Does this mean what I think it means?

[jbscheff]

I took my fan off to clean it up, and while looking through the hole at the top of the engine I saw this on the number 1 and 3 cylinders.

The bottom looked the same way.

My fear is broken head studs. However, since it seems to be uniform, and not focused on one corner, could it be that it isn't torqued properly?
The engine was rebuilt about 2 years ago by a shop in Bremerton. Their attention to detail was poor to say the least. They had left a rag in an oil line when the engine was out for something else, and that's what prompted the tear-down, clean up, and rebuild. When I got the car, I discovered all kinds of other things they missed/forgot, like torquing the transmission mounting bolts or the bolts on the CV joints, meaning that they were gone or almost gone. Sooooo, I wouldn't be surprised if those heads weren't torqued properly and there was leak-by.

Can these things be re-torqued without tearing everything apart, or should I tear it apart to see what's going on? $$$$ is a HUGE factor as my budget is already stretched. What is the risk in driving it as is?

[Eagledriver]

You have a minor leak between the head and the cylinder (as you have figured out). This is very common on 911 engines. I would jack up that side and re torque the headstud nuts. Do all of them on that side. If you find any loose then check the other side as well. If all your studs are intact and torqued, then just live with the annoying minor leak. They will run for many years this way. The heads still seem to hold combustion gases just fine (especially when they warm up. About half of the race cars in my class have leaks like this. By the way you have Allusil cylinders (unless you've recoated them). Nothing wrong with Alusils, I've raced on them for years.

-Andy

[Danny_Ocean]

That looks clean compared to mine. I'm at 138k mi. without issue.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Eagledriver

This is very common on 911 engines. I would jack up that side and re torque the headstud nuts.

Possibly a dumb question, but...torque warm or cold?

[Gustyones]

My car leak looks just like the one in your 2nd picture. I tightened the head studs while doing a valve job and it helped considerably. I did mine cold while doing a valve adjustment.

[RSTarga]

Always torque and adjust COLD

[jbscheff]

Decided to check the torque on the studs, and sure enough the first cylinder had a busted head stud lying in there. Apparently when the engine was rebuilt, the head studs were not changed out. Dang.

[80-911SC]

now you have a choice .. is one stud broken ??? most here would drive it .. and keep an eye on it ....

[andyt11]

Originally Posted by 80-911SC

now you have a choice .. is one stud broken ??? most here would drive it .. and keep an eye on it ....

what would you be watching for?

[Joe Bob]

The sound of playing cards in the bicycle spokes on accell is the sound of leaking jugs due to broken studs.

[andyt11]

So most just run with a broken stud until it starts to actually leak? Sounds reasonable I guess.

Once it does start to leak, I imagine it would do damage pretty quickly though right?

[Targa Me]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The sound of playing cards in the bicycle spokes on accell is the sound of leaking jugs due to broken studs.

Would it make that sound all the time (during accell) regardless of the engine being warm or not?

[Joe Bob]

Less so when warm....but cranking on the other studs to compensate will help...for awhile until you start pulling or snap anther stud on that same cylinder or adjacent cylinder.

[vwporschegt]

this is probably not the answer you want to see BUT! tear her down and replace the studs. it may not seem like much but if your someone who likes the upper RPM range your seal between the cylinder and head can fail cuasing flame lap.... in otherwords you can damage both your head and cylinder... probably something you don't want to do.
this is just commentary on Porsche owners... but who can own one of these cars and keep them below 5K rpms......

[jbscheff]

#1 cylinder has one confirmed broke, and #3 likely has one broke since it's also got visible leak by. We're going in. Went back and looked closely at pics of engine rebuild and the studs had visible corrosion. P-O'd that builder didn't replace the studs when it was all apart.

[andyt11]

Yeah, thats pretty poor. Annoying too since it wouldn't have been much more work to just do it while it was all apart.

I'd probably tear it apart too. I'm kinda safe like that. I'd worry too much about doing more damage.

[dtw]

Which stud is it? If an outer stud, definitely go in. Sometimes if it is an inner stud sharing the load with other studs around it, they manage to stay sealed up better.

If it was me I'd just tear it down and do 'em all though.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by jbscheff

My fear is broken head studs. However, since it seems to be uniform, and not focused on one corner, could it be that it isn't torqued properly?

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The sound of playing cards in the bicycle spokes on accell is the sound of leaking jugs due to broken studs.

Thanks for posting this thread - very informative.

I recently discovered the same situation when I replaced my oil tubes (with collapsable). I discovered that it wasn't the tubes afterall as the leak was coming from above. At that time, I attemped to re-torque some of the case bolts and saw that they were somewhat loose.

My car was rebuilt wth Raceware head bolts so I'm going to check the torques on them next. I definately have the card flapping noise when the engine is cold but it is gone after a 5 minute warmup.