986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

The Radium King · 06-10-2013, 02:29 PM

here's a cool image:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner/Gp1800.pdf

the short chains on each side are part of the vario-cam system that change the cam profile as rpm increases. in the image you can see the two pads that push on the chain and adjust the cams. these pads wear, especially on earlier cars. that rattle on start up - that's your chains slapping against the pads. you may have seen the hard green plastic bits in your oil filter - that's these pads. as a result porsche changed to a harder material and it's one of the upgrades you can do to your car - use the later pads. they are cheap, but the work to get at them isn't. the deviation info you are getting from your durametic is the variation between cams on each bank and is an indicator of pad wear.

i'm running 5.? and 6.? right now and am going to continue racing. I think there is still lots of material on the pad so damaging the actual vario-cam isn't an issue, and I don't think that there is any chance of valves smacking cylinders yet so worst case minor loss of power. get it fixed? sure, eventually.

06-10-2013, 02:29 PM	#3
The Radium King Registered User Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 3,121	here's a cool image: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner/Gp1800.pdf the short chains on each side are part of the vario-cam system that change the cam profile as rpm increases. in the image you can see the two pads that push on the chain and adjust the cams. these pads wear, especially on earlier cars. that rattle on start up - that's your chains slapping against the pads. you may have seen the hard green plastic bits in your oil filter - that's these pads. as a result porsche changed to a harder material and it's one of the upgrades you can do to your car - use the later pads. they are cheap, but the work to get at them isn't. the deviation info you are getting from your durametic is the variation between cams on each bank and is an indicator of pad wear. i'm running 5.? and 6.? right now and am going to continue racing. I think there is still lots of material on the pad so damaging the actual vario-cam isn't an issue, and I don't think that there is any chance of valves smacking cylinders yet so worst case minor loss of power. get it fixed? sure, eventually.