Intermix - long post, asking for advice on repair - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

j.fro · 10-08-2018, 06:39 AM

In February I went through this.
Before you pull the engine, rig up a garden hose to the coolant system and back flush the hell out of it to get all of the oil/coolant and pieces of the water pump impeller out.
Set the engine to TDC and put the pin in so it doesn't move. If it's not at TDC when you go to pull the cams, the valve tension may break a cam.
Get the heads off and have a look at the cylinders to determine that there's no cylinder scoring. If you've got scoring, there's no sense fixing the heads. If the cylinders are good, with rebuilt heads you'll have a better engine with no mysteries.
It cost me $2500 from Hoffman Machine in GA to check my heads, repair the crack, repair a couple of broken exhaust studs, do a mild porting job, regrind the valves, and replace the valve springs. ARP head studs were $500; the full gasket kit was another $500 (both from eBay dealers).
That chain rattle you've got is from wear on the vario-cam tensioner pads and plastic chain timing ramps. Replace all of that. From Pelican it will cost you about $350, I think. The tensioners themselves seem pretty indestructible and should be good.
There are a ton of other "while you are in there" items that will run the bill up but are worth doing: AOS, rebuild fuel injectors, rebuild/replace lifters, coils, plugs, plug tubes (the gasket kit has all of the o-rings, etc), water pump, any sensors that seem shot, etc.
I did almost all of the work, but had a knowledgeable buddy set the cam timing. All in, I think I spent about $5K
If you have questions or just need an empathetic shoulder to cry on, PM me. Once it's back together and running perfectly you will quickly forget what a PITA this is.

Starter986 · 10-08-2018, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.fro

In February I went through this.
Before you pull the engine, rig up a garden hose to the coolant system and back flush the hell out of it to get all of the oil/coolant and pieces of the water pump impeller out.

Can you describe how to do that? To where, and how, you connect the garden hose?

Thank you.

j.fro · 10-08-2018, 05:49 PM

I made these two tools from plumbing stuff available at Lowes. the longer one is the inlet, with a valve to control flow.
Get the car in the air and remove the underpanels. Disconnect the rubber coolant hoses on the driver side where they go into the center tunnel. You'll need another short rubber hose to connect to the metal pipe. Start by pushing water towards the radiators. Once the water runs clear, flip the hoses and push water towards the engine. You're going to run a lot of water, but water's cheap. Oil in the system will destroy the rubber hoses. Of course, if you don't get all the little pieces of plastic impeller out, they are sure to jam up in the heads and cause another hot spot.

Starter986 · 10-09-2018, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.fro

I made these two tools from plumbing stuff available at Lowes. the longer one is the inlet, with a valve to control flow.
Get the car in the air and remove the underpanels. Disconnect the rubber coolant hoses on the driver side where they go into the center tunnel. You'll need another short rubber hose to connect to the metal pipe. Start by pushing water towards the radiators. Once the water runs clear, flip the hoses and push water towards the engine. You're going to run a lot of water, but water's cheap. Oil in the system will destroy the rubber hoses. Of course, if you don't get all the little pieces of plastic impeller out, they are sure to jam up in the heads and cause another hot spot.

Thanks!

What diameter size is that larger/longer pipe? I assume you push that into the hose, snuggling it in, and then turn on that water...?

Thank you.

j.fro · 10-09-2018, 09:15 AM

It's 2" or so. Fits snugly in the factory coolant hose, but I'll put a screw clamp on it to make it secure. Same for the drain hose.

Starter986 · 10-09-2018, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.fro

It's 2" or so. Fits snugly in the factory coolant hose, but I'll put a screw clamp on it to make it secure. Same for the drain hose.

Thank you! Awesome.

One more question...

No concern about running tap water through everything?

j.fro · 10-09-2018, 04:11 PM

Tap water... Good question. No worries at all. When the engine is back together, fill with distilled water and run it a up to temp. Drain that and then fill with your coolant mix of choice. When the engine is apart, use compressed air to blow out the coolant passages in the block. The heads will by dry and clean.