Vario cam tensioner pad
 

Everytime I change my oil I see little bits of brown plastic in the filter element. This looks like Vario cam tensioner pad material. Does track driving cause more aggressive wear of this material/component? How long do I have before I loose proper actuation and phasing of the cam shafts? What will the tell tail signs.....perhaps minimal power change through 4000 rpm?

Has anyone had to replace these things?

I see the same thing, although the amount is really very minimal. Many others see the same thing. I'm not really worried about it.

The best thing you can do to minimize wear to the pads on the Vario-Cam engines (2000-2002), besides the obvious maintaining oil quality, is to avoid cruising in the changeover rpm range of 2200rpm- 2500rpm http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1324503298.jpg





They usually wear this much after 40K to 80K miles & cause the changeover to be less smooth enough to see a power drop on a dyno chart @ that rpm. Eventually the pad can deteriate enough to crack & break causing excessive camshaft timing deviation & Eventually chains coming loose. So it's a good idea to install the new more wear resistant wear pads before 80K miles.

Looking at the durametric, on my car the big changeover is in the 3500+ range.

Excellent! I have always avoided stop and go traffic as I had feeling it was loading and loading chains....now I know

I actually thought there was a phasing at 4K.

So there are more robust pads that are available...this good news...are they 996 part number revisions? When is someone going to design "metallic" roller pads??

I will have to have to have the facilities and know how to drop the engine by then. Once I have that can this work be done by a non expert?

Vario-Cam is a single timing change @ 2200-2500 rpm & it really helps from 4000rpm up. There is a update kit containing 2 pads & 1 o-ring to do 1 Vario-Cam tensioner so you need 2 kits. The wear pad has to be softer than the chains so that the pads wear & not the chain. The cams have to be removed & re-timed so you need special tools

Thanks for the information...I have heard that cam timing is pretty tricky

Here is the DIY for replacing the cam tensioner: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Camshaft Upgrade / Chain Tensioner Replacement - 986 / 987

Looks somewhat difficult (to me) but I'm sure that some of the guys on this site would have no problem doing it.

Brown Plastic Bits...
 

Hey guys,

Just bought '99 Boxster, 134k. First thing I did was oil change & drop the oil sump. Found a bit of brown plastic in the bottom, pictured...

1. I'm guessing it's likely Variocam pad/shoe wear? Does that sound about right?

2. There's no telling whether that's an accumulation from the last 500 miles or the last 50k, so I have no idea of the rate of decay. The IMS was upgraded to LN 3-4k ago, but previous sump gasketing/surrounding dirt looked much older than that.

3. If it is Vc pads, is this something a moderately competent amateur could do with the engine in the vehicle? I do 80% of the family fleet work myself, but not equipped to drop motors.

I'll have to do a deep dive into the timing chain domain at some point, I understand that. But I don't want to be over-reactionary and go all perfectionist on it. This isn't the space shuttle. Having said that, I certainly do not want, however, to let something go that will -- not might possibly potentially, but will -- cause me more grief and $$ down the road.

Thanks in advance for the input. My first post on this forum... and it feels good to be back in the Porsche business...

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1605358197.jpg

You should check your camshaft deviation numbers.
They will give you a better idea of Variocam pad condition.
I think the spec. is plus or minus 6 degrees.

I don`t think those pads last 134k miles, at least in mine they completely broke apart at 100k, so it`s possible they have already been replaced and those bits are from a previous set got stuck in the sump. As suggested, check camshaft deviation, that will tell you more about their condition. You can also take a look at them using a borescope if you have one if you pull the green caps at the camshaft position sensors. If the deviation is out of spec, don`t use the car much because the pads will eventually disintegrate completely and the chain will destroy the actuator and can jump timing.

A cautionary note: I bought a cheap (ha!) Boxster that I knew had engine problems. On disassembly, I found the tensioner pads had disintegrated, which resulted in two bad outcomes. The rear timing chain broke a link, and even worse, the bits blocked the oil pickup and starved the mains. Better to address this early than later!

Thanks gentlemen. Sounds like checking camshaft deviation numbers is my next step. Looks like I can do a short-term rental of a Durametric tool and be able to check the numbers myself. And Homeoboxter, I needed a good borescope anyway; this looks like a good excuse.

Newsguy, point taken. I've barely driven it since I got it home and won't til I get a better handle on condition. Did yours spin the main bearings? Or did you catch it before it went ballistic? Thanks again for the input guys!

Remember to do these checks with the engine up to running temperature. Otherwise you will get readings that will be inaccurate and could possibly lead to an incorrect diagnosis.

Do we still concur that these pads need to be changed out before 80K miles to avoid chain damage?

I can't imagine taking cam covers off with the engine in the car

Imjustdad--it appears he shut it down early enough there are no spun bearings. You can definitely see they were lacking some oil, though.

How do you get the Durametrics tool to action the Vario Cam actuators,..to make sure they are even working,??..that tool is very frustrating to me,..No info on how to use it properly that I have found. Thanks , Frank

If I remember correctly once you have the Durametric program booted up.
click on the engine module in the window pane on the left.
Then go down to activations.
You should be able to activate the the Vario Cam actuators from there.
If you can't figure it out let me know. I will hook mine up so I can refresh my memory then I will talk you through it.

Hardest job I ever did on my car.

Oh Great T.Y. Blue62 Ill check that out over the weekend I hope,..still installing the Axle's and have the mid pipes off still..! Frank