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Old 10-05-2010, 12:18 PM   #1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by insite
what makes you think that? i understand the process fairly well, but i've never timed one of these.
Ok, after reading several times Cloudsurfer's excellent and detailed description, the $85/hr and the cardbox on the back of the SUV makes sense to me
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Old 10-05-2010, 01:32 PM   #2
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i talked to jake; he thinks the auxiliary tensioners are total bs and completely unnecessary.

i will be timing the motor with no special tools & will post the procedure w/ pics when i do so. if i don't get to it wednesday, it will be awhile; probably won't get to work on it again until the 16th.
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Last edited by insite; 10-05-2010 at 01:34 PM.
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Old 10-05-2010, 03:41 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by insite
probably won't get to work on it again until the 16th.
Jeez, I don't know if I can wait that long. Talk about living vicariously through someone else!
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Old 10-07-2010, 04:56 AM   #4
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ok, timed the car yesterday. very straightforward & easy; no need for any funky tools.

to do this right, you'll need a couple of spare parts:

(3) green camshaft plugs (996.104.215.54)
(8) microencapsulated bolts (900.385.275.01)
(2) o-rings (996.107.221.51)
(1) tube of green loctite

first, we need to explain some things. top dead center (TDC) occurs when a piston is at its uppermost position within the cylinder. it's the point at which the piston stops travelling up and begins travelling down. the tricky part is that TDC occurs TWICE during an engine's 4 cycles. the first time is on the compression stroke & the second time is on the exhaust stroke.

per the factory shop manual, we want to be at TDC compression when we time bank 1 (cylinders 1-3) and TDC exhaust when we time bank 2 (cylinders 4-6).

first things first. in the picture below, we're looking at the front of the engine. if the engine were in the car, we'd be looking back through the firewall toward the rear of the vehicle. bank 1 is on the left and bank 2 is on the right.




now we need to remove three of the little green camshaft plugs from the motor. there are six total cam plugs in the motor. in the photo above, you would normally see three. there would be three on the other side as well. they're already removed in this photo.

on the left side would be two plugs. remove the bottom one. on the other side of the motor on the other head, remove the bottom one. on the flywheel side of bank 1, there is only one plug. remove it.

what we've done is to remove the cover for the timing side of the exhaust cams and the index side of the intake cams. more on this in a minute.

now, put a 24mm wrench on the crank pulley and rotate the engine CLOCKWISE until you get close to TDC.






TDC is indicated by a notch on the pully matching a mark on the crankcase as shown in the photo below:






you can 'lock' TDC at the crank by inserting an 8mm bolt through the hole on the pulley marked OT. it will slide into a recepticle on the crankcase as shown in this photo:


.
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Old 10-07-2010, 04:57 AM   #5
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now we should have the motor at TDC. we need to make sure we're at TDC compression before we proceed. to do this, look at the notch in the intake cam we uncovered (this will only have ONE notch in it). it should be pointing OUTWARD like this:




if it is pointing inward, rotate the motor 360 degrees to TDC again. now the notch will be pointing outward.

now we will check / set the timing on Bank 1. look at the end of the exhaust cam on bank 1. if the engine is timed properly, the notches will be straight up and down; perfectly parallel to the seam between the head & the valve cover:






if your timing is off, the notches won't line up; they'll look like this:






if your timing is off, now we need to set it. rotate the engine about 1.5 full rotations. as you approach TDC on the second rotation, check the timing marks. keep rotating the engine until the notches on the bank 1 camshaft are perfectly aligned with the head. once you're there, verify you're at TDC compression by looking at the single notch on the intake cam. it should be pointing OUTWARD.

once your timing marks are lined up & you've verified TDC compression, it's time to change the timing.

on the back of bank 1, put a match mark onto the oil scavenge pump (THIS IS IMPORTANT). remove the 10mm bolts and gently tap out the scavenge pump.

scavenge pump:





match mark:






tap it out:





now what you should see is this:







this is the camshaft sprocket. it is adjustable. loosening the four bolts will decouple the camshafts from the crankshaft, allowing you to alter the timing. LOOSEN, but don't remove, the four bolts. rotate the crankshaft to TDC (it's ok if you rotate the motor a tad backward). tighten the four bolts & check the timing notches on the bank 1 camshaft. if you are:

1) at TDC compression (intake cam index notch facing OUTWARD)
2) your bank 1 timing notches are lined up with the head

you have timed bank 1. don't re-install the scavenge pump yet; we'll get there.


now we need to time bank 2. to do this, we need to be at TDC exhaust. rotate the crank ALMOST one full rotation. as you finish the rotation, check the bank 2 timing notches. we want to get them perfectly lined up.

once they're lined up, verify we're near TDC EXHAUST. look at the end of the intake cam, the notch should point INWARD like this:






once you've verified this & bank 2's camshaft is lined up properly, put TWO (this is important) match marks on the bank 2 scavenge pump. we do this because we don't want to get the scavenge pumps mixed up. it's possible to install them upside down & they won't work. by placing two match marks on bank 2's scavenge pump, we can both line it up AND identify which bank it goes into just in case we get confused.....

now, pull the bank 2 scavenge pump and LOOSEN the sprocket bolts. rotate the engine to TDC and tighten the bolts.

now rotate the engine three full rotations to TDC and verify cam timing on bank 1. rotate another 360 degrees and verify cam timing on bank 2.

if all is well, we can begin reassemlby.

first, we are going to remove the cam sprocket bolts ONE AT A TIME, apply loctite, and torque to spec (10.5 ft-lb + 10% to account for loctite = 11.5 ft-lb). BE CAREFUL, DO NOT DROP A BOLT INTO THE ENGINE.

once the cam sprockets are installed, replace the scavenge pumps with new o-rings (lube w/ engine oil first!). install new microencapsulated bolts, and torque to spec (8.5 ft-lb).




tap in new green cam covers with a hammer. no need to add sealant.

you are now done! relax & finish reassembly. drive your car
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Old 10-07-2010, 08:51 AM   #6
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Fuel Rail

a lot of people use Aeroquip fittings & hose to mount the 996 fuel rails into the boxter. i went the other route & mounted the boxster rails to the 996. pretty simple; requires cutting off a couple of mounting tabs & fitting the rails using compression clamps. piece of cake.

two of the original mounting tabs lined up nicely, but didn't allow enough depth to the injector mounting IMO. i felt comfortable with them a bit deeper in the ports.

i used 3/4" compression clamps for three areas & a 1" compression clamp with a little rubber shim on the last. works like a champ; everything is nice & tight.











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Old 10-07-2010, 01:42 PM   #7
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I love Adel clamps. They're all we used when building jet engines, from wire harnesses to fuel/hydraulic lines. I seem to remember that I might have a few lying around my toolbox and scrounge bucket.
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Old 10-15-2010, 12:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by insite
probably won't get to work on it again until the 16th.
A friendly reminder, today is the 15th....!
so, get back to work and Please share your notes..ha!

.
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Old 10-25-2010, 10:43 AM   #9
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insite, any updates here for us dedicated readers? :dance:
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Old 11-04-2010, 10:19 AM   #10
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hi guys, just checking in. i did get a chance to do some work on the 15th; i drilled out & time-serted the broken studs in one of the heads. i took pics, but my PC died. new computer is up and running. been travelling a lot; hope to be back to work on the p-car this weekend. cheers.

kev
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Old 11-30-2010, 05:01 AM   #11
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okay, update time! let's dive right in. when last i posted, i had an issue with some broken head studs. let's start there. these things were completely welded in place; no way to extract other than to drill.

a couple of notes:

1. if you ever have to do this, BUY A GOOD AC DRILL!!! i picked up an awesome Rigid from Home Depot for around $60. it will do a much better, faster job than ANY battery powered drill

2. get good bits! i recommend Irwin cobalt bits.

3. step up SLOWLY in size, or your pilot hole will 'walk' and come uncentered as your bits increase in size. step up in 1/32" increments to be safe. if you're GOOD, you can try 1/16" increments.

4. use a pilot hole guide to center your pilots. i will post the link to the one i bought when i find it. it basically threads onto the protruding stud & lets you dead-center a 1/8" pilot hole.

5. if you have to use a tap, buy some tap sockets. they will let you use an extension from a ratchet instead of a t-handle; this will give you more room.

6. when you get up to the larger sizes just prior to helicoil insert, bolt on the manifold if you can. it will help keep the larger drill sizes centered.

7. use lubricant when you drill & when you tap.


drill pilots:






step up:






step up more:






tap:









helicoil:








result:











this obviously took awhile. FYI, helicoils are awesome. they come in 1/2" deep inserts, but you can stack two, which is what i did in this case.
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Old 11-30-2010, 05:05 AM   #12
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okay, now that we have the exhaust manifolds on, we have a few problems to solve.

first, the new motor has one variocam actuator with damaged wires. i'd planned on removing the actuator plug & swapping with the one from the old motor, but it turns out you have to remove the valve cover to do this. my solution was to cut off the plug and install some heatshrink tubing. i then soldered the plug back on w/ more heat shrink & some silicone over the penetration.

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Old 11-30-2010, 12:16 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by insite
okay, update time! let's dive right in. when last i posted, i had an issue with some broken head studs. let's start there. these things were completely welded in place; no way to extract other than to drill.
....

this obviously took awhile. FYI, helicoils are awesome. they come in 1/2" deep inserts, but you can stack two, which is what i did in this case.
Insite:

Really, really excellent photos!

I went through something similar when installing headers in place of the stock exhaust manifold on a 10 year old Boxster. 4 of the 6 exhaust manifold bolts on the passenger side sheared off, the rest of them came out in one piece. I was able to drill in the center of each bolt until there were just threads left, at which point I was able to back some of them out and tap out the others.

Have you thought about installing studs onto the cylinder heads, instead of using bolts? After less than a year, the factory bolts that I used to install the new headers on my Boxster are already rusting, so I have sourced coated studs, phosphor bronze lock washers and brass nuts. I plan to replace the bolts with studs in the spring.

Thanks for taking the time to document your project so thoroughly!

Regards, Maurice.
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