I Bought a Mechanically Totaled Porsche and Fixed it with a $200 Amazon Timing Kit
Summary
TLDRIn this detailed account, the narrator recounts the journey of purchasing a Porsche with a known engine issue at a bank sale for a scrap value price. The car, suspected to have a loose timing chain, was taken to a dealer for a potential free recall fix. Upon diagnosis, it was found that the car had multiple misfires and fuel-related issues, with a slack timing chain identified as the likely culprit. Despite an open recall for a known problem with the cam adjuster bolts, the dealership's service suggested costly replacements unrelated to the timing system. Dissatisfied, the owner decided to tackle the repair himself, removing the valve covers, and discovering worn-out timing chain guides. With a DIY approach, he replaced the timing set, including the chain, guides, and tensioner, using a kit purchased online for a fraction of the dealer's quote. After a thorough reassembly and a surprising discovery that the car wouldn't start due to an empty fuel tank, the car was brought back to life, running smoothly and vindicating the owner's decision to self-repair. The video serves as a testament to the importance of vehicle diagnostics and the potential savings from DIY repairs.
Takeaways
- 🚗 The Porsche was bought at a bank sale for a low price due to a marked engine issue.
- 🔍 The car was taken to a dealer because it was under a recall that might fix the engine issue for free.
- 📉 The vehicle was considered a 'ticking time bomb' in its current state due to a loose timing chain.
- 💡 Diagnostic scans revealed a crankshaft camshaft correlation code, multiple misfires, and fuel-related issues.
- 🔧 The dealership identified the need for new motor mounts, tire replacement, front brakes, and spark plugs, but did not address the timing system.
- 💰 The cost quoted by the dealership for the additional recommended work was considered outrageous by the owner.
- 🛠️ The owner decided to perform their own diagnostics and repairs using a tool like Carly for dealer-level diagnostics.
- 🧐 Upon further inspection, the owner discovered worn-out plastic timing guides, which were causing the slack in the timing chain.
- 🔩 The owner replaced the timing chain and guides, which was a task that the dealership had quoted at a high price.
- 🚫 The car initially failed to start after the repair due to an empty gas tank, not a motor mount issue as suspected.
- 🎉 After adding gas, the car started smoothly, indicating the repair was successful and the engine issues were resolved.
Q & A
Why was the Porsche bought at a bank sale for a scrap value?
-The Porsche was purchased at a bank sale for a scrap value because it was marked with an engine issue.
What was the first action taken by the owner after buying the Porsche?
-The first action taken by the owner was to take the car straight to the dealer because it was under an open recall that might fix its engine issues for free.
Why is the car described as a 'ticking time bomb' in its current state?
-The car is referred to as a 'ticking time bomb' due to a loose timing chain, which is likely the root of the engine issues.
What was discovered when the car's engine codes were read using a scanner?
-When the car's engine codes were read, a crankshaft camshaft correlation code along with multiple misfires and a few fuel-related issues were identified.
What recall did Porsche issue several years ago?
-Porsche issued a recall for their cam adjuster bolts on the Panamera and Cayenne models due to the bolts that hold the gear to the cam adjuster backing out or breaking.
Why did the dealership suggest replacing the motor mounts?
-The dealership suggested replacing the motor mounts because the engine was vibrating heavily, which they believed was due to the motor mounts needing replacement.
What was the total cost quoted by the dealership for the additional recommended services?
-The total cost quoted by the dealership for the additional recommended services was $4,346 for a set of engine mounts, $2,587 for front pads and rotors, and $2,246 for spark plugs.
What was the actual issue with the timing system of the Porsche?
-The actual issue with the timing system was that the plastic guide of the timing chain was worn out, causing slack in the chain and leading to the engine running out of time.
Why did the owner decide to perform the repair themselves instead of using the dealership?
-The owner decided to perform the repair themselves because they believed the dealership's diagnosis was incomplete and the costs for the recommended services were outrageously high.
What tool did the owner use to diagnose the car's issues?
-The owner used a diagnostic tool called Carly, which provides dealer-level diagnostics and support articles for common issues on specific car models.
What was the final outcome after the owner completed the repair?
-The final outcome was successful; the car's engine ran smoothly after the repair, and the owner saved significantly by performing the repair themselves instead of using the dealership.
Outlines
🚗 Purchasing a Porsche with Engine Issues
The narrator describes buying a Porsche at a bank sale due to an engine issue, which allowed him to purchase it at a low price. He takes it to a dealer for a potential recall fix that could resolve the engine problem for free. The car is in a precarious state, likened to a 'ticking time bomb,' and the video aims to diagnose the issue with the timing chain that is suspected to be the root cause of the engine troubles.
📝 Dealing with Dealership and Diagnostics
The narrator recounts the process of taking the car to the dealership and receiving a list of recommended repairs from a service technician. These include tire replacement, brake service, spark plugs, and engine mounts. The narrator questions the necessity and cost of these repairs, especially since the engine's misfiring and timing issues were not addressed. He also emphasizes the value of having a diagnostic tool like Carly for DIY car owners to understand and manage their car's issues.
🔍 Investigating the Timing System
The narrator investigates the Porsche's timing system by removing the valve covers and discovering that the tension in the timing chain seems fine. However, upon closer inspection with a scope camera, he finds that the original bolts on the cam adjuster were never replaced as part of the recall, and a piece of the plastic guide is found to be loose, indicating excessive wear. This wear could cause the slack in the timing chain and potentially lead to more serious engine damage.
🔧 DIY Engine Work and Spark Plug Inspection
The narrator proceeds with DIY work on the Porsche by removing the valve covers and inspecting the engine. He finds that the engine mounts appear to be in good condition, contrary to the dealership's recommendation. He also checks the spark plugs and decides they are in good enough condition to be cleaned and reused, saving a significant amount of money compared to the dealership's quote for new ones.
🧐 Further Inspection and Timing Chain Replacement
The narrator continues to inspect the engine, focusing on the timing cover and related components. He finds plastic shards from the timing guide and realizes that the original timing chain and guides are worn out, necessitating their replacement. Despite the dealership's high quote for labor, the narrator decides to replace the timing chain and guides himself, highlighting the car's good overall condition and potential value.
🔨 Reassembling the Engine and Testing
After replacing the worn-out timing components, the narrator reassembles the engine. He uses special tools to ensure the timing is set correctly and torques all the necessary bolts. Upon testing, the engine does not start initially, but after checking for fuel flow and connections, it turns out the car was simply out of gas. Once refueled, the car starts smoothly, indicating that the engine timing and repairs were successful.
🚫 Testing Motor Mounts and Future Plans
The final part of the video involves testing the motor mounts to see if they need replacement, as recommended by the dealership. The narrator performs a test by putting the car in drive and giving it some gas while pressing the brake pedal. The engine does not leap out of the engine bay, indicating that the motor mounts are in good condition. The video concludes with the narrator reflecting on the repair process and planning to investigate other potential issues with the car in the next video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Timing Chain
💡Recall
💡Camshaft
💡Misfire
💡Diagnostic Scanner
💡Engine Mounts
💡Spark Plugs
💡Valve Covers
💡Oil Pan
💡Tensioner
💡Porsche Panamera
Highlights
Purchased a Porsche with a known engine issue at a bank sale for a low price.
The car was under a recall that could potentially fix the engine issue for free.
Discovered a loose timing chain, which is likely the root cause of the engine problems.
Porsche had issued a recall for cam adjuster bolts due to them backing out or breaking.
The vehicle's previous service history showed the car was well maintained by its first owner.
Despite the open recall, the dealership had not performed the recall work.
The dealership suggested replacing motor mounts and other parts without addressing the timing system.
The cost for recommended parts and labor at the dealership was exorbitant, indicating potential overcharging.
Used a diagnostic tool to gain a better understanding of the car's issues, emphasizing the importance of DIY diagnostics.
Removed valve covers to access the timing system, revealing the engine to be in good condition.
Identified broken pieces of the plastic timing chain guide as the cause of the slack in the timing chain.
Conducted a cost-effective repair by replacing the entire timing set with a kit purchased on Amazon.
Employed special timing tools to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the engine timing.
Successfully completed the timing replacement and reassembly in a cow pasture with basic tools.
The car initially failed to start after reassembly due to an empty fuel tank, not a mechanical issue.
After adding fuel, the car started smoothly, indicating the repair was successful.
Conducted a test to check the motor mounts by revving the engine in drive while braking.
Confirmed that the motor mounts were in good condition, contrary to the dealership's expensive recommendation.
Transcripts
I just bought this Porsche at a bank
sale where was marked with an engine
issue and because of that it sold for
basically scrap value and I took it
straight to the dealer because it's
under an open recall that might fix its
engine totally free now I brought this
car here on the trailer because in its
current state it's a ticking Time Bomb
let me show you
why this loose timing chain is likely
the root of our engine issues but let's
go back just a few hours when the car
was first dropped off the transporter
left it in a super convenient spot right
here in the middle of traffic he
obviously moved it on and off his truck
so it's no surprise that it runs and
[Music]
drives okay all right it's running uh
really crummy that's
good look at this guy he's doing an oil
change here in the middle of the
road this thing has a really bad Idol as
soon as I got the Porsche home I plugged
in my scanner so we could read its
engine codes and right off the bat we
found a crankshaft cam shaft correlation
code along with multiple misfires and a
few fuel related issues at this point I
popped the oil cap and found this slack
in our timing chain it's pretty obvious
this thing is out of time and several
years ago Porsche issued a recall for
their cam adjuster bolts not only on the
Panamera but also for the Cayenne that
has the same exact V8 engine basically
these bolts that hold the gear to the
cam adjuster would back out or break and
this is all attached to the cam shaft
when this would happen the adjuster will
spin but the cam shaft will stay put and
that'll definitely put you out of time
now I have the recall paper right here
and it basically tells you how to
pinpoint a broken cam adjuster bolt it
starts with a set of diagnostic trouble
codes and the codes listed here are
nearly a onetoone match of what we've
already generated with Carly our
diagnostic to down the list it tells you
to remove the oil cap and take a look at
the cam shaft itself and watch it as you
turn the motor over to see if this
adjuster which again is basically a big
gear spins in sync with the cam shaft so
we went ahead and did this and
everything did spin in syn like it
should so I took things one step further
and put a scope camera down this oil cap
to take a look at these adjuster bolts
because I just couldn't believe that
this recall was never done and it turns
out the bolts that came installed in
this car were definitely the factory
Originals you could tell because the
originals were a security Tor with a dot
in the center of the head now when I
bought this car I had checked the VIN
and saw this open recall but I called
the dealership to verify they said it
had never been done and this is all
insane considering this recall was
issued again several years ago from
Porsche and this car has 180,000 Mi
160,000 of that 180,000 were done from
the first owner and he serviced this car
religious ly so how it was never done is
beyond me but the other side is that it
doesn't seem like the bolts that are
known to fail have failed so it's very
likely that just another part of our
timing system at 180,000 Mi has been
worn out but the dealership's got to
mess with the timing system and if you
think about it they've got to take those
old style bolts out when they torque the
new ones back in they're going to be
putting tension on our adjusters our cam
gears and they risk slipping those gears
with a loose timing chain so while they
could probably perform this recall while
being very very careful it's a bit risky
for a dealership to take a car that's
out of time mess with the timing system
and hand it back to the customer without
the very least telling me about the
issues that it currently has or just
game plan it with me one way or another
either way we're going to drop this
thing at the dealership and hopefully
they can tell us what's wrong with it
and if we get really lucky maybe they're
even able to fix what wrong with it and
give it back to us all under the
recall before we get it into the uh
dealership we should take these stickers
off this car is really Shifty to run
listen to
this uh we have to make it from right
here to just across the street without
it skipping time let's see if we can do
it that's probably the way we should
have taken this into the dealer but I
like to live
dangerously so it's been like 3 days
since we dropped this Porche off at the
dealership I finally heard from them
they sent me a text message uh with a
video attached to it and the video is
the tech that's working on the car uh in
the service Bay and he's basically just
recommending additional things be done
to the car while it's still there at the
dealer I won't play his audio but I'll
just basically tell you what he's saying
he first starts off by saying all the
tires are 6 years old so he recommends
that we get those replaced and
recommends that we do the front brakes
at the same time because they're worn
but anyway he recommends we get a set of
spark plugs while we're there and then
this is the most interesting part of the
whole entire video he says that your
engine is vibrating heavily so I suggest
this set of replacement motor mounts now
in my opinion the engine is vibrating
heavily because it's continuously
misfiring because it's out of time but
he doesn't mention anything about the
timing system he says it's uh basically
ready to be picked up at that point I
get on the phone with the service
advisor who's a guy in the office not
working on the car and he has that list
of stuff that the tech uh basically
recommended I had him price it out just
wait till you hear the price on some of
this stuff it's outrageous it sure
doesn't sound like they did any
additional work in the timing Department
maybe I was totally kidding myself and
just surprised that nothing was
mentioned but anyway we won't know what
happened until we get the car and check
it out for ourselves all right I got my
paperwork here I'm assuming this is
going to sound identical to the way we
left it to him let's see
here yeah same all right I'm a bit
surprised at the dealership here and to
be completely honest I wasn't looking
for some sort of free major service
along with a new timing set and
everything done at their dime that would
be totally unreasonable I was just
looking for them to pinpoint the issue
which I think you could probably do with
the valve covers off that's as far as
they got during the recall and if they
were an amazing dealer when they
pinpointed that issue they would have
said hey you know you got a major
problem but we've already started taking
apart your engine to do the recall so
we'll take that sort of time off your
bill here's what it's going to cost you
uh but instead they suggested I get new
motor mounts and wait till you hear how
much they were $
4,346 for a set of engine mounts
installed along with that they quoted
$2,587 for front pads and rotors
honestly brakes are super expensive at
the dealership you should never get them
done there and uh last was pretty insane
as well spark plugs
$2,246 they look super simple to get to
and we'll have them out here in a moment
because I think we're going to start
ripping this engine apart and see if we
can't figure out what's wrong with it
but this is where I urge you guys I've
said it in a ton of videos to get a
diagnostic tool we knew more than
apparently the dealership teched with
this little tool here course charges
like $300 an hour now call him up I
swear to you I couldn't believe one he
told me it's $300 a labor hour this is
well less than bucks and the cool thing
about Carly is that it's a full system
scanner for a ton of different makes and
models you know the cheaper tools
usually will just tell you just your
engine codes this will tell you
everything wrong from your engine
transmission brakes to all the
electronics and the interior and
everything so provides dealer level
Diagnostics uh and they take it one step
further with something called smart
mechanic so if you have a common issue
on your specific car they'll have a
support article there ready for you it
will tell you exactly what your problem
is and then will give you a list of the
most common fixes for that problem so
this tool was definitely designed with
the DIY in mind no matter your level of
skill I still find it very important to
have a diagnostic reader if you own a
car so at the very least you have the
knowledge to know what's going on with
your car because it's the difference of
you owning your own car or the
dealership owning you I've left a link
to this tool down in the description now
we've got to figure out what our problem
is with this Porsche we're going to
start simply by just removing the valve
covers just like the dealership did this
engine doesn't look too terribly bad
like you see these covers here that look
like they just kind of get out of the
way yeah that was easy all right the
other side let's see I actually stuck
this motor mount here over this thing
does this slide under no it doesn't
slide under so I mean it just will come
out with one bolt and this will probably
spin upward
by the way they wanted to sell us motor
mounts look at that thing that motor
mount looks brand new otherwise it's a
matter of just kind of pulling and
moving just disconnect everything here
pull these ignition coils out the valve
covers don't look like they'll be too
difficult to get out of place maybe a
couple of tight screws to get to but
otherwise not bad considering it's a
portion they charge a fortune for any
work on it at the dealer
cool all
right there we
go let's see what we
[Music]
got there you
go right here that gasket should be new
so that was good there all right oo
still a little warm from us moving it
and so oil cover was here dude what's
going on look at this before there was I
could literally slap this against the
valve cover now it's got perfect
tension look this isn't moving at all I
guess the slack could be
elsewhere
or is it the hydraulic tensioner is
going to bleed off and we've got a worn
hydraulic tensioner I thought it was for
sure the GU well we still got to get
this side off and that'll help us figure
did he change these no no okay good good
call so if we look on the back here
these guys here and according to the uh
service advisor they just take one out
at a time and I think there's four of
them in there and they just put another
one in that's why he said that they
didn't have to mess with the timing but
you would think they were putting torque
against this right there's a a tool
that goes against the cam shafts back
here you can actually see where the
timing dots are right there and right
there uh and it only you know fits in
one place You' think if they were
putting torque against this they would
want to put that timing tool in wouldn't
you think if they were changing the
bolts you know so anyway this is crazy
that there's perfect tension so there's
more to this story either the hydraulic
tensioner got a problem there's slack in
the chain elsewhere which doesn't make a
lot of sense turn the engine over by
hand well we're going to do that let's
let's get that other cover off first all
right here we go let's see what do we
got again we got perfect tension on this
side too how did you check the tension
before I literally stuck my finger on
this and it the oil engine cap and it
would just hit the valve uh cover so you
weren't able to check this side at all
definitely
not all
right there we
go perfect look at that all right
I think I see something Mike this is
unbelievable but it's kind of exactly
what we thought and uh well I think Mike
even already sees it Mike what do you
see I see the a piece of the plastic
guide right here just a piece though you
don't see a lot of the plastic guide
just a piece it's actually quite loose
so you want to get a picture of it
before it falls deeper into the
engine oh there you go there's some good
slack in the chain okay okay so it's
really dependent on the position the
chain is in and where that plastic is
moving at the time let's see we got the
scope so you can see it a little bit
better but you see that so that's it's
pieces of the guide bunching up in there
it's all broken up now look I want you
to switch it from this side switch it to
this side you could see there's like
literally just one Shard of it left and
the rest of it's straight metal take a
look see there you go there's the bridge
guide right there and there's just a
fragment of plastic hanging on for dear
life in the corner here that guide is
completely gone you could see A Shard of
plastic just hanging out right there so
my question is okay you got to figure
the tech the tech had the engine just
like we have it here both valve covers
off in order to do the recall that's as
um disassembled as this engine was okay
something like this should he have
spotted that again from the naked eye
here you can see that that's straight
metal and there should be a little bit
of plastic on the end the plastic spans
the entire way of that guide it normally
looks something like this that little
thin piece of plastic is basically the
barrier between the timing chain and the
metal bridge that it runs on after
seeing nearly 200,000 Mi on this Porsche
it's got to just be worn to bits and
even though it's probably only a
millimeter or two thick the difference
is enough to cause slack in the chain
and it's got to be why we're out of time
driving this thing right now with that
little thin plastic strip ining would be
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samrack now from what I read the
dealership actually quotes an engine out
job to the tuna like 30 labor hours in
order to do a timing job on both the
Panamera and the Cayenne but I'm trying
to figure out why that's the case
because if you look at the front of the
motor here this is our timing cover you
can see where it actually splits off the
car basically we need to get that off in
order to get to our guides our tensioner
anything that would be a wear component
in the timing system and uh well from
here to even just the front of the fan
look it there's a decent amount of room
there Out imagine you could get a lot of
tools in between all this if we just
remove you know little things like our
intake box and whatnot and especially if
we remove the radiator fan itself we'd
have a ton more room so I'm just going
to go and start pulling off all the
little things around here let's get the
radiator hoses disconnected and see if
we got enough room to knock this job out
literally here in the middle of a cow
pasture
now in this car is almost 200,000 miles
on the road there are a lot of Fasteners
missing which well is making my job so
far easier there are only two clips
holding this fan in place I don't have
the appropriate socket to uh take the
tension off the belt tensioner but what
we just did was remove all the bolts
holding the tensioner in place and uh
we'll just have to get that socket when
it all goes back together but at this
point you can see the belt is nice and
loose we should be able to pop it off
there we
go so I ran out and got a clean storage
container here and it was $6 so Porsche
coolant would cost us more like $30 or
$40 a gallon I think we're best off
saving this since it looks so nice and
uh reusing it when we're all
done so far working on this engine has
been like disassembling an American V8
it is truly that easy and well laid out
there's a ton of room everywhere and
heck we almost got the entire front end
strip in order to take our timing cover
off what I want to do next is pull our
spark plugs for a few reasons number one
of course the dealership tried to sell
us a new set of eight for like what
20320 400 bucks so we got to make sure
that they're actually the end of their
life right but also we want to check
inside the cylinder there make sure that
our valves don't have any damage from
the car running out of time and last
well it just make our lives a whole lot
easier when we check the timing of the
car with the plugs out now again
remember they wanted well over $2,000 to
do the spark plugs in this car there's
eight of them you don't have to take the
valve covers off in order to do that we
just obviously have them off for other
reasons and I'm going to take one plug
out in real time this one is already
loose enough for me to turn with my
little mini breaker here and now I'm
turning it by hand I figure at this rate
take no more than 5 6 minutes to pull
your ignition coil out pull the spark
plug out replace it with a new spark
plug and tidy everything back up and on
top of that uh well you got to figure
that each new spark plug these are Bosch
aridium spark plugs so they're going to
be a little
pricier they might cost you what 10
bucks a piece but what does that end up
being 80 bucks in spark plugs and maybe
30 45 minutes of your time I just don't
think that's worth
$2,400 all right there's a better view
of it what the plug might have just a
little bit of like sood on it but
overall I would just clean the tips of
these and run them again again this is a
very nice plug these are probably maybe
$10 to $ 122 if you bought them from
Porsche they'd be a little bit more
expensive but I can almost guarantee you
these have been replaced at least once
just by looking at them you know plugs
that have been run over 100,000 mies
usually are way more dark in the threads
here um there is no reason to replace
these and again in my estimation the
dealer is just doing Blind estimates on
stuff to to get the easy jobs for the
high dollars I brought Mike back today
he brought his large shaft with him here
Mike what is this for uh it's for
holding the crank pulley in place you
want to be more excited you got a big
shaft in your hands come on not a lot of
people can say that here we go I brought
Mike back for the day he's brought his
big shaft one of the important things
about Mike is that he helped me time the
first engine I ever timed Ford Fiesta
1.6 L the water pump was leaking the
only way to get to is behind the timing
cover behind the timing tensioner that's
a Ford design Mike you brought your big
shaft with you how are we going to use
this shaft to time well it's not for
timing yet right we're just removing
more stuff just breaks the crank F bolt
loose and you need that big of a tool in
order to do it apparently um you need a
lot of Leverage I guess okay where'd you
get this one from Amazon Ren
to as simple as that we kind of just get
the thing in place come on there's no
way like one
hand is it going feels like it's going
is it going wow I thought it was going
to be like more dramatic than
that wow I can't believe how easy that
was Mike oh there you go look at
that here we go we're almost ready to
pull this timing cover off but before we
do we have to drain our oil I went and
dropped the undershield here you could
see this oil pan has been leaking for
quite a while this is uh nasty but it's
an easy oil pan to pull off and reseal
and you know we found some plastic
shards up there in the engine what not
to say that a couple made their way down
in the pan we will find this out a
little later right now I just want to
pull the drain plug which looks like
it's been stripped a bit hopefully
that's not too big of an issue and uh
get the rest of the oil out that way it
doesn't slash all over us when we pull
the timing cover but I am noticing one
good thing back here and you look at the
transmission pan all back there that all
looks extremely clean but the more we go
through this car we're finding more good
than bad all right well change of plans
I thought we were going to deal with
this oil pan later we're dealing with it
right now
because that drain plug is so incredibly
stripped uh and I just don't have any
other sockets no torqus no uh hex keys
will fit in it I've already went and
loosened every single one of these
screws on the pan so we didn't have any
issue there I'm going to take him out
one by one on the back end here and
hopefully we can get most of it in the
drain
bucket see if we can find anything in
here oh I'm already seeing a couple
fragments look at this let's see is that
metal or is that plastic
plastic that's plastic uh I thought that
this was the magnet in the corner this
is the magnet right here look there's
two massive pieces of it oh my goodness
there's going to be so much more left in
it when we pop that timing cover open I
bet but yeah the good news is I'm not
seeing any out of the ordinary metal I
mean maybe just a smidgen and remember
I'm working outside here so maybe a
little bit of dirt you know bleue in
there but otherwise this is dirty oil
and a bunch a bunch bunch of plastic
taking a closer look at our oil here I
am finding a little bit of glitter in it
but I'm not too worried about it yet see
this glitter is more silver which would
tell me what's happening is the timing
chain is obviously rubbing up against
what's left of the timing guide which is
metal so that's where our metal to metal
is likely coming from and when you
consider that almost nine quarts of oil
came out of this uh even though we had
an oil leak it's not like it was run
severely low on oil to the point where
we'd be doing wear to the bearings or
something like that when you have
bearing material in your oil the color
is more gold and in my experience it
looks a little bit heavier than what we
see
here so yeah getting the manifold off
was actually pretty simple here's the
cable right here that runs underneath
another cap in order to get this cap out
of place you got to take the fuel rail
up I was able to just kind of wiggle in
there with a wrench and get that nut off
and now I am working on the rest of the
screws on this timing cover and these
are aluminum screws so they're really
soft couple of them are pretty gummy and
this vice grips has saved me a couple
times didn't save me there um three out
of probably you know two dozen so far
have stripped very easily so I'm trying
to take it easy I'm using no power tools
uh and I'm trying to go in without the
extension where I can but the good news
is this is the one that took me the
longest probably about 15 minutes which
isn't bad for a strip screw now let's
watch this see what
happens I can hear a bunch of stuff
moving around in there and just falling
let's see
here oh my gosh the change just popped a
little bit like oh do you hear look at
the look at this I'm just on this cable
of course let me see if I can move this
forward a little bit yeah yeah there we
go move
this all right here we go this move out
there it is
out come on all right there's one here
it comes boy they it is off and we have
a mess of plastic oh my goodness I was
wondering where all that slack came in
the chain I didn't realize that the
tensioner is actually held in by the
cover here so that's why the chain is
all flopping around at this point and
well we'll be able to remove it super
easily but you can see all the shards of
plastic that have gone everywhere uh the
good news is we already took that oil
pan off so anything that fell further
down there we'll be able to fish out
right now our main goal is to just get
all of the wear components off which are
the chain and the guides here and then
we just put it all back
together so far we haven't hit any major
roadblocks and everything is just coming
part like Legos now I'd have to assume
that this is the original timing chain
and it looks pretty great but the guides
were a totally different story now the
two lower guides just popped right out
of place and they were in terrible shape
with cracks everywhere it's no telling
how much longer these would have lasted
we're definitely catching everything
here right before a catastrophic
incident and the scariest part of it all
is probably this tiny spring-loaded
tensioner that's for the oil pump chain
this was also cracked and if it would
have gotten any worse it would have
basically destroyed the engine Beyond
any reason reasonable
repair yeah no plastic left strange the
way they put this on it's really just
clipped on either edge here so when it
breaks it literally just comes apart in
the engine oh there they go there it is
these are just little plastic guides
that fit in between the cam gears here
here oh that one came right out oh that
one's broken too so yeah lots of old
brittle plastic that just needs to be
replaced like I said earlier we forgot
to take this tensioner out of the cover
before we pulled the cover off shouldn't
have done that so now I think the
easiest way to get it out is just with
this breaker bar and
yeah there we go and this is one of the
only decent timing components that is
left you can't even push that in it's so
firm which is pretty incredible when you
think that it's been in there for
180,000 miles so we probably got about a
day's worth of Labor invested into this
Porsche at this point uh and well we've
got to throw a whole entire new timing
set on it so I figure it might be a good
idea to show you the overall condition
of the car because that's one of the
reasons I think it's worth fixing you
know it could be hard to justify
spending time and money on something
that's old and worn out well there's a
few little unsightly Parts on this
Porsche like this smashed out rear tail
light and the driver's side door panel
leather here you can see it's got a wear
spot where somebody likely sat their
elbow well might just look like a piece
of junk but if you look at the rest of
the interior and the exterior cosmetic
condition this car is actually in really
good shape now I said earlier that the
first owner the original owner of this
Porsche put
160,000 M on it the second owner had it
less than 20,000 Mi and usually when you
have a low amount of owners with a high
amount of miles it results in a car
that's been very well taken care of and
I mean the rest of the body in this car
is pretty much imaculate the rear seats
are in really good shape and if you look
at what a used paname costs nowadays I
mean even a high mileage one of these
can fetch upwards of 20,000 bucks
so if we've got a day's worth of
disassembly we're definitely going to
have a day's worth of reassembly uh and
probably a little bit more than that
just to make sure we take our time
during the timing process and do
everything right but if you consider a
few days labor on this car everything is
gone by so far so good and the fact that
I found a timing kit for this car for
$230 on Amazon and seriously that's
really the only thing I bought for this
car as far as Parts go bought the the
timing kit for 230 bucks I did buy the
specialty timing tools to make sure we
do this right they're the originals from
China and they were open box so those
only cost me 80 bucks and well we're
going to have to throw some new oil in
it and stuff like that but for probably
less than $500 or a little bit over of
one labor hours worth the work at the
dealer uh we should be able to fix this
car and get this that cheap timing kit
that we just bought included overnight
shippings so we'll have it any moment
all we got to do is grab these parts put
them back in place and hopefully we'll
have a good time these guides going real
easy I got a little bit of oil here and
we oiled up the little stud that they
sit on we're going to just sit them kind
of in place like that now the tensioner
will ride up against this one that's why
it's real floppy like that so we can
kind of just leave it hanging the
opposite side guide has this little
springloaded tensioner here and so
there's a pin that's keeping it in place
so we don't have to fight it there we go
all right you can see there's a bit of
slack in our oil pump chain here so when
we take this
pin just kind
of pull it
out now there's tension against it and
this one just bolts right back into
place before I I throw the chain on I'm
just going to throw a little motor oil
on all the plastic here so on its first
run and when we're turning it over it's
nice and uh lubricated last we'll put on
this fresh chain and make sure it's
nicely set over the sprockets and in
between all of our guides I've heard of
other people reusing their old chains
because they feel like the chains have a
more polished Edge after being run so
long and this softer Edge would bring
more longevity to the new guides I find
all this a bit hard to believe but
honestly I didn't really see anything
wrong with the old chain and I would
have been fine with reusing it in a
pinch but it made me curious if we were
to try to do this job even cheaper by
just buying every failed plastic guide
would it make sense and the answer was
not really so each guide cost around
$100 by themselves so it's way cheaper
just to buy this entire kit and get all
the new parts that come along with it
now timing this engine is a bit
different than others since the
tensioner is held in place by the cover
we actually have to close things up
before we can do our most important part
we're ready to put the timing cover back
on we've done a few test runs with it
and so we've taken just a few little
other hoses and things out of the way to
make our lives as easy as possible got
my friend F here this is going to be a
job really meant for two people we're
going to put a little bit of RTV where
the shop manual calls for it hopefully
this thing goes back on
perfectly this is why test run was so
important we got a little smudge of RTV
right there and a little one right there
if you look everywhere else I think we
did pretty darn good considering
everything in our way so I'm going to
just go and clean this off now we need
to just get this timing cover put in
place so that this Bond can cure nicely
all right now let's have a good time to
start this process we'll loosen all the
bolts on the cam gears they're on super
tight but once they're loose the cam
shafts will move independ ly and we can
just turn them with a wrench until we
see our timing marks doesn't need to be
perfect yet we'll get them roughly in
place with the dots facing upward now in
our special kit here there's a Pneumatic
tool that basically acts as a temporary
chain tensioner this thing is clunky and
cumbersome and they tell you that it can
be fit in through the wheel Arch which
means more disassembly but we're going
to cheat here and just use our new
tensioner now brand new out of the
packaging these are still pretty springy
and easy to move unlike our old one and
that's because when the engine is
running they'll fill with oil through
these little passages which gives them
hydraulic pressure I stuck the new one
in a cup of oil before we installed it
and pumped it in and out a few times
just to get it a little firmer and then
it easily slotted in place and I just
spun it in by hand we're not tightening
it all the way yet it just needs to be
in place enough to put a little bit of
tension on the Chain lastly we'll
reinstall our crank pulley and spin it
till the one section has a little hole
and it gets close to the 6:00 position
and we'll feel for that spot with this
pin that comes comes with our tool kit
there our crankshaft should be locked in
top dead center now let's go back up to
the cam shafts and on either side we
need to fit these cam locking tools they
pop in like a puzzle piece this is where
we fine-tune the position of the cams
just a little bit either way and once
these tools fit uniformly we are in time
all the Locking tools still fitted we
now need to just torque our cam gear
bolts now we're basically ready to start
this Porsche but it would be foolish not
to double check our work first we have
our locking pin in place which means
cylinder 1 should be in top dead center
now they don't tell you to do this but
we can just verify by sticking our dowel
pin here it's in the spark plug hole and
it won't go down hardly at all which is
a very good sign and then we've got our
locking tools on either side and you can
see they're sitting flush with the head
that's the biggest thing that you need
to check for when you're doing this if
they're off on a little bit of an angle
your timing can still be off but these
are sitting exactly where they should be
here and again here I've went and
tightened all of our cam gear and
adjuster bolts here so again nothing
should move at this point and our
tensioner is just hand tight remember
I'm going to go through and retorque
everything but right now what we want to
do is spin this engine back over by hand
and make sure that it's all in time all
right here we go we're going to take
each locking tool
out we've got the PIN in here
out and we're just going to take our
half in Ratchet we want to be able to
easily control this so here we
go I'm just keeping a close watch for
our timing marks to show
up and I'm starting to see them now on
both sides which means we're getting
close yep so here's what we're going to
do we're going to take our pin we'll put
it in the crank pulley it's not all the
way to where it can lock in the engine
but if I turn it a little bit I should
feel it slide in there it is right there
and
now if we've kept a good time these
should just go on perfectly all right
let's
see this looks pretty good although
there's a tiny Gap right right here I'm
not too worried about it yet because
that might be taken up when we actually
tighten our tensioner but let's try the
other side
here same Z on this side it's pretty
darn perfect
though this should be good to go let me
go ahead let's tighten our tensioner and
do this one more time
now we can't forget about that stripped
oil pan screw luckily I have the set of
extractors and this one fit perfectly in
the hex head few light taps with a
hammer and a Twist of a wrench rip this
guy right out nobody has time to deal
with the dealership so I went to the
auto parts store and got this generic
drain plug a new oil filter and and a
fresh tube of RTV this really has to be
one of the easier portions to work on
the oil filter housing comes off with a
socket and there's plenty of room to
move about and so for about 20 bucks in
supplies we have a resealed oil pan with
a fresh oil filter and a functional
drain plug all right this should be the
last step before we're able to test fire
this just going to fill it up with oil
takes about 9 quarts now not everything
is back I don't even have the belt drive
back on so none of the accessories are
going to be running but basically we
want to just be able to run this long
enough to make sure well it runs way
better than it did before we're going to
clear our codes we're going to have a
couple new ones pop up because again the
alternator is not running the water
pump's not running but if we did this
right our engine should run way smoother
and our correlation codes should go
completely away as well as our misfire
codes all right we're ready we've got
our tensioner torque we've got all the
cam adjusters torqued I tightened down
our crank pulley here everything else is
kind of loose in case we made a mistake
and need to get back in here it's been a
long time since I've messed with engine
timing let's hope we have a good time
and we time this one
right all right let's hope that uh the
engine sounds better than the way that
door does key
in radio
off now before this thing had a really
long crank idled and ran really rough uh
really all of those problems should be
fixed if we are back in time let's see
put on the break 3 2
1 okay the crank sounds good but uh well
didn't start let's see
here here we go 3 2 1
H not good wondering if there's anything
in the fueling area I forgot to
reconnect at this point it was early
evening we had worked all day timing
this engine making sure everything was
set to put it back together so it was
really annoying to have this crank no
start after doing all that work but it
is much better than hearing a single
crank and nothing more so at the very
least we know the motor is isn't locked
up now we obviously drove this car to
the spot where we started working on it
so the first thing we can guess is that
I forgot a connection when we were
reassembling everything off the Jump I
just figured our problem was fuel
related because this thing isn't even
attempting to start it's got a solid
crank but there is zero gas smell so to
start with the path of lease resistance
I plugged Carly back in and did a code
clear then I cranked the car again and
rescanned if we left something unplugged
it should leave a hard code pointing us
to the exact problem the great news that
on this scan all correlation codes went
away and we did generate a new code but
not for any broken connections this is a
pretty generic code that basically says
the car doesn't have enough fuel to
start now there's a handful of reasons
why we could have this code so again we
got to start with the easiest I did a
quick visual inspection I even loosened
up the intake manifold again as that's
where a lot of the fuel connections are
and there was nothing wrong next I
popped open the fuse box and found the
fuel pump fuse and it was just fine now
there's really only one simple thing
left to do and that's make sure that
there's actually gas in the tank if you
go look at the dash it does have a low
fuel warning but it clearly says there's
11 mil till empty now the car is old and
maybe the fuel sender is a bit wonky and
if we are too low on gas this would
definitely create a condition where
there's not enough fuel for startups so
I added a quick gallon and try it
again oh there we go look at that just
gas it was just out of gas come
on that's all it was was could you
imagine how silly we are just out of
gas it already feels much
smoother look at
that it's just out of gas listen to that
listen to how smooth that
is listen to
that think we're having a good time yet
I think we're having a good
time listen to how smooth that is look
at that not vibrating at
all
wow
amazing now let's check there's still a
bunch of things unplugged like the fan
control and whatnot so we might have a
check engine Let's see we have a check
engine on the dash we don't even have a
check engine on the dash look at the RPM
gauge about as still as it
gets yes we know our alternator now
hooked up but we did it we are just out
of gas how ridiculous I knew it was
something easy so this thing runs and it
seems to run like amazing well at least
for right now and I've always wanted a
paname with the V8 engine but they've
been pretty pricey because well they've
just got that Porsche badge on them now
I've got one for well under six grand at
least for right now we're going to do a
deep dive in this car and find
everything else that might be wrong with
it uh in the next video so make sure you
subscribe to the channel by hitting that
button below but right now we got to
find out one last thing about this car
and that is whether it truly has failed
motor mounts because well if a
dealership is going to quote me $4500 or
$4,400 for a job and take almost $55,000
from me to do something of course well
I'm just hoping that they put in the
time to actually diagnose something
something appropriately and sell me
something that I actually kind of need
obviously I'm skeptical mainly because
they recommended spark plugs when in my
opinion it totally did not need spark
plugs but also because well we know our
top mount is in good shape because we
can see the bushing the ones that you
can't see well they're underneath the
engine they're mounting the engine to
the frame those are the ones that do the
Brun to the work this one on the top
which isn't even hooked up right now
okay uh doesn't do nearly as much so if
those are failed on the bottom
especially with our top one disconnected
when we put this car in Drive mash the
brake pedal and give it a little gas and
this works on basically every single
gasoline powered car this engine will
leap out of the engine bay if the motor
mount has failed here's a good example
of a car with a bad motor
mount so we're looking for something
like that now there will always be a
little bit of movement in your motor
because well that's what the motor M
Mount does it just dampens the
vibrations of your engine if you had
solid motor mounts like some race cars
your engine will actually vibrate the
heck out of the cabin so these are made
out of like a uh soft rubber bushing and
they're meant to have a little bit of
give so it's okay to see a little bit of
movement not a lot all we're going to do
now is crank this thing
[Music]
over put it in drive and just give it a
little gas
well at least we know that those
mountains are in good shape now this
pretty timeconsuming repair has led to
one of the lengthiest videos I've ever
made but I quite like working on this
old Porsche if you enjoyed watching it
let me know by hitting that like button
also if you're not already following me
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there before they go live here well you
can find me here just hit that link down
in the description guys can't thank each
and every one of you enough for watching
today I'll catch you very soon
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