2008 Porsche Cayman S - Engine noise?

Hi all, I hope you are all enjoying your Porsche ’s and if you’re currently having issues I feel your pain 😭 I have a noise coming from the engine area of the 987CS, but I don’t think it’s the engine.. I could be wrong. I need your opinions on what you think this noise could be. Link below It only happens when it’s at temperature and idling. You don’t hear the noise whilst driving. I parked the 987CS in a car park so the video could pick up the sound. Your thoughts and suggestions are always most welcome 🙌🏻

First, that's a very good recording, thanks! To me, it sounds like a valve lifter starting to fail. Oil pressure being lower at idle, the lifter starts collapsing. Higher pressure at higher rpm pumps it up sufficiently to quiet it. Ticking is not unusual on cold Porsche engines; but I'm not sure it is when warm. It's notable that yours only happens when warm, not when cold. I don't know what to think of that.

I thought a valve lifter as well and that’s not a cheap fix. I thought maybe something loose on the exhaust could make that noise, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. You’re correct about the ticking, I’m not concerned by that.

What oil/weight are you running and how long ago? Maybe going to a heavier oil would help maintain oil pressure and quiet lifters at idle.

The oil should be the Mobil 1 thats recommended by Porsche . It had a full service in March by a specialist which includes all the filters and oil replacement. What oil what you suggest?

There are several A40 oils approved by Porsche , both brands and weights. Even sticking with Mobil1 , my owners manual lists 0W-40; 5W-40, 5W-50. Older higher mileage engines often do better with thicker oils. Also some brands are known to quiet mechanical noises better than M1. I believe Motil, Pentosin, and LiquiMoly have been mentioned. I should of asked first if you checked the oil level. I just assumed you would do that routinely and would top it up if needed.

You’re correct… I do check the oil routinely. She has just over 58,000 on the clock. Which oil is the heaviest?

I agree, sounds like a lifter. My 2006 usually does the same thing if not run for more than two week periods. Does the noise at idle go away if you drive it and get the RPM's up to about 4,000-5,000 for a period of time? When this happens to mine as soon as it's started I increase the RPM's to about 1500- 2000 until I'm able to drive it and maintain at least 3,000 RPM's on the road. Once it has been warmed up the noise is gone and sometimes does not return for months at a time. I use Mobil1 5W/40.

FWIW, I am using LiquiMoly Valve Lifter additive which seemed to help a bit. Previous oil M1 0W40 (which seemed to go down to 30 weight after 5,000 miles / 1 year), now using Castrol 5W40 (which seems to have the same / lower cSt@100C vs. M1), and will try M1 5W50 next year.

I drive it 12m a day and I’ve only noticed it a low crawling speed which will be low RPM. You can’t hear it in the cabin with the windows up which is strange as it’s so loud. When I drive it normally 30mph in my local area you can’t hear it at all with the windows down. I might have to thicken up the oil.

Going by your suggestion and the good advice on here I think I’m going to thicken up the oil.

@CarsOfZeus , since you are noticing the sound only when your engine is hot, it seems like you need the hot viscosity to be heavier. So going from 0W-xx to 5W-xx shouldn't be a benefit (other than starting with a good baseline in case your oil is depleted or contaminated). So finding a good A40 spec oil with a hot viscosity of 45 or more would be an improvement. But first, I should ask about your normal driving profile. Do you often do a lot of short trips without a nice long (20 min) drive with the engine at the normal operating temp? Condensation moisture can accumulate in the oil if it is not evaporated by a nice hot engine. The moisture can be enough to dilute the effective viscosity. Maybe next oil change get a sample to be analyzed. That's always a good idea if only for peace-of-mind.?

Honestly, I drive the 987CS 3 to 5 times a week 8 to 12 miles each time in total. So, one trip could be to the gym which will take about 20 mins to drive 4 or 5 miles and then back again an hour or so later. I thought I was driving it enough.. maybe not. I was going to take the 987CS to the country side next Friday which is a 2 1/2 hours drive, but that noise has me thinking that I’d better leave it at home.

I think I'd be poking around with an automotive stethoscope. It could be an exhaust gasket leak. On motorcycles, a header gasket leak can sound just like a tappet.

I was about to say the same. I had an exhaust leak that appeared out of nowhere on one of my P cars, and it makes the same scary sound, and it was only loud while at idle. Turns out a couple of my header bolts had vibrated out and were gone, but a leak could be anywhere in the exhaust path,

If it requires further investigation after changing the oil, I will get it all looked at before making a decision on what work I do.

I hate to pee on a parade.. but - it's time to take a look at the old oil filter (which you probably don't have since a shop did the job), cut it apart and open it up and see if anything glitters. Almost every post I've seen regarding bore scoring - starts out as a "lifter noise". The lifters in these cars shouldn't drain down, especially overnight. Maybe after a fortnight, but overnight? Nah. The noise continued with a different higher viscosity oil. These are the much too frequent path I've seen the bore scoring victims taking - with the final result, well, not good. The oil filter will tell the story. Run it a few hundred miles, or even 500 (go to the country twice) - then justs drop the filter (you don't need to drop the oil), and cut it open and look REALLY closely. The usual sign of bore scoring is non-metalic shiny tiny particles caught in the filter. That's the bore material that was scraped off. Do have a replacement filter to install (and prefill the filter with oil when it's in the housing).. my hope is - you see nothing - my gut feeling is after hearing that noise - it ain't good. Sorry - I justed pee'd on a parade. I aimed for the bagpipers..

When the oil was replaced last week I did look closely at the filter and I couldn’t see anything. I was hoping all the suggestions would help, but I am fully aware that my efforts could be futile. I’ll be using the car up until the garage appointment on the 21st and ultimately that will be d-day for me and this 987CS.

Do a check of the sepentine belt, tensioner and pulleys and anything connected such as the water pump and alternator first. Accessible from the removable panel behind the seats. They can be a source of many strange noises. Use an automotive stethoscope if your tech has one.

The car is booked in with the mechanic on the 21st, so hopefully he’ll find out where the noise is coming from.

Do you have any of your old oil from your last change.... or have you sent oil from a previously change for an analysis? These Blackstone, or other firms, will settle the bore scoring or potentially chain tensioners.... valves, lifters.... etc. Each of these metals have a different chemical signature left in the oil..

The oil was dropped and changed along with the filter as mentioned above, but I didn’t send it off to be checked. I couldn’t see anything in the filter, but I didn’t cut it open which is a mistake.

Sorry to hear of your bad news. There are engine replacement/rebuilding options.... LN Engineering is one of many to perform. Their nickel liners seem to be well respected and tested? Not cheap however.... Search results for: 'Bore scoring repair'

Cheers. I’ve done plenty of research into bore scoring repair and the cost will be £11k up and the value of the 987S is about £14.5k. I don’t think it’s worth the trouble.

I think that almost every Porsche owner confronted with your engine problem will have this cost vs. car value economic conundrum; however you might be underestimating the incremental value of showing the nickel bore repair and the unlikelihood of another bore scoring issue ever occurring on this "repaired" engine to a future potential buyer? Now you won't make "money" on this approach.... but you will likely recover a premium over general market value for this generation of car and engine at mileage, and have the enjoyment of driving your car for some time as a bonus. Of course, each analysis of these put/take decisions depends on your specific situation, the condition of the car, the Porsche scavanger car parts market in your locale, and hassle factor?

Since I purchased this car 3 years ago it definitely has no more money in it taking into consideration what I paid, all the repairs and yearly servicing. I honestly think this is a step too far for me. It’s been fun, but she can be a project for someone else.

Sorry, but not surprised to hear this.

Sorry to hear about your engine. Another option may be to purchase a brand new short block from one of the online Porsche dealers. I recently read that they can be had for about $8000 US. This info came to me about two months ago and there was a link to one of the dealerships, sorry I don't remember which dealer(s) but this seems like a relative bargain for a brand new engine. If this works out, it would be imo a better solution than relining and rebuilding yours. Good luck and don't underestimate the value of your car, for the past few years they have been going up in value.

Thank you for your suggestion. I have now sold the 987CS and I’ll be on the look out for a new Porsche very soon. I’m in no rush though because I’m pretty gutted tbh.

Sorry for your loss. Out of curiosity, what was the estimate for a rebuild the correct way, wait time and how were you able to part with the 097.1 so quickly????? I have a 07 CS 3.4 with 125K, so far so good...........

Estimate for a full rebuild including labour was estimated to be over £11k up. Now you could just get the one cylinder fixed for £5k up, but thats not solving the longterm problem. I also could’ve shopped around, but the money I have spent over the past 3 & 1/2 years has been immense. I can’t justify anymore money in this car.if the value of the car was double like £30k, I think I would’ve done it.