3.2 Valve guides

[Greg930]

How many miles should I get out of them, why would I only get about 12,000

[robhamster]

DO NOT BUY LOTTERY TICKETS. you have no luck.


Seriously, I dont know. I have 100,143 mi on mine and all is fine so far. I think it really is a matter of luck. I had my mechanic tell me that mine are probably ready to go, and that a rubber seal is what is keeping me away from a smoky drive to work. I am not sure what to believe. My car runs great, does not smoke, does not eat oil.

Good luck.

Do you really have only 12K on the engine?

[Greg930]

Going to adjust valves, making a bit of noise, but when I pulled the plugs I didn't like the looks of them, seemed to dark colored to me. yes 12 to 15K

[JeremyD]

you should get 100K out of a set - maybe just running rich?

[Quicksilver]

Not sure exactly what you mean. ???
Do you have a car with only 12 K miles and the guides are gone? If so I can't say I am surprised. Letting a car sit lets corrosion build up and that is really hard on a car. Cars need to be exercised. At least once a month (every 2 weeks is better...) a car should be run until it has been up to operating temp for 10 or 15 minutes or more. Just the condensation in the oil from letting a car sit builds up acids and it is hard on it. It also lets the seals harden. It just isn't good. (I recently met someone who had 9K miles on an late 80s turbo and they were so proud. I didn't tell them that it was a ticking bomb ... and a travesty...)

Yes there were some specific lots of bad guides in the 3.2 Carreras but it wasn't all of them. I have 219K on mine and it is still run hard. I have the replacement motor on the stand slowly going together... (Oh Lord please grant $$$ on me so I may rejoice in 3.5l goodness!) (Oh, Yeah also get my wife out of school so she can support me and the Pooch in a style we would like to be accustomed to!!!)

If the guides were replaced and they bonked in 12K miles of reasonable use then you have a different problem: Bad parts or bad machine shop. (Ship parts to Ollies in Santa Ana, CA for Porsche goodness.)

[Greg930]

I drive the car every day, it doesn't sit. Should there be nuch side play in the rocker arms, thought they were set up pretty tihjt when the heads were put back together

[Eagledriver]

Yes there is play side to side in the rocker arms. That has nothing to do with your valve guides.

-Andy

[Greg930]

Thanks thought the side play may have added to lifter noise, not really effecting the guides though. Thanks all for your responses

[afterburn 549]

Not To Be rude ..but I do not think you are looking at guide wear, There is a cave man test and a fool proof test ..

[Steve@Rennsport]

While 930's do not get a long life from the guides due to excess heat, they should last 60K for factory ones. Good aftermarket ones do better.

Guide life in the 930 depends on many things such as boost pressure (EGT's), fitment from the factory, cylinder heat temps, and fuel mixtures. As you can see, there are a lot of variables at work here,...

Oil consumption is one way to roughly judge guide wear but the best way to do this without dissembling the engine is to pull the lower valve covers and check the sideplay in the valve & spring assembly. This takes some experience to assess wear so this test is not for someone who doesn't do this for a living,...

[Greg930]

Afterburn, looking at guides because of the way the plugs look and smoke. Steve, This problem is in my 3.2 carrera not my 930 turbo. Thats good to know about the aftermarket guides though

[afterburn 549]

Like Steve says...side to side play.
If you want to get techy.. takes some tools ... #1-, Cyl. of choice @ TDC ,(just over or past as you do not want eng. to spin backwards) In gear 4th. emergency brake on.
2- spark plug out air chuck in 80 lbs air or so like a leak dwn test.
Tool to compress spring and retrieve keepers release air , now you can take valve dwn mid stroke and truly get a feel whats going on. DO NOT let the valve slide into guide beyond your finger grip.