Something broke under my lower valve cover

pcar9119 · 06-16-2009, 04:45 PM

I was changing my lower valve cover because of some leaking. When I removed the cover, this odd bolt fell out at me. There was another laying in a recessed area and the other 2 seem to be broken. They slide down into the cam tower, but I have no idea what they are can somebody help? How did these break? There are 4 of them in this cam tower. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

tonythetarga · 06-16-2009, 04:52 PM

Head studs, by the sound of it. What year car?

88-diamondblue · 06-16-2009, 07:24 PM

Ditto on what tony said. That means at least a top end rebuild with steel studs. Picture of broken studs

James Brown · James Brown's Garage

bummer time for a top end!

pcar9119 · 06-17-2009, 10:49 AM

Thats what I figured it was. I was just hoping someone would have tried to fill my head with happy thoughts and joy joy feelings and it would be something extremely simple. Well I guess I will start the process and get the engine out and get it tore down. Thanks everyone for the help.

James Brown · James Brown's Garage

the bright side is you will have a great running engine and get to see how everything works!

911st · 06-17-2009, 11:24 AM

Look into this further, I am not sure but sometimes some head studs can be replaced w/o a rebuild.

yelcab1 · 06-17-2009, 12:27 PM

Happy thoughts: You really get to know your engine. The rebuild process is one of the best exercise you can do for yourself. The timing process of the engine is the most satisfying step a builder can have. And when you are done, you too can call yourself a Porsche expert.

stormmaster · stormmaster's Garage

If you havent upgraded to the new valve stem seals you might as well do that while you have it apart....

pcar9119 · 06-17-2009, 02:15 PM

I'm thinking this might be a good reason to convince my wife to let me build a hotter motor. I just have to find a way to justify it. LOL.

Flieger · Flieger's Garage

You need to go faster to keep the engine and head studs cool so they will not break

More engine = more power = more speed (good)

Zeke · 06-17-2009, 02:30 PM

pcar, do some research on this. Your "top end" can easily reach 3K, and double that if you decide to put in new P/C's. How good does the car run? What are the compression numbers? You didn't say what year your car was, but it sounds very much like a 3.0.

As mentioned, you may be able to get to these w/o a complete tear down. with 4 broken, your driving days are limited and you might want to drive it fairly easy. However, if this isn't your daily car, you may be able to drive a few weekends this summer.

You don't say where you live either, so the over-the-winter thing might not mean anything to you.

As far as "justifying," making a simple budget might throw up some red flags. That's why I suggested the research. Be prepared and be prepared to go over budget.

ischmitz · ischmitz's Garage

The first signs of the dreaded "while you are in there" disease are showing. Run Forest, run.......

Bmxrams80sc · 06-17-2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yelcab1

Happy thoughts: You really get to know your engine. The rebuild process is one of the best exercise you can do for yourself. The timing process of the engine is the most satisfying step a builder can have. And when you are done, you too can call yourself a Porsche expert.

I am into a build right now and not looking forward to the timing process! lol Hopfully if i get it right i will feel very satisfied

911st · 06-17-2009, 08:04 PM

Did it once on a 2.8 twin plut I convereted from carbs to MFI. Timming the cams was not that big of a deal and I had never done anything like it before.

yelcab1 · 06-17-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milt

pcar, do some research on this. Your "top end" can easily reach 3K, and double that if you decide to put in new P/C's. How good does the car run? What are the compression numbers? You didn't say what year your car was, but it sounds very much like a 3.0..

You can do a top end for $1,000 if you don't need to replace too many valves. And if the labor is free.

ischmitz · ischmitz's Garage

You could even re-use gaskets and seals......anything is possible but why cut corners. If you do a top-end you would want to replace the valve guides. And that means farming out the heads for machine work and valve grinding. I would also recondition the rockers.

Any good machine shop will tell you which valves are reusable and which need replacement based on the valve and stem condition. Usually the exhaust valves are suspect due to the higher stress from heat.

I'd budget for a gasket set, all tune-up parts (oil, plugs, cap, rotor, chain ramps) machine work for the heads and rockers and valves. Have the cams inspected and make sure there is nothing wrong with the rings, ringlands and cylinder walls.

You never told us how many miles are on the engine and if there is smoke at start-up or decel and what its oil pressure and oil consumption is. These factors would help deciding what else is indicated.

A mild upgrade could be to get a different cam grind if the cams need work anyway. Then it's almost free of charge.

Ingo