Camshaft deviation guru's....?

[The Radium King]

i had been running at a deviation of around -6 for a while. it was creeping up and i was getting the hard little brown bits in my oil filter, so all made sense then boom, actuator failure, green bits in sump, big jump in deviation.

coincidence? perhaps. or perhaps having the actuator operating a variocam system with a floppy chain hammering worn variocam pads accelerated it's demise (as the porsche +/-9 limit was established before they knew the tensioners and pads would wear so poorly, forcing them to update the parts).

and is the pad wear due mostly to start up rattle due to insufficient oil pressure on start-up? fixed by changing to the updated oil pump piston? or adding an accusump with pre-oiling?

who knows. like the late great kurt said, "just because your paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you" ... drive your car, keep an eye on it, fix it when you find the right combination of time and money.

[dlud]

I had cam deviations of 5.x and 7.x. Local indy who is the big local Porsche shop said not to worry. I took the cams and variocam out and the pads on the 7.x side literally fell apart when I removed the chain. Cam deviations now are in the 2.x range. Replaced pads and chains on both sides. The photo is of the pads on the worst side.

[ccjazz]

Originally Posted by dlud

I had cam deviations of 5.x and 7.x. Local indy who is the big local Porsche shop said not to worry. I took the cams and variocam out and the pads on the 7.x side literally fell apart when I removed the chain. Cam deviations now are in the 2.x range. Replaced pads and chains on both sides. The photo is of the pads on the worst side.

This is what I'm hoping to avoid if possible. Do you recall how many miles were on those pads and did you replace them with the updated version?

[dlud]

Yes, the car is a 2000S and had 67000 miles on it when I replaced the pads. I did use the updated pads (I think those might be the only ones available at this point). The new pads are much lighter in color.

[ccjazz]

Originally Posted by dlud

Yes, the car is a 2000S and had 67000 miles on it when I replaced the pads. I did use the updated pads (I think those might be the only ones available at this point). The new pads are much lighter in color.

Much appreciated, thank you.

[ccjazz]

I came across this description of the variocam system and found it interesting. It is an overview of the system that I hadn't seen before, thought it might be worth sharing. It's a short read, my apologies if it has been discussed previously.

https://fifthgear.biz/fifthgear-blog/porsche-quotvariocamquot-oiling-problem-and-premature-engine-failure-more-to-the-story/

[dlud]

The consequence of a total wear pad failure vs the cost of doing the job and considering the history of wear pad failures on these engines lead me to disregard my indie's recommendation to "wait and see." As it turns out my concerns were well founded and my cam deviations returned to normal after the repair. Others have reported different experiences however. I guess it depends on how much risk you're willing to accept.