'76 Porsche 911S Targa - Engine Rattle

[Street_Lethal69]

Hello, fellow 911 owners.

I recently inherited a '76 Porsche 911S Targa. It is a car my father spent endless hours on, he wrecked my aunts 911 and so moved her engine into a new body. It's a car that is used in the summer and even then it didn't get many miles. The list of known issues are as follows:

Oil Leak - looks to be from the sump and valve covers.
Battery Drain - currently being looked at but battery would be flat within 30 minutes
Engine Rattle - Sounds like a push rod

My main concern is the latter, I needed to put 4/5 quarts of oil in before the dipstick read anything, meaning it has sat for over two years with little oil. I have read that the rattle can be because of this and once its running and oil is being moved around the rattle should disappear. My question is this. Am I harming the engine by running it with this rattle or am I causing major damage? The car is off the road so its not doing anything other than idling and in a garage.

My main objective is to get the car up and running so when I turn the key it starts and doesn't leak so much oil the car looks like its about to catch on fire.

I am very new to this so please excuse me for not being very technical. Just trying to give this car a new lease of life.

[c2kid]

aloha and welcome to the forum. when you say you put oil by the stick was the car running and warm? porsche's are dry sump engines. it might be overfilled now if not. "a rattle" is pretty vague to figure. if in the topend and regular with r's, probably valve adjustment. no pushrods on ohc engines. can be lotsa other stuff too. i use a stethascope sorta device to isolate sounds. do some research here and learn about your car. it has special needs but offers special rewards. good luck with it. cheers, geoff

[rokemester]

I had a rattle, not terribly loud, decided to remove the valve covers for a valve adjust. A couple of broken head studs fell onto the shop floor. That was a crap day. Hope this is not your motor’s fate.

[Targalid]

This forum can be your friend. Post pics of the bottom of the engine. Record and post the engine noise that worries you. Some smart person here will recognize it.

[fanaudical]

Welcome to the forum. I've found lots of help here.

I recommend not running the motor much until the source of the rattle is determined. Where are you located? Perhaps some local Pelican would be willing to pay a visit and offer an opinion.

[Street_Lethal69]

Originally Posted by c2kid

aloha and welcome to the forum. when you say you put oil by the stick was the car running and warm? porsche's are dry sump engines. it might be overfilled now if not. "a rattle" is pretty vague to figure. if in the topend and regular with r's, probably valve adjustment. no pushrods on ohc engines. can be lotsa other stuff too. i use a stethascope sorta device to isolate sounds. do some research here and learn about your car. it has special needs but offers special rewards. good luck with it. cheers, geoff

Hi Geoff, I filled it so it was a little under the halfway mark on the dipstick and then started the engine, once warm I checked again and the oil had dropped below the dipstick so added a little bit more. My Dad was using 15w-40 so have decided to do an complete oil change to 20w-50 in the hope it will prevent the leaking. It seems if i am doing that I may as well do a valve adjustment and gasket change on the valve cover and sump. Fortunately, there is a lot of information on this website and youtube, so i'm feeling confident. I'll let you know how I get on and if I end up regretting everything!

[Street_Lethal69]

Originally Posted by Targalid

This forum can be your friend. Post pics of the bottom of the engine. Record and post the engine noise that worries you. Some smart person here will recognize it.

Good idea. I will when I am next with the car. Thanks for the help.

[Street_Lethal69]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

Welcome to the forum. I've found lots of help here.

I recommend not running the motor much until the source of the rattle is determined. Where are you located? Perhaps some local Pelican would be willing to pay a visit and offer an opinion.

East Hampton, New York

[Street_Lethal69]

Thought I would share an update and a link to a video I made this weekend. Unfortunatley, not only do I have to deal with this "rattle" but looks like either the engine oil thermostat or oil pressure switch is leaking. I had an unbelievable amount of oil dropping from above the oil cooler onto the heat exchange. I've attached an image to where I believe the oil is coming from. I'm planning on dropping the engine a few inches this weekend so I can confirm thats where the link is coming from and to replace the parts.

I've uploaded the videos to vimeo and the password is: 911targa

https://vimeo.com/album/5119943

[LIRS6]

Just to reconfirm - you are checking the oil level while the engine is running, correct?

[porschetub]

Originally Posted by Street_Lethal69

Hi Geoff, I filled it so it was a little under the halfway mark on the dipstick and then started the engine, once warm I checked again and the oil had dropped below the dipstick so added a little bit more. My Dad was using 15w-40 so have decided to do an complete oil change to 20w-50 in the hope it will prevent the leaking. It seems if i am doing that I may as well do a valve adjustment and gasket change on the valve cover and sump. Fortunately, there is a lot of information on this website and youtube, so i'm feeling confident. I'll let you know how I get on and if I end up regretting everything!

Good call on the oil change,appears you have the level right,never overfull.
Don't run it anymore as mentioned,pull the rocker covers and sump plate and check for anything out of the norm, unfortunately the chance of broken head stubs is a strong possibility with the engine you have.
I would not be to worried about the upper engine oil leaks @ this stage they are minor issue compared to the main problem you have,good luck and keep all posted what you find.

[manbridge 74]

Sound like a chain in a metal garbage can? At low to medium revs? Chain tensioner could be failing.

[Targalid]

When the engine oil is overfilled, the excess overflows into the air box. At the back of the airbox is a rubber tube that takes the overflow and drains it behind the oil cooler and onto the heat exchangers.

[Speed metal]

Originally Posted by Targalid

When the engine oil is overfilled, the excess overflows into the air box. At the back of the airbox is a rubber tube that takes the overflow and drains it behind the oil cooler and onto the heat exchangers.

Yep....

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by Targalid

When the engine oil is overfilled, the excess overflows into the air box. At the back of the airbox is a rubber tube that takes the overflow and drains it behind the oil cooler and onto the heat exchangers.

Ask me how I know.

[Street_Lethal69]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Sound like a chain in a metal garbage can? At low to medium revs? Chain tensioner could be failing.

Yes, but its a consistent rattle.

Here's a video of the sound:
Password: 911targa