camshaft adjuster - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Hi there, I have been looking for a boxster for a while now and got one offered via PM on a Dutch Porsche website. Car has a broken camshaft adjuster, apparently something that costs 2500 euro to fix here in the Netherlands. I have been working on Volvo's for over 10 years and do all my maintenance myself, however completely new to Porsche. Is this something that can be done by yourself, any good posts or books I should look into regarding maintenance on Boxsters? I have called a few garages here to get a clue and they all told me to back off this car and look for a good version for a few 1000 more.. Any help ? Edit: forgot I found this site a while ago http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner.htm

Maybe a better description of the part and the year+model of the car will help??

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Porsche boxster 2.5 liters manual from 97 I have not seen the car in person yet, just got a personal message and saw the some photo's I did see some photo's of rear damage in his album

Talked to the owner again asked him how he made that conclusion. He told me huis dealer found it in the OBD readout. Seems to me something like that wont come up on a OBD readout as its mechenical issue. Etherway he is going on holiday for 2 weeks so i orders 2 Books on buying tips and maintenence on 986 Porsches and a OBD reader. Time to readup on this model

Remember that the cost of repairing a 986 can easily far exceed the purchase price.It is not just the parts - the special tools are also expensive. Unless you are 100% certain about ALL the mechanical faults before you buy - you are gambling with large amounts of money. So the car needs to be very 'cheap' to be an intelligent purchase. For used Boxsters near you ,search for and contact "Smallblock454" who contributes here

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I just added Smallblock454 as a friend. Though he is in germany and i am in the Netherlands. Still country next door is still fine The boxster seems to be in good shape looking at the photos. Its been daily driven so that should keep the IMS in Nice shape. Price is the lowest i have seen them ever. They are around 8k here for the cheap ones and they are in bad condition. This one is a little over half that price. But again its a good tip to really go over it as you can easily sink it the other half apparently. Any other tips the Books i ordered might not give me?

Hello mr.borrie, yes i'm located in Germany. Broken camshaft adjuster. Hm, the question is if there is other damage caused by that. How many Km does the car have on it? Don't buy a car you haven't seen and inspected in person. The best books you can get for this car is the official Porsche workshop manual. There are also books from Bentley publishers and so on. I think an universal OBD reader won't be the right decision. Better will be a Durametric diagnosis tool. An original PIWIS system will be to expensive. Maybe you should look for an independent Porsche workshop near you, that has Porsche diagnostic tools. And don't forget it's a Porsche. So you're dealing with spare part prices that can be unpleasent. Especially if you need new Porsche OEM parts to fix problems. And don't forget, the car you're looking for is 19 years old. So there will be parts failing from time to time. Regards, Markus

If you can get the camshaft deviation values, get them. Likely from Durametric or a porsche tool. Camshaft adjusters lie in between the camshafts. Getting that out means removing the valve cover, locking down the timing with a special $184 tool, locking the crank, removing camshaft bearing caps, removing the sprocket from the camshafts, then removing them both. You'll then replace the adjuster, which will cost around $1,500, and after that you reset the timing in respect to the two camshafts, put them back in the car, set the timing in respect to the crank, and drive.

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I assume this can only be done by pulling the engine being it in located where it is. Was checking prices and found this website; http://www.********************************************.com/porsche-parts/hardparts.php?dir=986-97-04&section=103-10 They seem to be had cheaper there but I don't know anything about this websho and quality. I wont buy a car without seeing it that's for sure! The official Porsche workshop manual.. is that something you can buy or only dealers have access too? Too bad about the OBD reader being useless, I also have OBD cable with USB .. would that work with the mentioned software... lets say for trail purposes? The part prices is indeed something to keep in mind, they are pretty heavy compared to what I am used to with Volvo.. who are also not the cheapest to begin with. My main concern is the Engine though I read so much bad things about them that makes me doubt the whole 986/996/997 base. But that reputation is I guess one that makes it even possible for me to drive a Porsche to begin with

Hello mr.borrie, The universal OBD2 diagnostic tools won't give you any deeper details on a Porsche. Especially on the engine (for example camshaft deviation – which would be important in that case). Also you can't always be shure to get a correct error reading. Which makes it useless in the end. There are some after market products on the market like Durametric. But the good ones are expensive. The Porsche workshop manuals can't be officially bought from Porsche. But the internet gives a lot of (sometimes not that legal) possibilities. The engine problems are well known. Also if you do an IMS replacement, the engine can fail in other parts. Some engines are very short lived, some run forever. Hard to give a recommendation. If you can live with the idea of a failing engine or the idea to loose a lot of money, than go for a Boxster. If you are on budget and it would hurt to throw money in a car i would say look for something else. There are a lot of cars out there that are fun. It must not be a Porsche. And just don't think of failing engine parts. A car that is about 20 years old needs also brakes, suspension and other parts. Especially if it's a Porsche that wants to be driven like a sports car. Would i buy a used Boxster today? I'm not shure – think with the knowlegde of today i would go for something different. I bought mine new in 2003. So i know the history, i know what has been done to the car and i also know what can happen in worst case. Regards, Markus

You can get the cheap Chinese version of the durametric on ebay for about $20. this for example: Newest Piwis Cable V3 0 15 0 for Porsche Can Access All of The Systems | eBay This is the early version of the software and cable but works quite well to diagnose the engine and it's electronics. Do not try to use the later version of the software, it will render that cable useless. This can give you all of the info you need on camshaft deviations, etc... This can help with diagnostics. Is the car now a runner?? he's selling because he doesn't want to fix this issue?? That part can be changed in car and takes decent skills, but not super skills. Volvo and Porsche, in my mind will be quite similar for this type of work. Good luck and the Box is a special car and worth some investment of time and $$. I searched the solenoid part number and came up with the best price at about $165.00 http://www.************************************************************************.com/oe-porsche/99660590100

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Hi Markus, It's funny with all that information on the engines I was about to open a topic with a poll with that exact same question. "Would i buy a used Boxster today?" because I'm having struggles with the idea having a troublesome engine. And I know all about owing older cars and the maintenance they require the oldest Volvo in the stable is a 145 from 1972. There is not allot that can break on a simple car like that but still I have redone just about anything from engine to brake rebuilds I guess the lesson is here, buy the car for an amount that its not to painful to loose overnight (lets say the engine takes a ********************). ideally the price of what a engineless boxster would fetch. Fantastic, I just orderd that cable, I'll see it as a cheap insurance check before I actually buy the car once I get to see it in 2 weeks. The car is a runner and he drives it daily, the dealer just gave him a FYI that this issue is coming up and will run him E2500. He saw my add on that forum that I was looking for a Boxster and that I'm handy with a spanner so he gave me a message on his car. He was planning on selling it for a while and this repair was the tipover moment to go ahead and message me.

Hi jcslocum, i've tried 2 different clone tools (PIWIS and Durametric). None of them worked the way they should on my 2003 S. Ended up with the Durametric personal edition for 3 cars. This one works flawlessly. So maybe i didn't have had luck with the clones. Regards, Markus

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I will report back with the readout of the car with that cable, Hopefully you guys can help me decode it to make the right decision on this car. Assuming it will work at all for me :troll:

Currently on holiday in spain and it has been pouring rain for days. More time to read the 101 projects book i brought. Thought some more About what might have been the issue with the Car (im still on planning to see when i get home) I think its logical that its a fault in the sensor or the variocam. That last one costs around 1000 euro just in parts. Im gonna see if i can find out how to diagnose that.

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+1 on that Gelbster. Certainly true in my case. 2500 euros for a repair on a car like this really isn't much. I've poured about $8,000 into mine...so far. I did a lot of research before I bought mine, and I've driven a lot of cars, street and track -- Miatas, Vettes, Mustangs, etc. Personally, nothing compares to the Porsches I've tracked, and to me, the mid-engine Porsches are supreme -- very close to the organic feeling of the open-wheel formula cars I've driven. The "smiles per mile" in a Boxster or Cayman is a totally intangible value that's hard to calculate when you consider the purchase. I'll never forget the look on my wife's face the first time she drove our Boxster. She turned to me and said: "We have to buy this car!" In reality, it's a tough decision. These are incredibly impractical cars. But if practicality was all that mattered, we'd all be driving a Prius! +1 on the Bentley Manual. It's very good.

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Well, what should i say. This guy married the right girl. Regards, Markus

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I am a very lucky guy! Our box is a 5-speed, and I asked her before we drove it if she knew how to drive a manual. She said "Absolutely" and off we went. Next thing you know, she's rev-matching, used the E-brake on a hill -- smooth as silk. Turns out that before we were married, she had owned a Triumph for years.

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By the sound of it you where in the same position as i am at this moment. There is no real good reason in getting one. Its just that after driving one i sort of really really want it. I guess its going to be down to what impression the 2.5 is going to make compared to the 2002 3.2 S i drove before that made me want to get the boxster Woaahhh nice!

I have been reading my whole vacation about all boxster. Today i went and saw the boxster. i went trough most of the check that can be done mentioned in the book -Car sitted fine, looked in good condition and no gaps between panels - interior decent, driverside chair has some damage from getting in and out, needs filler and some paint - paint looked good but i was rainy, i asked him if it was decent dry and he said yes - OEM 17 inch wheels with good tires - seals where good, driverside had a little nick in it . other than that fine - radiators looked clean - lights could be clearerd, seems a bit faded - roof looked good, had been replaced in 2007 - Disk and pads and calipers looked in good shape - spoiler went up and down good, so did the roof - engine light was on, like the seller told me the garage told him it was the camshaft sprocket being stuck (Variocam? or can the sprocket be really stuck) - Car felt good while driving, i had the owner drive me around .. not sure why i did not took the wheel myself - exhaust looked good had been replaced due to rear damage in 2008 , same for the rear bumper And one more before i left again After walk around and the drive around we went inside for coffee. Talked about our work, Both in IT. and than some more about the car. He has been the owner for 7 years and had all the maintance done and has all the papers for that (did not see them though) we talked a little about the price but i'm still a bit scared with the work that is needed. I wonder what you guys would think a car like that is worth