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Banging noise - tappet?

7

70sthrowback

Member
Morning all, due to it being the bank holiday weekend, I have been unable to contact my local Indy (Strasse, Leeds) so looking for your help and advice.

I have a 1996 993 (vario) tip c2 coupe. Its done 101k miles and has always been serviced regularly. Yesterday the wife went out in it and on the way she said she heard a ticking noise (not constant), so she turned around and came back. However by the time she turned off the main road and drove the half mile back to the house, this tick had become a loud banging.

I heard it and so went outside. The banging is coming from the left hand side of the engine, and I could see signs of oil leakage there, albeit very small and not dripping visibly. Also the exhaust sounded like it was blowing. I have done a check of the forums and the symptoms seem to match a failed lifter / tappet.

I am new to the world of aircooled Porsches, so apologies for the questions, but if you could indulge me -

  • do you agree that this sounds like a tappet issue?
  • how much more damage could have been done by driving it?
  • what is involved to repair, engine out I presume? Has anyone had this work done and so can prepare my wallet for the shock?
  • Is there anything else I should be looking to get done if the engine does have to come out?

Oil consumption on the car is good about a litre every 3000 miles, I recently topped up with Mobil 1 0-40 which was recommended, could this have had any impact? The car is my daily driver so as you can imagine I am a bit worried by this fault, the time to fix and obviously the expense.

Many thanks for any responses and for taking the time to read.
 
hi don't panic,

It could be a sticking lifter. It's difficult to to give an exact diagnosis. The oil leak may well be incidental as 993s are prone to weep / leak from the cam covers.

The lower lifters and rocker covers can be accessed from below the car without removing the engine.

I agree with the previous advice - get the car towed to your Indy.

Let us know how it turns out.

Good luck.

pp
 
Thanks for the posts so far. The garage opens in about 10mins so will see what they say.

With regards to the oil leak, I have never seen a drop before, so the 2 are definitely linked. Fingers crossed it is only 1 lifter, although it did sounds like there was a pixie with a hammer banging inside the engine, so its difficult to not fear the worst!

I guess I will soon find out, will update when I have a diagnosis.

Thanks again
 
For those of you who may be interested... apologies if not

Basically this issue turned out to be the worst case scenario. An oil duct had become blocked which had then starved oil to the rocker arm, this had then in turn seized and damaged all the valves on one side of the engine. Worst was the risk of debris elsewhere in the engine causing further damage.

In the end I went for a full engine strip down and rebuild so everything could be flushed and cleaned. Whilst the engine was out I asked Strasse (Leeds) to replace any worn parts and basically renew anything they deemed necessary. The engine had done 100k so the last thing I wanted was to go through this again in the near future.

I have just completed my first 1000m and took it back to Strasse for the once over. Everything is working as it should be and no issues at all. Now this did come at a considerable cost, but the difference in the engine is more than noticeable and hopefully is an investment in keeping my 993 on the road. Well thats how I justified it to the Mrs!

So recommendation for Strasse, the engine rebuild was done by Dave who certainly knows his stuff. They may not be the cheapest around, but I guess you get what you pay for.
 
Did they say what had caused the blockage, it`s not what you would expect if the vehicle has been serviced or the oil has been changed on a regular basis. One of the reasons why I change the oil and filters on mine every year whatever the mileage is to avoid this sort of scenario.
 
The car has a full and comprehensive service history so it wasn't maintenance that lead to it. It was just one of those things, basically the opinion is that I have been extremely unlucky. The guys at Strasse have been working on all Porsches for years and none of them had seen anything like it before.

The total cost was a few thousand, and me in the dog house with the wife!
 
I guess you're not going to improve the situation (with your wife) by suggesting it was her fault as she was driving at the time? If you do risk it I would suggest a full face crash helmet!

It does sound like bad luck but I'm glad you've got the car back up and running now.

Kind regards
Anton
 
Like you say it is probably a very worth while investment at your mileage point. Now you have a freshened engine that should be good at least to the 200K mile point. "Just unlucky" fits as I've never heard of anything like this before.
 
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