[rd1cobra]

Does anyone know who manufactures the chain pads? It might be interesting to get the manufacturing specs on the pads. Maybe they have a "wear rating" from the manufacturer.

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[BigL2U]

[quote name='Big Dave' post='56586' date='Jul 22 2008, 06:01 AM']Yes they are the same part. Ive just replaced the chain + pads on my [UK Sport]..

Preventative maintenance. As my car has aprox 65K miles on....[/quote]



Big Dave,

I'm curious as to how worn your old parts are? My car has a little over 62K miles on it now and I think the last time the cam+ was inspected was around 45K miles.

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[RPM]

A previous post listed a 944 part number for tensioner pads. Of course most 968 parts use 944 numbers, but are the 968 pads identical to the S/S2 pads? Are the pads available from Porsche, and if so what are the parts numbers?



On the S2 the pads were not available from Porsche without purchasing the entire assembly. Some companies (Vertex) made aftermarket pads, but the quality on those was flaky.

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[xrad]

The tensioner is different, but I don;t know about the pads.



THANKS Ron and Big Dave!



How about chains? anyone have a favorite?

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[Big Dave]

[quote name='BigL2U' post='56601' date='Jul 22 2008, 09:19 PM']Big Dave,

I'm curious as to how worn your old parts are? My car has a little over 62K miles on it now and I think the last time the cam+ was inspected was around 45K miles.[/quote]



Not too sure how worn they were.As my mechanic did the job.. Ill see if ive still got them...



The 944S2 ones are different to the 968 ones. I know this because i bought a pair of S2 ones , then had to get some 968 ones as they wouldnt fit... I got mine from my local Porsche dealer...Im on good terms with them now...

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[xrad]

just bought a set of porsche chain pads, endless chain, all cover gaskets, porsche timing belt , and balance belt from Zim's (all in stock). I looked closely at the valve cover bolts and none were even scratched...I don't think this cover has ever been off....but the timing belt looks pretty new from the front view window....

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[doster]

What do you mean by endless chain, does it have an open link? That might make it possible to change the pads and chain without removing the cams.



That would be to good to be true! Is this possible.

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[unknown4u]

endless chain means closed for life.

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[jfrahm]

Actually it was my PO that had to replace the head and cams on my car due to neglect of the variocam system. My brother's 968 was in a bad way shortly after he got his too, the cams had lost teeth and it was close to going completely. One of my S2's had a failed tensioner before I bough it, the other had that or a belt failure, I'm not sure which. Also before I purchased the car. I generally get high mileage cars, it seems.



The 968 variocam pads (some call them 'ramps') are different than the 944S and S2 pads. The 944's use a 928 part number, the tensioner system is the same on 1/2 of the 32v 928 engines, and the pads are the same on both sides (the tensioner is inverted on one bank of the 928 V8.)

The V8's have a lot fewer problems, probably due to milder cams and softer springs as well as less heat and probably lower mean RPMs. It happens though.



The 944S2 and 968 use the same cam chain, the 968 having smaller sprockets to allow more slack for vario-camming action. I recall hearing of a run of bad chains a few years back, something to look into if you are in the market.



-Joel.

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[earossi]

:Having just done the pad and chain replacement on my car, I can tell you that there will probably be a lot more wear on the bottom chain pad than on the top......but, you can't see the bottom pad to inspect it without removing the cams. If you decide to tackle the job.....set aside about 10-12 hours the first time, and a lot of beer! The job is well within the capabilities of the weekend mechanic, but there are potential pitfalls. Two in particular:



1. Removal of the cam bearing cap bolts. These are made from annealed steel which means that they are soft and have the triple square heads. Do NOT even think about breaking them loose without using ONLY a Snap-on triple square socket. All other brands.....and I do mean ALL, are soft and will become sloppey in the bolt heads, which means that you will end up stripping bolt heads. The bolt heads are designed for the 15 ft-lbs of torque you use to install them but, age, varnished oil, and heat makes the old bolts require about 30 ft-lbs to break them loose. If you do strip a head, Pete at RS Barn recommends using a chisle to punch a slot into the bolt head and then using the chisle on each end of the slot to break the failed bolt loose. I found it easier to use a 12 mm 12 point socket which you drive down over the bolthead with a hammer and then use your rachet to break the bolt loose. In all cases, give each bolt a "wake up" rap with a hammer before attempting to break the bolt loose.



2. In spite of what others say......you should get the tools to compress the varicam tensioner. You can get the clamp to hold the tensioner in compression and a locking pin for the timing belt tensioner. The tools come as a set and are only $35 from Sunset Porsche......however, I've had mine on backorder from Sunset for about a month now. They will be worth every penny! Don't ask me how I know that.



Good luck.



Ernie

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[94'968]

heres the latest on my car: it should be out of the shop this week!!! basically my mechanic called what he did "a complete in car engine rebuild". it was one of those things, since im taking this off i might as well replace this since im there, and since im taking that off i might as well do this. ect ect. well it turned out to be $6000..... but on the bright side i have an almost new engine!!!!! one of the biggest issues was since the pads got shredded thy fell into the oil pan and he wanted to pull the pan to drain the pieces out. and once you have the pan off.... you might as well do all the other stuff. im excited to get my car back tho. ive been stuck driving an "ice blue" mazda 3. haha



do you think it is worth the time and effort to try and file a claim against porsche? ive never thought about suing porsche.... any thoughts on it?

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[Anchorman]

My guess is that the motivation for filing a claim against Porsche should be the potential experience/story that results. I wouldn't expect anything in terms of meaningful compensation.

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[94SilverCab]

Have to agree with Anchorman...15 years and 140,000 miles...Good Luck!



Jay

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[ds968]

[quote name='94SilverCab' post='56970' date='Jul 30 2008, 02:06 PM']Have to agree with Anchorman...15 years and 140,000 miles...Good Luck!

Jay[/quote]



while i agree that age and mileage is a huge handicap in this case and that the probability of any significant monetary award or settlement is very, very low if it was me I would still not even think twice about filing a small claims court demand: again, the only thing you have to lose is about $ 50 and a day of your time.

I'm still hopeful that there is some slim chance a judge might view this catastrophic damage attributable solely to a part which Porsche, by excluding any reference to a service interval / need implied will be trouble free regardless of age or mileage, and hold them responsible.



and as I said before, they can probably come up with a pretty good defense ( driving habits, etc ) as well as arguing that there are also no provisions for water pump, or alternator or various other parts scheduled maintenance either either but all of those eventually die at some point or another and that's a reasonable expectation so the variocam should not be treated any differently in that respect, but let me get back to what I underscored before:



$ 50, one day, maybe a 1% chance at a settlement or award to recover some of your loss, and if nothing else, seeing Porsche compelled to respond to the claim and provide some defense.. so, why not ?

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[midblu]

Dan- have you been to your mechanic yet?



Joel......$6000.....ouch.....I feel your pain. Best of luck with the "almost" new engine. I'm with ds968 on this one, small claims is an easy avenue.



Ron

94 coupe/6 speed

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[xrad]

for 6000$, did you get new p-rings? price on the high end(if not at the dealership)....hopefully good work was done.

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[ds968]

[quote name='midblu' post='56974' date='Jul 30 2008, 02:58 PM']Dan- have you been to your mechanic yet?

Ron[/quote]



No chance yet.. procrastinating <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> and no chance to do it before the Ortega run either, so it'll have to be sometime in Sept..

But I'm a risk taker so that's not surprising..

Here are the pros and cons relative to my variocam:



CON: Murphy's Law



PROS: 95k miles, and at 65k miles the TOP pads looked out-of-the-box new, as did the chain and the cams/teeth. Yes, I know the bottom pads wear out faster.

Only tracked once.

Full synthetic oil ( same with both POs ) One PO was a 60 year old doctor, the other a 50 year old engineer

so I know they did not track or drag race the car either <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Or so they claimed <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

No off the line racing, gear slamming acceleration is very rare, keeping the revs above 6k rpm also rare,

80% highway driving and yes more often than not at ridiculous speeds, but smooth acceleration getting there

no crazy on and off , on and off the gas pedal driving.



Not saying that's a sure bet it won't fail, but the odds are probably better in favor of lasting a long time. That being said, I am not overlooking Murphy's Law. Just feel a bit better about procrastinating. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[xrad]

oh yeah: just received my new parts!!



cam belt, balance belt, tensioner pads(they are the same), endless chain (febi), valve cover gasket, valve cover gasket kit(includes plug seals, o-ring, gasket, 13 bolt seals) total w/shipping: 335(zim's auto).



OE porsche timing belt was 140$, could have bought a cheaper one for 40$ but...you know how that goes



rhayward was nice enough to loan me his flywheel lock...now I just need the time......

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[RPM]

So you are saying the S2 pads and 968 pads are the same part?

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[jfrahm]

[quote name='RPM' post='57001' date='Jul 31 2008, 08:19 AM']So you are saying the S2 pads and 968 pads are the same part?[/quote]



968 Variocam - Top and bottom pads are the same pad.



928/944S/944S2 4v - Top pad is different than the bottom, both are different than the 968 pad.



This (cool) site has some good pics and a crossection of the variocam chain system:

http://www.cannell.co.uk/968_Workshop_Manu...20Camshafts.pdf



The 968 pads look a bit like the top 928/944 pad but not quite alike.



-Joel.

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