A valve spring failure killed my engine, doing some research valve springs failing seems to be somewhat common with Boxsters. Found this interesting article on valve spring metallurgy:
https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2010/01/performance-valve-springs-and-retainers/
Basically, it says that over the last 10 years (written in 2010) there have been major advances in valve spring wire technology. If you buy valve springs now, they will be much less likely to fail than older ones both because of less fatigue and because of superior metallurgy.
986 boxsters are either pushing 20 years old, or past it. IMHO our valve springs are ticking time bombs. I’d recommend replacing them especially if your car has over 100k miles on it.
You can go with stock Porsche, or for higher cost, Schrick. I’m going to go with Schrick as their springs are dual coil. Porsche went to this for the 987. If one spring snaps your valve will still be kept away from the piston I’d think, at least more so than a single spring snapping. Plus they build advanced technologies for F1 teams so you are more likely to get current metallurgy than with the stock Porsche part. Who knows when the spring you get from the dealer was actually made.
There are two drawbacks to the Schrick springs. One they are stiffer, so there will be more guide wear. However, guide wear is not catastrophic, valve spring failure can be. I am going to err on the side of avoiding catastrophe. The other drawback to the Schricks is cost. You have to buy their titanium retainers to match up with the double springs, and those aren't cheap.
I couldn’t find the Schrick springs in the US, if you want the name of a German supplier that will ship worldwide, PM me.
Any thoughts?
Silber
EDIT: All of the above is based on Boxster S, I’m not sure what the Schrick options are for the base model.
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