[968TDG]

So I've only been driving the 968 about twice a week recently. I did a fuel filter change about a month ago, which makes a big change in drivablility, power, and smoothness. it was also causing really slow starts because the check valve was failing and letting the fuel in the line go back to the tank.



I went to start it on Sunday and it did not go smoothly...actually, I basically convinced myself I'd done damage and shouldn't make any further attempts. There were awful noises, a lot of shuddering, and strange read outs from the tach. I left the car alone until last night when I removed the plugs, turned the engine by hand, removed the DME Relay, cranked the engine with the key, put everything back together after finding the engine was not destroyed, and took it for a test drive and everything was fine.



What I did find was about 1" of oil in the #2 and #3 spark plug wells. Also, one of the insulators on the spark plug wire was completely disintegrated. My guess is that this had something to do with the crazy starts. Maybe this oil was causing these spark plugs to short to each other and spark at the wrong time, or at least, to not spark properly when they were supposed to.



I have the oil seal kit for the head cover which should fix this leak. I've been meaning to powdercoat the cover and intake, so I'll do this at the same time as well as replace the hall sender ad check the cam chain and pads.



Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting issue, and might come in handy for someone else.



Cheers

Phil

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[DaveN]

Mine has never gotten that far but I too had a bit of weep into the spark plug wells and one of the wire ends was mucky and starting to swell. Sounds like you got lucky and were just running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Wheeeew!

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[Rob in Oz]

Just make sure you remove all of the insulator debris from the plug wells before removing the plugs...

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[gbarrier]

Chances are that it is a gasket. It usually is. But... might just be loose spark plugs. Once compression blows by it will suck oil by the rings and pump it past the plug threads filling the hole with oil.



When I bought my first 968 the salesman said said "go drive it and have fun" and we did. Drove it pretty hard and it ran well. We bought it and headed out to start it and head home. Much to our dismay it was running on three cylinders. Not good. Just spent a lot of money that the wife was looking down her nose at me about and the salesman said "sorry chap, you just bought it". I got a plug wrench and pulled the plugs. #2 had a fair amount of oil in the well and the plug was coated with oil. while it seemed fairly snug when I unscrewed it there was not that usual snap. We wiped the plug off, reinstalled it and fired it up. Ran fine all the way home. As a matter of fact never found oil in the wells again and never had the problem again. Guess we drove it a little harder on the test drive than it had been driven for a while and forced the compression by.

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[968TDG]

Thanks guys,



I did get as much of the insulation out of the well as I could before I removed the plug. I used a pickle picker upper, paper towels, and a vacuum with a short length of .25" tubing I inserted into the spark plug well which worked the best.



As to whether the oil came from a leaking valve cover, or lose plug, the plugs all seemed tight, and when I removed them, there was oil on the top of the plug and the threads, but the electrode and tip were dry. This makes me think it is likely just a slow leak over time from the valve cover.



I think it maybe be about time to rebuild the head. My car has about 140,000 miles, and while it's still running normally, there is more valve noise when it's warming up.



I've always done all the work on my cars, but it probably makes sense to at least have someone rebuild the head for me once I've removed it. Any suggestions for this kind of work in southern California? I live in Oceanside, which is North San Diego county. I'm sure If I search around I can find a lot of good tips for what else to do at the same time. I know my cam teeth are wearing down as would be expected.



Phil

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[fleetwood]

Vision Motorsports in Laguna Hills may be a place to talk to down that way.

http://www.visionmotorsports.com/index.php



They did the <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym> on mine, and I had them take the top off to inspect the cams/pads/chain.

Someone there at the time had experience w/ 968s (and i believe raced them) -- or so they said.

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