How hard is it to do myself?? or should I even try .. I don't want to pay a shop $70.

[stuttgart]

Hey Guy's
I was wondering if any of you had in the past tried to tackle a CAM TOWER replacment, or even the OIL RETURN TUBES? I was wanting to replace these, as they are starting to leak.... and i DO NOT want to pay a shop guy $70.00 an hour to do what i can do.. i have the time and the book's I hope .. can this be done without TOO much hassle by a newbee DIY'er.. please tell me what i want to hear.. hell with the money I can save doing it myself.. i can buy some SSI exchanger's that i will be needing here son. Thanks in advance for the help guy's . BTW if you guy's have any helpful advice about this job well job's PLEASE post it or give me a link to it so I can use it .
Thanks as always Guy's .
Eric Mckenna
SCWDP
78SC

[HawgRyder]

First off...are you confident that you can slowly and methodicaly do the work?
Second....will you gather the info here or elsewhere to be confident that you have the correct procedure?
If the answers are yes...then go ahead....the members of the board will help in lots of ways.
I have seen several even offer to lend special tools to others at no cost othe than shipping it back to the owner.
This board is shangri-la for info and experience as far as I am concered.
The most important thing is: go slow...be sure.
And also....you will take longer than a trained tech...but that's no necessarily a bad thing. If you afford the car to be in your garage for a couple of extra days...go for it.
After all....you were already smart enough to ask for help before you screwed up!! LOL
Bob

[stuttgart]

Thanks Bob,
Yes & Yes! I have two other cars to drive while i do this.... so I WILL take my time, as I have fun with all the project's I do on my car I love to try it myself . then to a shop if i botch it up! hahaha.. she is my BABY! so please anyone if you can help me in any wayshape form or fasion with these project's please let me know.. any help is welcomed. i.e. tip's tool's I'll return them anything....would be great!
my email is ericm@airborne.net

Eric Mckenna
78SC
SCWDP

[bell]

i agree, this board is the most "truthfull" i have ever encountered on the internet (not just porsche).
even with my mechanical abitlities and years of every kind of car maintainence you can imagine, i was a bit reluctant about servicing my 911 myself. this board has actually given me the "strength" do go for it. if you have a question (even stupid ones) and need an answer, someone on this board knows
i hold great faith in this board (and pelican after a recent small order).

[makaio]

I'm no help with the cam towers, but the oil return tubes, are well within the DIY realm.

The biggest PITA, is if you have the air injection lines under your car still, you have to remove the drivers side heat exchanger.

If you are planning to put SSI's on, I would go ahead and do it at the same time, since removing the heat exchangers make sthe oil return tube job much easier. But it's still doable either way.


And yes this board kicks a$$! I couldn't affoard to own a Porsche without it.

[ChrisBennet]

Oil return replacement: This is a good DIY one to learn on if you don't have to remove the heat exchangers with the engine in the car. Otherwise, I would recommend having a shop do it unless you feel comfortable replacing a broken exhaust stud of two. I do pretty much all my own work but faced with rusty exhaust studs I would have a pro who deals with this sort of thing all the time do them. Call me a weenie.

Cam tower "replacement": Your cam towers are almost surely fine they just need to be resealed. This involves removing the motor and doing a partial teardown. This is all pretty straightforward stuff, you just need to be careful, ask a lot of questions, invest in the Bentley or factory manuals or both and some tools.

I started out doing my own work out of necessity and it became a hobby. As lots of people on this board can tell you, these cars are fun to work on.

-Chris

[Superman]

Budget a lot of time for a given job and once you have made your time budget, multiply it by at least three. The oil return tube project is pretty easy. The cam tower job is not much more difficult but will take a LOT more time since the engine has to be removed.

[jrdavid68]

What would an average shop charge to replace both cam towers (no return lines) at $70 - $80 per hour? I recently had this done and was not shocked at the price. I will hold off on what I paid until I see what some consider a fair price.

The work was performed on a 1986 Carrera.

JrDavid68

[Wayne 962]

Doesn't anyone read the tech articles on this site anymore?

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_oil_return_tube/911_oil_return_tube.htm

It's easy. Don't sweat it. Also pick up a copy of this:

http://www.101projects.com

-Wayne

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by jrdavid68
What would an average shop charge to replace both cam towers (no return lines) at $70 - $80 per hour? I recently had this done and was not shocked at the price. I will hold off on what I paid until I see what some consider a fair price.

The work was performed on a 1986 Carrera.

JrDavid68

jrdavid68,
I'm curious, why did you have your cam towers replaced? I broke one once, it would be nice to know I wasn't the only one.
-Chris

[724doorE]

Your not the only one... I had a rocker arm come loose and eventually cause the cam tower to break around the rocker arm. Bad thing was I was in the middle of a cross country trip. I ended up finishing the trip on 5 cylinders by removing the afflicted shaft and arm, spark and fuel to that cyl. Funny thing was... I got 22 mpg in my 72 E with mfi on 5 cyl. But this is another story!

Dennis H.

72 911E

[ChrisBennet]

Dennis,
That's how I broke mine too. I'm real good about tightening rocker arm shafts now...
-Chris

[jrdavid68]

ChrisBennet - Took the '86 in for service, needed new brake pads (and rear rotors), time for a valve adjustment and a couple other DIY'er self jobs that I let my mechanic do :-) - and had developed my first oil leak that I wanted fixed. Cam towers were the source of the oil leak, so while in there, my mechanic replaced them both - no more leaks.

JrDavid86

[Early_S_Man]

Haven't any of you ever heard of installing the factory RSR seals for the rocker arm shafts?

[ChrisBennet]

Like Warren said, you don't replace the tower you just use rocker shaft seals to fix the leak. That's almost surely what your mechanic did. This fixes one of the 3 types of cam tower leaks. (The other two are cam tower to head sealing and cam end gasket. Only the head sealing requires tearing the engine down some.)
-Chris

[Superman]

Here's a hot news flash. I now have a copy of Wayne's 101 Projects book and I like it very much. It's a quality work with good information, well illustrated and well explained. A remarkable bargain at $20. Jolly good show, Wayne. Hip hip, Hooray!

[RoninLB]

Super...I think the "approach" and lay out to the projects is what makes it extraordinary

[KTL]

Originally posted by Early_S_Man
Haven't any of you ever heard of installing the factory RSR seals for the rocker arm shafts?

That search button at the top of the page is a lost art.

[jrdavid68]

ChrisBennet / Warren - I'm sure you guys are correct. I will have to look at the bill a little closer to see if they were "repaired" vs. "replaced".

Remember, not everyone on this board is a DIYer. I definitely fit the "checkbook" wrench type. Even so, I am somewhat addicted to this board for information - I may not be interested in doing the work, but I like to be informed. My free time is very limited these days - I prefer to drive my car.

I feel my wrench takes care of me and gives me a good deal (showing up with a 12-pack of Becks goes a long way!). I also help him out with his computer from time to time. Same thing with my plumber. I fix/upgrade his computer, he fixes any plumbing issues/changes in my house - works out well.

So, the question is still out there - if both Cam Towers were to be "repaired" to fix oil leaks - what would the average shop charge?

JrDavid68

[john walker's workshop]

it's about the same job as a valve grind without having to spend time on the heads. a normal valve grind charge is 30 hours labor X $80per hour= $2400.
since the head work takes about 6 hours, subtract $500 and you get $1900. plus parts of course.
then the question is why not do the heads when you're so close. at least tear them down and check for guide wear and valve sealing, and replace the stem seals.