Time to play "whats wrong with my engine"
 

I bought an early 98 boxster 2.5l track car from someone in the Porsche community last year. The car runs perfectly fine and it seems like it was well put together and treated well. It legitimately sounds like it’s in perfect running order. I have a lot of experience with bad engines and what they sound like, and this one sounds like it’s running great.

The person i bought it from swears that there’s nothing wrong with the car (yes, i know they all say that). He did seem like a legit guy, and i didn’t get the impression he was lying to me at the time.

I still haven’t taken it out on the track yet, but I’m getting ready to.

It sounds like the starter catches on the flywheel sometimes for a second when you start it. And I’ve pretty much confirmed that’s what the issue is and it’s unrelated to my next issues that I’m about to describe.

When i took the oil filter out, there was silvery glitter in the housing. I put a new filter and oil in it and have turned it on a few times since. I took the oil pan off and pulled some debris out. There is one decent sized piece of silver metal (3mm by 1.5mm) and there also looks to be a couple pieces of hard plastic and maybe some RTV as well.
The small metal bead in the photo is non-ferrous, so is the metal in the oil filter housing. My belief is that its aluminum.
You would think if the metal was IMS-related, that it would stick to a magnet. At least thats what I would think.

Cam deviations are +1 cam #1, -3 cam #2

I know all of that is not a good sign, but I’m trying to figure out what it might be before i tear into it.

I’m kind of leaning towards timing chain guide. But i don’t know a whole lot about these engines. I’m more of a bmw guy.


If I take the engine out, what things should I address?
My thoughts were:
-vario guides
-water pump and thermostat
-air oil seperator
-variocam actuators
-spark plug tubes
-starter


Thanks



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Mileage on the car is 121,xxx

I also borescoped 4 of the cylinders, and the ones I looked at looked good.

There are no engine fault codes stored in the DME. Just a code for the airbags and a code for can bus line down

I can't help with the metal bits but someone used WAY TOO much silicone on that sump plate . That much squeeze out on the inside can kill an engine . The silicone noodles can break off and clog the oil pickup screen . Just a thin layer is needed .

If you are going to track the car look up UAOS . It is the only AOS worth a crap . Much stronger than stock AND places the diaphragm much higher/closer to the throttle body . It allows you to run at full oil level and even higher than full . Very important on a track machine . Good luck with the car .

thank you for the response. Im pretty sure im gonna be pulling the engine and going over everything.
The enigne is still running so I assume that its rebuildable

I think that they took the sump off when they knew something was wrong and just slapped it back together and dumped it on me

I think that they took the sump off when they knew something was wrong and just slapped it back together and dumped it on me

BTW, if youre racing the car, do you even need the air oil seperator? can it just be vented to atmosphere or is that going to cause some BS?

No AoS, no controlled vacuum level in the sump, no ring seal with the low tension rings in these engines...............

Yeah I figured that would be the case. Im just going to build one on my own with better rings