Broken head studs

[Gemballa2006]

My mechnaic took the valve cover off and sure enough I have a broken head stud. It is a 1986 3.2 Carrera. He mentioned to me about the cylinders being Alusil or Nikasil and that if they were Alusil I would have to get new ones. A couple of questions

Would the product that our host sells, Nickies, work well for this
Is there a diffierence between cylinders and cylinder heads, our host sells a set of 6 Nickies for about 2800 which are called cylinders, while the porsche brand cylinder heads are about 1500 each. If mine are indeed Alusil will I have to by all six at 1500 a piece and the nickies,or are the nickies another option.

Is there a way to tell what I have, Alusil or Niksail, before starting this process. Needless to say this is quite dissapointing. Just had the transmission rebuilt and before putting the engine and transmission back decided to have a valve job done, now things don't look good. Any thoughts or opinions would be great. I am almost thinking I should just buy a used 3.2 engine and put it in, but then again, that one may have its own problems. I guess another option would be to sell the car for parts, any thoughts on what the major parts would be worth.

Thanks guys

[JMH82SC]

Many have had fantastic success with reusing Alusil cylinders with new rings including myself. If you do a search you will find many threads on this subject.

[Grady Clay]

Originally Posted by Gemballa2006

My mechnaic took the valve cover off and sure enough I have a broken head stud. It is a 1986 3.2 Carrera. He mentioned to me about the cylinders being Alusil or Nikasil and that if they were Alusil I would have to get new ones. A couple of questions

Would the product that our host sells, Nickies, work well for this
Is there a diffierence between cylinders and cylinder heads, our host sells a set of 6 Nickies for about 2800 which are called cylinders, while the porsche brand cylinder heads are about 1500 each. If mine are indeed Alusil will I have to by all six at 1500 a piece and the nickies,or are the nickies another option.

Is there a way to tell what I have, Alusil or Niksail, before starting this process. Needless to say this is quite dissapointing. Just had the transmission rebuilt and before putting the engine and transmission back decided to have a valve job done, now things don't look good. Any thoughts or opinions would be great. I am almost thinking I should just buy a used 3.2 engine and put it in, but then again, that one may have its own problems. I guess another option would be to sell the car for parts, any thoughts on what the major parts would be worth.

Thanks guys

At first blush, I would get a new mechanic or at least a second opinion.


"Nikasils" are a set of matched pistons and cylinders manufactured by Mahle.
The aluminum pistons are forged and the aluminum cylinders have a proprietary ‘Nikasil’ coating.
This combination are the best of Porsche.

EDIT: see below for correction.
“Nickies” is slang for ...


Pistons and cylinders are different than cylinder heads.

If the engine has Alusil set, they can work just fine.

Yes, a skilled Porsche person can tell the difference between Nikasil and Alusil just by looking under the engine.

Did you mean ‘valve adjustment’ when you said ”valve job”?

No, don’t get another engine.
No, don’t sell your 1986 3.2 Carrera for parts.

Step back and figure out what is going on here.

Where are you located?

Best,
Grady

[kodioneill]

A broken head stud is not an indication that your pistons and cylinders are bad. All you may need is a set of bottom studs.

[mickey356]

Heads and cylinders are different, or at least if I'm reading your question right they are. You can have the heads refurbished and have valves, springs etc.... Replaced if needed. The alusil cylinders are the "ones" that are subject to reuse, but as already pointed out, anything is possible. As far as identifying them, I know there's a way but not sure how to. Do a quick search and I'm sure you'll find it. Good luck! I'm dropping my engine next week and keeping my fingers crossed.

[Flieger]

Far be it from me to contradict Grady but,

"Nickies" is the brand name for LN Engineering's billet-machined Aluminum cylinders with a Nickel-Silicon-Carbide inner plating. They are like the Mahles only the alloy is a little different. They have less Silicon so they expand a little more with heat. They are matched to the JE pistons, which also expand more than the Mahle items. The "Nickies" also have more cooling fins.

"Nickies" is just to get around the trademark Mahle has on "Nickasil"

http://www.lnengineering.com/911.html

And yes, cylinder heads are sold individually and are separate from the cylinders. "Nickies" are only cylinders, though you can get them as a matched set with JE pistons.

[Grady Clay]

I stand corredted.
Thank you.

Best,
Grady

[Flieger]

No problem, you helped me so many times, so now I can give a little back.

[VMAX1]

I just got mine back and had all lower studs replaced. The number of fins on the Nikasil cylinder, if i remember correctly, is eleven and the Alusil has ten. I had 11 and mine were Nikasil. Just what I was told.

[lindy 911]

If the car ran well before the valve adjust you might want to consider replacing the studs only and reassemble the motor with the original parts, piston, cylinders heads and all. Rings in Alusil need to be put back in the cylinder in as close an orientation as possible when you reassemble. Get a full set of SUPERTEC studs and forget it.

I'd be looking for a new wrench. From what I can tell by your explanation of the events he is taking advantage of your lack of experience with these cars. You now have discovered a very powerful tool by way of this forum. For what it's worth, I can do this job in about sixteen hours, start to finish and I'm no pro.

Good luck and ask lots of questions here.

Lindy

[Gemballa2006]

Hey guys. I must not be explaining right, my guy is a stand up guy for sure and really knows his stuff. It is my explanation that is suffering. I was just looking on the net and asked questions and as you can telly knowledge is limited. I really trust his advice and appreciate everyones opinions. Basically I have a broken stud and heard some things he was saying and went to the net.

[lindy 911]

Because you have Alusil cylinders does not mean you need new ones because of a broken head stud. No offense but that statement is a red flag. New studs and button it back up unless there are major problems upon tear-down.

Lindy

[Gemballa2006]

Again, I apologize, I may have explained it wrong. It had something to do with adding steel studs, I think anyway. He didn't say I needed to replace any cylinders or heads, he just mentioned them and the how they could be alusil or nikasil and if I had to have them remachined one was better than the other. Anyway, when I know more I will tell you exactly how it is going. Just for the record, the guy I am using is an expert in this field, and when he fixes something it is done right, everytime. I am defending him because I feel he may be getting a bad rap from you guys when the fault was my own for not being sufficiently concise when I made the first post.

[turn6]

Just for reference...according to Porsche's Technical Reference Manual '74-'89 All '84-'86 3.2's have Nikasil... '87-'89 3.2's can have either Nikasil or Alusil...of course contingent on originality. ymmv.

[Flieger]

So this is another Dilavar vs. Steel headstud debate.

Here we go...

I will be first to say use the 993 improved Dilavar $tuds. 24 of them.

[kodioneill]

Sometimes I feel as though I'm in a Monty Python movie.

You stay here and watch him till I get back!!!

[gregwils]

Nikasil cylinders have 11 ribs. We don't know if there was anything beyond the broken head stud that caused your mechanic to suggest you need cylinders, but if was only the broken head stud, then I agree with Grady. If you aren't sure, then I would look for a second opinion.

Nikasil and Alusil

[mickey356]

Gregwils,
does that go for ALL nikasil cyls or just the 3.2's? Thanks