking at crank journals and bearings, they were not too bad but not far off end of life. I will need to take loads of measurements to check the crank to be sure but I was optimistic, then I reviewed my photos and my heart sank. What are those marks, they looks like metal that has been stripped away!!!!! At this point it was late one night, I had just tested positive for covid and I thought sod that, if the crank is gone this car will be parted out, cannot justify an 5k cost on a new crank.

Fortunately the next day and in the sun, with a better photo I could see it was staining which was coming off with cleaning. The sprocket looked ok apart from some marking from the chain Anyone know what is and is not acceptable here? Can the sprocket be rebuilt or would the crank lose its heat treat if it was?

Ok, parts all stripped down and bagged or waiting for cleaning. I am going to look to get the crank box rebuilt first once I have taken measurements and polished. Aiming to complete this by Christmas. At the same time I will send the cases, sump and some other parts from the bottom end to be cleaned Here is what I have ordered for this part of the rebuild Oil Separator (99610101000) Main Crankshaft Bearing Shell Standard. Porsche 986 Boxster / 996 >>2001 (99610120510) 2 x thrust washer (99610112952) 6 x splash valve (99610101851) Tensioner Blade. Porsche 996 1998-05 / Boxster / Cayman (99610516555) Tensioner Blade. Porsche 996 1998-05 / Boxster / Cayman (99610516651) 6 x pan-head screw M 6 X 16 (99921800501) Timing Chain. Porsche 996 / 986 / 987C / 997.1 (99610517158) 2 x Timing chain. Porsche 996 / 986 Boxster (99610517753) roll pin 6,0 X 16 (90009503101) straight pin A 4,0 X 10 (90030202100) 14 x screw M 9 X 127 (99610111559)

Recap of what I did so far. Remove rear bumper - Lots of great posts on this forum how to do this and YouTube videos Remove roof (easier access) - Lots of great posts on this forum how to do this and YouTube videos Remove Exhaust - Lots of great posts on this forum how to do this and YouTube videos, 101 projects, etc Remove gearbox - Lots of great posts on this forum how to do this and YouTube videos, 101 projects, workshop manuals, etc Remove engine - Lots of great posts on this forum how to do this and YouTube videos, 101 projects, workshop manuals, etc With all the resources online, dropping the engine is not as daunting as first thought with the bike lift and going slow and checking and double checking it came out with little stress. It took about 3-4 hours start to finish. That all said, the caveat to this is that I have already taken the gearbox off so all those seized and rusted nuts, bolts etc had already snapped and I went through the stress and time previously. As an example, I was going to reuse the original cats, but the flange bolts refused to come out and I had to sacrifice the cats to get them off. With Hindsight, if you want to reuse many of the items then plan for extra time to deal with the poor quality fasteners. If you plan to replace, then do what's most time effective If there is anything specific someone would like to know then please do ask Here are some of the tools I used Bike Lift - to support and lower the engine Trolley Jack Jack Stands Floor transmission jack Various sockets Camshaft holder tool Impact Wrench Impact Driver Electric Ratchet Engine Stand

As part of the tear down, I am cleaning many components which I wont be replacing. Once of these are the Variocam adjusters. So I have searched the net looking for info on there magical devices and some does exist, but there is not much that shows some of the internals. Understandably so when we consider the cost of these. There also seems to be no way to refurbish them. I had originally used paraffin on one of the adjusters and a ultrasonic bath to clean it and I thought it cam our well. When I went to do the bank 2 adjuster I actually saw some of the brown plastic from the guides in the same bag, which there should have not been any. On closer inspection and through some dismantling I found more fragments, some even blocking the holes on the piston visible. So I decided to take the risk and dismantle these and use a ultrasonic sensitive detergent at around 45 deg C and totally flush out the parts. So here is a caveat, I do not recommend repeating this experiment as at this time I do not know if it will fix or damage the part. I am only sharing what I did and my observations and not recommending the following to anyone to repeat. Each bank has differences, not only in the solenoid but also in the unit itself. Bank 2 has extra holes which oil is pushed through that bank 1 doesn't, also more importantly, there is a oilway at the top of bank 2 and this is on the bottom of bank 1 Below are some photos after the units were cleaned. Apart from the difference in part number stamped on each unit, there is a stamp indicating which cylinder it is intended for visible on the top of each unit next to the solenoid So how I cleaned the units was to dismantle each one, one by one as not not mix up the internals. Below are the internals for Bank 1 I next put the parts, not including the solenoid into an Ultrasonic bath with a sensitive detergent (metal and rubber) at 45 deg C for 10 minutes. I then gently moved the piston in an out (and I mean gently) and wow, the crud that came out and yes some more small pieces of plastic. On bank 1, there are only 3 or 4 places where fluid goes in and out so I just watched these as I GENTLY moved the piston. I then repeated the bath for another 10 mins and repeated GENTLY moving the piston and wow, even more crud and small pieces of plastic. Dont get me wrong, it was only 1-2 very small pieces but they were still there. Between each 10 min clean I rinsed in warm water, submerged and gently moved the piston. I repeated one more 10 min clean in the batch. I then polished the piston in the middle (below) and using a shoelace and oil only I polished the main piston in the unit. BTW, before cleaning the pistons did not move freely, either the one inside the main or the main. Following cleaning, I submerged the unit in fresh oil and gently moved the piston to prime it and removed as much water as possible. Yes there will be some water remaining but this will hopefully be removed when I break the engine in following the rebuild and the 2-3 oil changes I am planning post run in. The amount should be insignificant....hopefully

I the reassembled the unit taking care in the postion of the pistons, springs solenoid piston (which must go back as it came out, look at the photos), submerged the whole thing in fresh oil for about 10mins, then bagged and tagged it. I then repeated the same on Bank 2, this is bank 2 unit below: Note that this configuration is not only different to bank 1 but there is an extra oilway at the top Once the unit was cleaned, it was primed, bagged and tag an back into storage with its sister. I wont know if it has improved things, though there was definitely and issue with contamination or killed the unit until I put the engine all back together, so I will update with observations then but hopefully at least the photos may help others Now, I have an engineering background and looking at the unit, I feel it should be possible to refurbish it. The only inaccessible part is the central piston, which from what I have seen and feel must have some o-ring internally. There appears to be no way in as the circlip seems to be help in place by the tabs that have been flayed out in the photo below I can see there are no kits available to refurbish the unit, but I have purchased a second hand one to dismantle with a view of what is needed as there should be no reason why the metal cap in the photo cannot be reproduced. In any case, this is just an experiment and I will share my observations and findings in case it helps others

Cool stuff! You inspired me to purchase a can of carburetor cleaner, my souvenir piston from the rebuild of my 3.2 is soaking in it over the weekend. I'll see if I can get it close to how clean you got yours! But it still has the rings on and the wrist pin in.

Quotes source post: 643664

Awesome If you are going to have it for show, then some Autosol will bring everything up and stop the rings from rusting I can honestly say that my ultrasonic bath and small media blaster (using soda or fine glass beads) are outstanding in bringing things back to a near new look. Yes, you need to take care to use the right chems/media and clean thoroughly after using media but there is so much info/videos on the net that it really is not rocket science. I am considering upgrading my small media blasting cabinet and buying a full on vapour blasting cabinet

Quotes source post: 643666

I saw a video on Facebook of an auto detailing place, they were using a device that used dry ice in some kind of pressure washer. I think it is called a dry ice blaster. They were treating the undersides and inner fenders of cars with it and the parts were looking like new when they sprayed them. Remember, you can never be too rich, too thin, have too much horsepower or too many tools!

There's an article in Pedro's Garage about that. Freeze your Road Grime!

Quotes source post: 643700

Wow, thanks for sharing the link. I want one of those machines. Not only the car but I will do my neighbours cars, my house, their house, in fact anything else I can find to clean lol

It's called Dry Ice Blasting and has been around a long time in the metal working business. Here is a pretty good run down of what it is, how it works and what it is used for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry-ice_blasting The company I retired from is a primary supplier of the dry ice pellets to the industry.

This is one of my favourite parts of any rebuild, no matter what is being rebuilt. When parts start to arrive. For me, it really is like have lots of birthdays Recently, we have 24 brand new, shiny lifters/tappets packed in oil A nice new oil separator with new gaskets And lots of other parts inc, new injectors, seals, bolts, screws, knock sensors, chains, guides, tensioner, etc. Its only a small portion and loads more on the way, but I like to buy things slowly and especially when I can gab a bargain. As with the injectors and lifters which I paid less than half the normal price for the same part. Hopefully the parts I need to start the bearing carrier rebuild will turn up soon

Great thread, thanks for sharing! The two variocam units are completely different, they move the chain to the opposite side during the changover. After browsing many threads and taking apart mine for inspection my understanding is that mostly only one of them fails, the one that has the large greenish O-rings that are prone to disintegrate due to aging. I forgot which one it is, I have a thread on this topic somewhere. Theoretically if you remove that steel cover disc you can pull the piston and replace the faulty O-rings. It does not seem to be easy to do though, it requires machining, mill, lathe, etc. If you go down that route let us know how it worked out. When I was rebuilding mine I tested the variocam operation while spinning the engine on my bench and activating the solenoids, and both turned out good. I have a thread on this in show & tell. Good pictures, keep them coming!

Quotes source post: 643706

Awsm, thanks for sharing and I will definitely look up your thread. I struggled to find any real description of the internals and also photos but lots of warnings and statements of “it can’t be done”, “non-serviceable” “cannot be refurbished” etc. I come from an engineering background and hearing that makes me think “really?” And makes me want to run an experiment to see why. Yes, once removed some parts cannot be reused, but with technology as it is today, such 3D-metal printing, CNC machines etc once we have a 3D model of the parts required then why cannot these non reusable parts be replaced? Maybe it’s cost, maybe it’s complexity, that’s the experiment I wish to run and I will share my observations not to encourage everyone not to replace with new Porsche parts but to share and document the observations for other I have seen a European company that does produce reconditioned units so it must be possible

Actually, quick question for our community, it feels that the spring in the main piston has a different compression rating between each side. I need to check but from memory bank 2 was far easier to compress than bank 1. The difference being bank 2 could be compressed by hand and bank 1 required far more effort. Does anyone have any similar experience/knowledge or observations? Thanks in advance

Quotes source post: 643709

I didn`t notice that, it`s possible though. Perhaps oil got trapped in one of the units and gave you you the impression it`s harder to compress? Bt, check out this thread, has pics of the internals of both actuators: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/78048-boxster-986-particles-oil-filter-2.html

Quotes source post: 643713

Hi Homeoboxter Thanks, that is a very good point and I will check the deflection of each spring with a known load as its the only way to tell Yes, it was that thread that encouraged me to look deeper into the units. Awesome information

Sweet, all the parts bar one that I need to start the bearing carrier rebuild turned up today (yes on a Sunday ) Another birthday day lol

Great thread! I'm subscribed.

Awesome thread. I'd love to rebuild a 3.4 for my Boxster but don't really have enough room. Maybe when both kids are out of the house.

And my last "part" arrived today so I can start my rebuild Have started with the clean up of the bottom end and will start sharing those photos and experiences and lessons learnt

After degreasing the crank and giving it a bath I checked the main journals and all were 60.0mm using a digital calliper. I have a micrometer somewhere and will dig it out to double check , but with all honesty I don’t know if this is good or bad. Lots if posts from people have measured theirs but there appears to be nothing published as to factory spec by Porsche. Without buying a new crank, is anyone aware of the factory specs for both journals?

Quotes source post: 643830

Porsche never published any internal clearance info on these engines as they didn't want anyone to work on them in the field. They didn't even publish engine internal torque specs. That is why Jake Raby's information is so important.

Quotes source post: 643831

Thanks JFP in PA for confirming and replying, your help is very much welcome and appreciated. Got Jakes torque specs which is a God send as are his DVDs so far. So the only way anyone can find out what the default factory spec for each journal is to buy a new crank and measure them and then publish them on the net to help others. Don’t really want to spend the money as my crank as far as I can see looks ok though I could be wrong as I don’t know what the original specs are Nice (British sarcasm )

A close approximation of the crank journal sizes could be obtained by torquing empty new bearing shells in the rod and mains carrier, then inside mic them.

Quotes source post: 643833

Good call

It`s even easier to measure the clearance with plastigauge. You can check the old and new set and compare.

OldManMo you inspired me to clean up my souvenir piston from my engine before it was rebuilt as a 3.6. A week in a gallon of carburetor cleaner was all it took! Keep posting updates, I love following your progress!

Quotes source post: 643847

So, my question is: how do you use this when the bolts have to be torqued and then taken to the proper angle--and are one-time use?

Quotes source post: 643853

Easy: you use the old bolts for plastigauging/mic-ing and use the new ones for reassembly.

Quotes source post: 643851

Thanks PaulE and others for the words of encouragement and really makes my day that I am helping others. My son and I are having lots of fun so far learning and seeing the progress. We had a great evening in the other day watching Jake’s DVDs with a bag of popcorn and a slushy. Me more than him mins you Nothing so far has been daunting but that said I do believe I did the tear down at the right time before any damage. Will share more progress in the next few days Thank you all

So first round of cleaning for the carrier, crank and IMS Before is yuk After is much better and can really see what the situation is. Still not finished with the carrier though Crank needs a little more work and I want a Machine Shop to check it. So will look to get it only micro polished

I use an Ultrasonic bath to do the cleaning and interesting what you fine on the bottom. This is from the Crank, which wasnt bad even though its what is all that. I didnt take a picture after the carrier but there were loads of little bits of plastic once cleaning had finished

Brilliant, very interesting thread and how you document the progress. Thank you and keep up the fantastic work

May I ask, the parts that where mediablasted, eg the gearbox. Did you clear coat them after? Any trick to make them stay that clean?

Quotes source post: 644004

Hi Robert986 Different parts had a different finish. For the gearbox, I didn’t mediablast as it was too big for my machine, but I cleaned it with degreaser, then wire bushes, then used a lot of carb and brake cleaner, scotch pads, then I gave it a light coat of alloy wheel silver paint. One year it is still holding up. With hindsight, I probably sent this out to be media and vapour blasted then had a anti-corrosion coating applied. For other parts such as suspension parts I did media blast with soda and fine glass beads (taken care for smooth finished areas) then applied either silver alloy paint or anti-corrosion coating. For the exhaust,, this was a couple of hours spent using a fine scotch brite wheel then a polishing wheel with a polishing compound like autosol I need to do the front suspension and brakes so I will share what I do, again not to say this is the “right” way to do this but just what I did/do

Hi all I know, its been ages. Lots of reasons, Christmas, holidays, work, home, waiting on parts, waiting on parts, waiting on funds and so on Spent most of the time since my last post cleaning, measuring, investigating, learning while I waited to order and receive parts. I should hopefully be in a position to start the rebuild in the next month or so. Dont get me wrong, I currently have a small mountain of nice new engine parts, but still quite a bit more to get. While cleaning the many parts in the ultrasonic tank, I could clearly see particulates fallen to bottom. These were mostly plastic from the chain guides and some pieces of carbon. There was however, lots of pieces and they came out from almost everything that was cleaned, Crank, Cams, lifters, lifter housing, IMS itself once the bearing was removed. All honesty, I am not sure I didn't find lots of damage as it does look (and maybe I am fooling myself) as I caught it in time So while I get ready to start the rebuild here is some photos from what has been done so far. In almost all cases parts started in the tank, then cleaned and polished by hand, then back to the tank, then cleaned with carb cleaner, then back into the tank, then polished by hand again, then back to the tank...well you get it. BTW, I dont mind cleaning and polishing by hand, I find it therapeutic and I get up close and personal with the part

The IMS took lots of nice gentle work but ha come up nice. Lots of nasty sludge came out from the inside but more so when I used a bottle brush to get to the end Will still go through one more round of cleaning before I fit it

Crank took some time also and I found a lot of sludge and a small piece of plastic in the oilways. The journals where hand polished. I used 10,000 grit wet and dry on the heavily soiled journals. The specs where in line with what is published else where on the net. It has been crack tested, but will have it tested once more and run through final cleaning just before fitting This is how I started after a few round in the ultrasonic bath And a number of hours later by hand

Crank carrier also had the tank and hand polishing treatment. Had a strange one here as I reassembled without the bearing to torque to measure the roundness of the bearing seats and was seeing about 0.01-0.02mm differences across the face. I found that there were deposits of carbon/oil/stuff that I didn't notice the first time. Spent some more time cleaning and polishing the seats and was seeing, sometimes only 0.01mm differences. Didn't think that the build up could be as much as that, but it could have dried on when I removed the bearing I guess. You can see it a little in the phot below between the first seat on the left and the next ones

The cams also had a thick (well less than 0.01mm) build up. Took a while and again by hand, though I did use a fine glass beads on shaft between the bearings and cams but they cam up nice lifter carrier also came up nice though this had a lot of deposits at the bottom of the ultrasonic bath when cleaned. Still needs a little more work and polishing

lots of other parts scrubbed up well

also got some new pistons And will be replacing the rod bushings as there was noticeable play and didn't like the look of them. I assume these are pressed in as per normal, nothing special needed with them?

Love watching the progress. What type of ultrasonic machine do you use?

Quotes source post: 645054

Thanks @palindrome I have a totally rubbish one as it went bang on Friday waiting to hear back as to replacement hence why I don’t want to say the make When it worked It worked well. It was a home unit, 30L, 800w ultrasonic 600w heat but it did run both 28hz and 40hz which helped. Cost about £300 Going forward I think I am going to go bigger and more powerful though still limited to single phase unfortunately. Cost goes up significantly once you get around 50L and higher, but you get what you pay for Ultrasonics are awsm. I have some great videos showing a parts which were cleaned using carb cleaner, degreaser, vapour etc then within 20secs in the bath (temp around 50-60 degrees C) and the crud that comes from out is amazing. Especially from internal parts for example the oilways of the camshaft. Its a little mesmerising, like a lava lamp. You are watching the part and nothing really happening then in a split second this wisps of oil, oxidisation, etc just start coming off the part. Below is a screenshot of one of the vids I had. The pipe was cleaned using carb cleaner and degreaser for about 10mins, outside looked like new, within 20secs the caked on oil inside started to cloud away. I put a snake cam into the first part and it was spotless This is another screen shot of the IMS, lots of cleaning an polishing and the inside I cleaned using carb cleaner and a large pipe brush. The photo below shows the clouds of "stuff" coming from the inside. This dislodges some particulates which must have been caked on inside the ims. Another great example of what is possible is the sump cover, vapoured, carb cleaner, pressure washer and again look at the impregnated crud coming off My learning is to go as big and as powerful as possible. I now have two small units, which though are ok for small parts like nuts and bolts, are not really useful for otehr parts. Also, learnt the hard way, the detergent or degreaser is important, had to replace some alloy parts which the detergent/degreaser, may in combo of the ultrasonic made them unusable. I now only use a sensitive metal detergent at the exact mix ration and I am getting some great results and ofcourse a rinse tank with anti flash added.

I do have to say that my son and I are loving this rebuild, not loving the cost of parts, but the investigation of some of our observations, the learning, even the research. We would see something that in my sons words, looking kinda sus, then both gran our phones and start researching. Sometimes we would run an experiment with the parts, accepting we may kill it by the end but that’s a learning in itself. An example is the PAS, we researched that there is no service kit readily available for refurbishing it, so we have broken it down and found it to be a simple centrifugal pump which is mostly O rings, very serviceable if I can get the right sizes I currently have the engine completely broken down and bagged, lots of container with new or refurbished parts all over my living room and I love it. Sometimes while sitting and watching TV I pick up a part and start looking at it, then research, clean it (again) and so on I love it

Great Work Mo! Thanks for the update!

Quotes source post: 645055

Thanks for the info! Intriguing. I hate carb cleaner and other evil solvents.

So, Mo, how’s it going? 😀

Quotes source post: 647120

Yes, thank you @986tate, my bad as I have been slack posting progress. Have lots to share but time, money has been a killer. Quick update, lots of cleaning, refurbishing and waiting on parts. I have rebuilt crank carrier with a super finished crank and am about to bolt the refurbished and balanced con rods to new and balanced pistons. Apart from seriously dodgy chain guides nothing seems to be too far gone and tolerances are within values for many existing posts. Will do a more detailed post with all the photos I have soon, promise 😁 Thank you to all Mo

hi all first off, my bad for not updating in a while. As mentioned my ultrasonic went bang and it took a while to get to the point the seller was willing to refund the cost. While that was going on and while I was waiting for parts I decided that I wasnt totally happy with the level of clean I was getting on the cams, crank, IMS, heads and block so sent the cams, sprockets, crank and few other bits off to be superfinish'ed and loved the result, not just how shiny everything was (ooohhh shiny) but also because I could feel the difference on the lobes and journals with my hands and fingers. To demonstrate, here are some before and afters of the crank and IMS Crank straight out of engine First clean via Ultrasonic tank Second clean by hand Superfinishing Now, I completely understand that it is my responsibility to check, double check and ensure no media had entered any of the oil ways (I was also reminded by the company that did the work) and I did just that, and while I was using a number of pipe cleaning brushes and yes, media did drop out so it does pay to check.

Also IMS before and after

Blocks and heads were aqua blasted, though I need to dig out the heads before pics the results was amazing. Still need to thoroughly check all pathways and do my own cleaning to ensure no glass beads remain Will take better pics of the heads later and oh yes, thats a new oil pump

Crank carrier cleaned up nice after one go in the ultrasonic tank, though when I looked carefully I could still see crud on the seats Some loving hand cleaning later and all is clean. I did check for any out of round but there was very little deviation

so next was to reassemble the carrier. At this point I pulled in my son to learn. Laid out all the parts to check we were ready to go

Next day we got to work as soon as he came home from school. Oil squirters go in Bearings Things are bit too heavy now so I stepped in. All bearings lubed up and crank on and back together. A bit of panic at this point as the crank did not spin as freely as I though it would. My son then pointed out what we saw on Jakes video that the carrier must be torqued down first. Good he was paying attention when we watched the DVDs

so he then torques the bolts and once torqued and witnessed it spins sooooo smoothly next the IMS goes on with new scrapper, bolts, guides, chain and bearing. Again torqued to the right setting and witnessed Notice above the superfinishing media in the dowel, already been removed. Carrier is now wrapped in plastic film to protect it from dust etc while the next steps are in progress

So will share what we did next soon as need to take photos but they include pressing in a new small end bushing for each con rod, drilling oil hole, honing bush and balancing con rods within 1g of each other. I used an engineering company for this All pistons are new so piston pin was honed to small end bushing, and pistons were balanced to within 0.4-0.5g of each other. The next step would be to attach the con rods then drop the carrier into the block. Will post soon I promise

Oh yes forgot to mention that we removed the broken exhaust manifold bolts and tapped in new threads after we sent the heads to be cleaned. Heads have all new valves, spring, washer, collets, guides, seats etc and will be cut to a three angle profile

Beautiful work Mo, you've got a great assistant in your son, hope he is enjoying it too!

Awesome that you do all this real nice built with your son - great fatherson time spent there and great learnign for the youngster

Thank you PaulE and pilot4fn He is great though initially there was a lot of protesting and to be fair to him he is not able to do as much as he would like as he hasn't got the strength yet to lift the parts, unbolt, etc and spent a lot of time after I taught him what I was doing and why, watching me struggling to get a rusted part off Fortnite will always be more appealing during those times As the car will be his when he is old enough I made a point that he needs to know how it works and how to maintain it. I was stripping car engines, gearboxes with my father from about the same age as my son and when I was 17 i worked non stop to save up and I bought a 2.0s Capri which I resprayed, added a double x pack body kit and lowered it to an inch off the floor and also rebuilt its engine. I haven't stopped since and hopefully he will have some interest and experience to maintain his own cars