lowblow

All-

O.K, so I take my car to my indy for an oil change and to diagnose my a/c situation, (not cold at all).

When I back it out of the garage I see that I have oil on the floor on the left side, (drivers side). I mention it to my mechanic and we put it up on the lift and can see the accumulation on the timing chain housings, (Don't flame me, I think thats what he told me).

As you can all tell from my explanation, I know SQUAT about this stuff. My indy suggests performing a complete gasket/ o ring set, (oil return lines, etc), replacement as the car has 65K miles and he sees signs of other areas beginning to get wet and accumulation of dirt/ debris.

This work supposedly requires dropping the motor at which time I would like to check everything practical as I am fearful of guide wear, SAI condition, etc.

Can you guys PLEASE shed some light on what I may be dealing with, suggest questions for my indy, etc. I am expecting a call from him later today to talk $$$$.

TIA
Mike

MarkD

Sounds like a bit of overkill to me... but I haven't seen the car so that comment is virtually useless

Based on what you described, the $$$ will be high.

I would ask them to break things down into basic groups since it sounds like we are opening the door to many areas. Something like this:

1. oil leaks - define what leaks are a problem (for you, not the shop) and decide what you want to fix
2. SAI, guide wear - a whole other project. If you are not burning excessive oil or getting a CEL, why are we doing this? The cost will be many $K if you go ahead with a top end job.
3. Other misc "while you are in there" items.

FWIW, most 993s have some seepage around the timing covers. Usually it is an annoyance and not a major leak.

Good luck...

Sooner

Timing chain cover gasket is a PITA to replace. I had my mechanic replace the timing chain cover gasket & the chain tensioner cover gaskets last year, and I don't believe he dropped the motor, but there are a lot of items to remove & replace to get there. I think it was somewhere around 10-12hrs or so of labor, but don't have the invoice in front of me.

ljugete

I've spent $$ to find it (changed oil line, upper and lower valve cover seals, etc,... I was told that there was some oil leaking in the area of the front chain cover gasket. They say they have to remove a lot of stuff from the engine compartment (no need to drop the engine) to replace this seal.

My oil leak is small and noted mostly after long trips (I drive a lot). Is it worth this expense or should I replace the oil lost when needed?

TIA!

Edward

FWIW, my timing chain housing has seeped a bit of oil for the last 70k miles (I am now at 120K). It has been pretty consistent and has not grown in these many years of ownership. All I get is maybe a small drop or two on the garage floor in maybe two weeks of daily driving. And of course the requisite road dirt under the engine from oil attracting road grime. Translation: leave it alone unless you want to spend big bucks addressing what is a small and innocuous leak. Were it easy/cheap (like valve covers), I'd say go for it. But given the cost/benefit here (unless you're leaving puddles, of course), I'd not touch it.

OTOH, if you were already doing an engine-out maintenance (say, clutch replacement), then yeah, why not. I did a whole lot of maintenance stuff when I did the clutch replacement/engine out ...but I forgot to address the timing chain cover; argh!!!

Edward

JPS

Also, I've heard (and seems reasonable) to thoroughly clean the engine first...the fan and air cooled nature blows oil all over the place. Peeps replace lower valve cover gaskets only to discover it was actually the uppers leaking down, for example.

Chris Prack

Chain covers on a 993 are a big job. Expect approx. 12 hours or so of time for a pro to do it.

The engine can stay in the car. Due to the heating system there are more parts to remove to get to the chain housing. Once there the gasket change is straight forward. The cams will need to be timed as part of the job. So at least the intake rocker covers must come off.

When is the right time to do it? Depends on how much it bothers you. As you can see, most are driven by the expense and would rather add oil. My recommendation as a professional Porsche tech was if it leaves a puddle on the floor, it's time to bite the bullet.

Best of luck.

TRINITONY

Once the engine is out, how much work (hours) is involved?

Chris Prack

Unless there is other work that needs to be done that would require removal of the engine I wouldn't take it out. Most shops get 18 hours or so R&R on a 993C2. Then you still have to remove everything to get to the chain housings.

Nothing really changes except now you are paying to remove and reinstall the engine.

TRINITONY

Thanks, just that some folks on here can remove there engine in a couple hours. And that's y I asked once the engine is out, etc...

lowblow

OK, here is the deal:

Gaskets:
Head Set $550
lower Set $ 88
Chains $ 200/ pr
Flywheel Bolts $72/ set

Total $910

Engine Remove/ reinstall- 12.0 hrs $1,440
Engine overhaul 35.0 hrs $4,200

$5,640 plus $910 and tax = $6,975
Now that I've picked myself up off of the floor, what are your thoughts???????????????

chris walrod

Why would the cams need retiming? We're referring to the chain cover gaskets, right?

boulderbobo

This is not true. Sorry man you are all wet on this.

Once the engine is out it is a very easy job.

Bob-

Chris Prack

So you are pulling the whole thing apart to only replace the cover gaskets? Ok. Suit yourself.

boulderbobo

I must be missing something here. I thought you were asking about a leaking timing cover....

Bob-