Severe Oil Leak on 993 Cam Cover Gaskets
 

Hey guys, I'm just trying to figure out if the labor estimate is correct for this project. Essentially a Porsche dealership is telling me that the parts are $104 and the labor is $2300 (for 12 hours). Is this a 12 hour job? They are lowering the engine from the vehicle and cleaning off a lot of oil that leaked as well.

The work is being done on my 993 C2.

Thanks!

$2,300 for labour?!!??!....wow!

Caveat - I'm no 993 expert, mine's a 964 Turbo, so this is just me surmising.....but why do they need to drop the engine?

The exhaust covers can be accessed directly from underneath by putting the car on a lift. To get to the inlet covers, surely on the 993 it's just a case of removing the airbox(es), induction gubbins and some hoses and accessing the covers from the top?...or, when the car is on the lift, remove the tinware skirts so that the top half of the engine is accessible from underneath (ie., as if you were changing the plugs or setting the valve rocker gaps on a pre-993 car).

I'm sure somebody with 993 experience will chime in, but if it were me, I'd be a) doing it myself, or b) shopping around for a second opinion.

HTH,
Spencer.

Forgot to mention, I bought a set of silicon valve cover gaskets from our hosts...not sure if they're available for the 993, but my reasoning was that I need to do a valve rocker gap check/reset after 1k miles on my rebuild; by the time I naff around removing any Curil-T from the mating surfaces using traditional gaskets, it's easier to use and re-use the silicon type.

No idea if they seal ok, not got that far yet!...time will tell, but may be worth you having a look?

Ta
S

To replace they have to remove the wheels, mufflers, muffler supports, engine tinware left and right side, lowering the engine a bit and then you can easily remove the cam covers. I can do this in a day providing all the bolts on camcovers and other parts bolted to engine case go out easy! This can be a major pain in the **s and for sure add labour time so 12 hour job is in my opinion a safe estimate. While in there ask to check for play on valve guides and change sparkplugs.

Forgot to mention, what about your chain covers as they are leak as well?

It's quite a bit of work but it isn't particularly hard work. I'm not sure on the 993, but on the 964 you can do all this w/o dropping the engine. You do have to remove all the tinware tho. Like others have said, it's a good opportunity to address other areas while you're in there.

Here's my thread showing where I did all of this stuff, and more, on my 964 earlier this year.

A photo journal of my recently completed big project - Rennlist Discussion Forums

Mine have been leaking since I got the car over 10 yrs. ago. But they've never leaked enough to let one drop hit the ground. They're just always wet. I keep saying I'm gonna pull the engine out and address a bunch of little stuff someday. I started saing that 10 yrs. ago. I'd first see of any of those bolts are loose and then snug them a big, clean up the mess and see if it keeps leaking.

I hope you have a 993, because a 964 would be due for a valve adjustment way before the 10yr mark.

Is the OP referring to the valve cover gaskets or the timing chain cover gaskets?