[Sculler]

Just had the vario cam pads replaced on my new to me 1992 968 Coupe. Thought the group here would be interested to see condition. The car has 55,000 miles with a very well documented history. As you can see the bottom pad was worn, pitted and had a small chunk off the corner. Based on what I see here would recommend replacing the cam pads after 45,000 miles or 10 years which ever comes first.



For what it is worth, I also had the CAM & Balance Belts replaced. They had last been done 10 years and 10,000 miles ago. They were in perfect condition.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ad4porsche968]

Wow thats insane



Thanks for info

Adam

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

that is early. typically we don't see that kind of wear until over 80k



the bottom pad is always worn about twice as much as the top one. any signs of wear on the top one warrants replacement of both pads.



what oil is run has a direct effect on how long these last. synthetic oil generally doubles the life of the pads over dino oil.



as for the belts being in "perfect" condition, i would argue that the rubber was definitely hardened due to polymer crosslinking, and not as elastic as it should be, regardless of what the outside of the belt looked like. you dodged a bullet big time.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Sculler]

Flash.



<acronym title='previous owner'>PO</acronym> used Mobil One 10w40. I would not disagree with your comments about belts. There were no teeth missing but after 10 years most certainly due to be replaced. I was fortunate to have lurked here before purchasing. With info gleaned here I determined to go ahead with pads and chain and forgo water pump. My decision based on potential damage caused by failure. Vario cam = catastrophic. Water pump = down time & probably some pre warning.



So, I already owe the regulars here a debt of gratitude. Thank you!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

Wow, that's some serious wear on the bottom pad ! It looks more like 5 X the wear vs. the upper pad, not just the typical 2x wear.

I think the pad wear is highly inconsistent from one car to the next - at 100 K miles when my variocam was replaced my bottom pad looked like the top pad in this photo, whereas the top pad had only a hairline trace of any tracks on it. My mechanic credited that to Amsoli, although to me it seems unlikely that would have been the only factor.

As for the belts, yes, you did dodge a bullet at 10 years, particularly since who knows how many years those belts also sat on a shelf before they were sold and installed in the car. And if they were Conti belts, rush out and buy a lotto ticket :-) :-), lol. Gates might last that long ( and that's a big " might " ) but IMO with anything else you're playing russian roulette after that many years, regardless of mileage .



p.s. don't ask me how I found out about Conti belts durability ( or rather, lack thereof ) :-( :-(

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

pad wear is also related to how long a car sits between runs. if it sits long enough, the chain gets dragged over it with no oil on it for a few seconds before pressure builds up and things get wet. that is particularly true of the bottom one, as gravity pulls the oil away, where a small fiim might still be present on the upper one. that will wear those things out in a hurry.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1416173657' post='163752']pad wear is also related to how long a car sits between runs. if it sits long enough, the chain gets dragged over it with no oil on it for a few seconds before pressure builds up and things get wet. that is particularly true of the bottom one, as gravity pulls the oil away, where a small fiim might still be present on the upper one. that will wear those things out in a hurry.[/quote]



That makes perfect sense. So probably a good idea for anyone with garage queens to at least run the engine frequently even if you're not driving the car, just to keep everything well oiled .. ?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

yup - good for the seals and rings too, though the rings require actually putting a load on the engine, and just running it in the garage is almost worse than not running it at all.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Sculler]

This all makes sense as my new car traveled less then 10,000 miles in last ten years.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[MLB]

Hi Sculler, thanks for posting these pictures. Holy crap I though my pads were bad. "A small chunk off the corner"! Yikes thats huge! Glad you got all the work completed with no damage to the engine.

I'm just finishing this job on my car too (90K on the ODO). We'll see if I can get everything in place to set the cam timing tonight.

--Michael

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

When I replaced my chain pads at around 83K, they looked practically brand new - both showed much less wear than even your top pad. Looking through the records of the car, it doesn't look like it started running synthetic oil till around 40K, so it had plenty of miles on dino oil, and the car had been tracked some by the previous owner. Not sure there's much rhyme or reason to the wear patterns of these pads.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[94SilverCab]

[quote name='ds968' timestamp='1416174009' post='163753']

That makes perfect sense. So probably a good idea for anyone with garage queens to at least run the engine frequently even if you're not driving the car, just to keep everything well oiled .. ?

[/quote]



I try to never let my car sit more than 3 weeks at the most between runs. During the Winter I have a 50 mile route that I run without shutting down so the car gets enough heat cycles.



Good tip for those of us in colder climes,



Jay

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

[quote name='Sculler' timestamp='1416177459' post='163762']

This all makes sense as my new car traveled less then 10,000 miles in last ten years.

[/quote]



It would be great if those 10K miles in ten years were in 3 miles every day, or at least 20 miles every single week increments, as opposed to say a 1 K mile trip a year and then it sits until the next vacation trip the following year.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

lol - you mean like my car?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

Precisely :-) . The " this car is reserved exclusively for Paso Robles forum meetings and not much else " m.o. is not good for it, and I should know because my six speed is slowly becoming one of those .. The good ole' little old lady just driving to church every Sunday is a far better low mileage accumulation method.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Sculler]

Yes the <acronym title='previous owner'>PO</acronym> did disclose to me that he tracked the car. That didn't concern me a great deal because of the very complete maintenance records and solid <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym>. Plus the car is totally OEM except for radio which was part of my requirement.



Are the any other issues that might not have come up on <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym> that may be the result of track use? Compression, brakes, clutch all good.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

Pardon the ignorance, but does a variocam failure ( if the pads crumble, the chain goes off track, etc ..) cause a similar catastrophic valve bending event such as a broken timing belt would, or is it an entirely different consequence that might be less concerning and less costly ?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Bulti]

If I'm right one camshaft syncs the other through the chain, so if the chain fails, bad things happen.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

if a pad breaks, a chunk could get stuck in the teeth of the cams, and break one, cause the chain to skip a tooth, or snap the chain.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[fleetwood]

I recently had the variocam pads and chain replaced & cams timed --- and now the car eats oil like crazy (approx 1qt / 350 miles).

No smoke out the back, no leaks ... just oil disappearing at a crazy rate.

This didnt start until after I had the variocam work done.



Anybody have any insights into why & where I should be looking to fix?



thanks much, all

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.