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Old 02-18-2021, 07:58 AM   #25
porschefan76
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Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Coastal NJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ike84 View Post
Hey fan, late to the party but I have a couple of thoughts...

Intake backfire is a lean condition (so long as timing is not completely wrong, which would be impressive), and if your o2 sensors are reading rich at that time if be would be very suspicious. A new set is not expensive, it may be worth a try.

Are you still pulling vacuum at your oil fill tube? May be worth double checking - i have read (not personally experienced though) that if you lose vacuum to aos then your crankcase pressure will build up and the you will notice this when the plug tubes start to leak oil.

Occam's razor - fouled o2 sensors reading too rich, engine pulls fuel in response, lean condition causes intake backfire (at idle only as the system will run richer under load), fries AOS tube, created vacuum leak, lean condition is now worsened and plug tubes are leaking oil. New injectors may have helped band aid the problem but I don't think they were the chicken or the egg.

Anyway, just a thought.

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Hello and thanks for joining in! I really appreciate the ideas. I've tried to use as few assumptions as possible while troubleshooting, so I like the application of Occam's Razor, but I'm not sure the data matches the assertion. I'll try to explain my approach below.

I have considered just changing the O2 sensors many times since this started as they're so cheap, but I resisted because according to Durametric, it all appeared to be working as intended (to me at least). The FORE cat O2 sensors were responding with a sine wave and the fuel trims seemed to be adapting by removing fuel at idle and adding it under load. I have never been able to get them to "peg rich" or "peg lean". Now, considering your comments, for the O2 sensors to be working properly, wouldn't it make sense for them NOT to be operating as a full range sine wave UNTIL the trims have adjusted? Do O2 sensors have a failure mode like this?

Shouldn't they be indicating either rich or lean through altered sine amplitude until after the adjustment? I have data that shows the O2 sensor output is essentially unchanged even as the RKAT value is changing. Some insight here would be invaluable. Perhaps it's because the amount of trim being added isn't that large (RKAT ~1.5-3.0 and FRA is ~1.25)? This is part of why I'm trying to find the short term fuel trim within Durametric, to compare with the O2 sensor output.

Looking back, I have specifications from Porsche I have cobbled together from this site and others and it looks like the O2 sensor range is 0.04mV less than or equal to "O2 Sensor Volts" less than or equal to 0.79 mV. I do have O2 output data with some values above 0.79mV, however in ScannerDanner's youtube videos, there are times he has said this doesn't matter much.

Can anyone confirm that 0.79mV is the proper hard limit for O2 output using Durametric Tool for a 986 01S?

Regarding the crankcase pressure, I've tested with a manometer and I am pulling -5.05 inches of water column, which is what it appears I should be getting. I honestly think the oil on the valve cover at the spark plug tube (this oil residue is new) is likely due to O-ring failure but, I'll put the manometer back on the oil-fill tube next time the weather cooperates.

I would be overjoyed to simply replace the AOS and the O2 sensors and be done, but I've done my best to avoid changing things that "appear" to be operating properly. If I can nail down an analysis that shows the O2 sensors are not performing correctly, I'll replace them.

Additional questions, what should the "Engine Load %" be at idle in Durametric? My data seems to indicate 19.00-20.25 at idle? Is this correct? If not, what does this point toward?

I'm open to any ideas on further troubleshooting! Also, I have no problem replacing the O2 sensors if the values above 0.79 mV indicate they're failing. Thank you all for your continued help!

Last edited by porschefan76; 02-18-2021 at 08:01 AM. Reason: clarified that the oil residue was new, not the spark plug tube
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