JFP in PA

The bearings are typically running a couple thousandth's on an engine with low miles on it. We have used the Wix/NAPA Gold and XP (full synthetic media) filters (1042 and 1042XP) for some time with very good results. And as weird as this sounds, they are actually cheaper than the OEM style cartridge. LN is making an adaptor now for the 9A1 style engines as well.

We offer a full UOA form a local lab to all our customers with their normal service; many of them take advantage of this service, which has given us a rather substantial data base of oil related information. Because we also see other makes was well, many of whom are also running filter and/or drain plug magnets, I can tell you that we see the same very fine ferrous particles in all of the engines, regardless of make or oil brand. With the exception of specific engines that had demonstrated significant internal issues, the Fe levels in the UOA's of engines with fine ferrous particles trapped by the magnets never strayed particularly far from average values. This could be happening for one of two reasons: (1) The magnets are doing their jobs and removing most, if not all, of the finer particles that could slip through the filters; (2) UOA analytical technique's may only report higher than normal Fe concentrations if there happens to be a particle in the specimen analyzed. As I noted earlier, the first oil change with a filter magnet in place typically is much worse in terms of the amount of fine ferrous materials than subsequent changes. I believe this may indicate that there is always some fine materials circulating in the oil, but that it remains unobserved unless you concentrate it which the filter magnet does an excellent job of as it sees every drop of oil in the engine at some point in time. We have on occasion actually sent fairly large samples (5 or more quarts) of used oil from engines without any aftermarket magnets to the lab we use and had them filter it warm through a 1 micron lab filter. After a solvent wash and air drying, this small amount fine dust was easily picked up with a magnet. As for seeing metal in the filter, you need to remember that the OEM cartridge style filter has a nominal pore diameter in excess of 30 microns; anything smaller than that will pass through it, so you would not visually observe anything by inspecting the filter media. The spin on filters we use are "full filtration" (read 100% filtration with no by-pass) and have a finer pore diameter of around 20 microns, and we also do not see any trapped ferrous materials on them on engines running normally, but if using a filter magnet, there is always some very fine ferrous materials on the housing walls, which was trapped by the magnet. We have also had this fine material taken from multiple cars analyzed by our lab, and the results came back that it was basically metallic iron with other trace level materials. I seriously doubt that fine metallic iron is a normal component in any motor oils.

Pull fuse B1 and see what stops working.

A lot of people are "jumping on the bandwagon" with all sorts of bearing designs and materials. Problem is, they have no history, and some have been shown to have problems all their own. As a shop owner, I have to go with proven units with the highest installed base and proven performance.

That is not really completely true. Every engine we ever converted to a spin on and then added a FilterMag to had quite a bit of very fine ferrous material pulled out by the big magnet in the first oil change, after which the level of ferrous debris dropped off considerably to a constant level "normal wear" in later changes. As several of these engines had just had their sump covers pulled as part of a pre IMS swap regimen, and we did not observe any noticeable amount of this grit in the sump, the consensus was that with the addition of the magnet, we were trapping fine grit that was getting through the filter and circulating in the engine. We also noted that we saw a similar "surge" in ferrous materials collected on engines that did not have an IMS update, again followed by a drop off to a much lower level on subsequent oil changes. While very fine ferrous materials are not as dangerous to an engine as larger "grit" particles are, even the fine materials are abrasive in nature, and not good in the long term. As for the OEM oil plugs, Porsche apparently made them softer than the sump cover to reduce potential damage to the harder to replace covers. Unfortunately in the process, this made the OEM drain plug soft enough to require periodic replacement due to deformation of the Allan key way with repeated removals. Most shops I am aware of keep a supply of OEM plugs on hand as the often need replacement from just normal wear, much less someone reinstalling the drain plug with an impact wrench. LN tried to make a more durable plug by first increasing the Allan key size (greater surface area to distribute the load), and then hardening the plug to reduce the distortion potential further. But because the plug was now hard enough to damage the sump cover if over tightened, they lowered the torque spec. We have many, many customers running these plugs; and have never has any problems with leaks, damaged sump covers, or split plugs, as long as Godzilla had not been on the other end of the wrench.

OK. P1371 is a generic code for a failure in the valve lift control system, and P1361 is for valve lift control failure on cylinder #2. I've only seen this error once, and it was when the bracket holding the valve lift control solenoid on the bank failed: While a bit of a pain in the butt to get to, there is no way this should cost $6-20K to repair. The bracket is only a few bucks, but they may have to lower the engine to get at it. Even if the entire solenoid has to be replaced, it still is not that expensive an item.

The year and model of the car would be useful.

The plug is a type of insurance policy to alert you that something is wrong during oil changes. If you wanted to trap all ferrous debris, even that small enough to pass through the oil filter, you would need to go to a spin on adaptor and a FilterMag which mounts to the filter and turns the entire metal surface of the filter into a powerful magnet: When you use one of these, every drop of oil passes over a rare earth magnet on its way through the filter and any ferrous debris is trapped.

You will be fine on the ramps, as long as the trans is out of gear and the wheels are chocked so the car cannot move. These are simple safety precautions, not a reason to be afraid.

And a lot more meaningful.................... Welcome to RennTech :welcome:

I've lowered more than a few engines to gain access, but I always did it on a lift with the engine supported by a separate screw jack stand and bolt on bracket for the purpose. Problem you face with trying to do this on ramps is that the trans is going to try and rotate around the center line of the axles while the engine is going down, so the trans has to be in neutral and the rear wheels chocked on the ramps to prevent any chance of the car trying to move as the engine lowers.

The reason LN hardened the magnetic drain plug was to reduce the problems seen with the OEM plugs which round off the Allan key way because they are way too soft. If you do not over torque the LN plug, you will never have any problems.

You may have a bad sensor.

Considering that until recently (when they went to the PDK), the 996 and 997 Turbo cars were available with a Tiptronic, I don't think you have anything to worry about. As for the exhaust system, a lot of people have spent a literal mountain of money of exhaust systems for these cars that make all sorts of improvement claims. In the real world, most made more noise, often with insufferable droning at normal highway speeds, but little if any additional power. Do some searching before spending any cash.

Four functions of the coolant warning light: 1. Engine coolant level too low — light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz) 2. Engine compartment temperature too high — light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz) (engine compartment blower might be faulty) 3. Engine coolant temperature too high — light is lit; pointer on the right 4. Temperature sensor at water outlet faulty — light flashes rapidly (1 Hz); pointer on the right Note The temperature warning in point three is indicated if the conditions "engine coolant temperature too high" and "engine coolant level too low" are present simultaneously (1Hz = 1 flash per second. 0.5Hz = 2 seconds per flash)

I would take it up to at least 90 PSIG, and then see if you get the same results......................

I just went and checked the minimum air input for our leak down tester: "The minimum acceptable inlet air pressure for accurate results is 80 PSIG."

If the air inlet pressure to the tool is really at 10 psig (or less), I would not trust the results, regardless of how good they are. Higher cylinder pressures will show the real leakage rates, not lower. What is the compressor line air pressure going to the tool.

If I am reading that gauge set correctly, you are seeing very low leak loss, but at about 10 PSIG. You should be reading the leak percentage are much higher pressures (90-100 PSIG air).

Leak down is always preferable. As I have no experience with the unit you posted, I cannot speak to its accuracy. You also need to make sure your air compressor has sufficient output in both PSIG and CFM to correctly operate any leak down unit you might choose.

The stock pads are actually pretty good overall, but if you want to get more bite, there are several aftermarket brands that could help you there, but with increased rotor wear and the potential for noise. If you are going to switch pad compounds, you would be better to do it on all four corners rather than one end only. Flushing the brake system is critical on these vehicles. Over time, all brake fluids absorb moisture which can then corrodes some pretty expensive to replace components in the ABS and stability management systems, resulting in thousands of dollars of repairs. Brake fluid is cheap, components are not. I have to agree with Loren on the price quoted; seems very high. Do you have any recommendations for pads and rotors? A lot of people use the OEM parts, which are quite good, there are a lot of aftermarket options, particularly for the pads (Pagid, Hawk, EBC, etc.), which are also very good depending upon what you are trying to accomplish (less dust, better bite, noise, etc.). I'd suggest doing a search on owner's opinions, as a lot of the perception of which combination is best for a given owner and vehicle tends to be somewhat a personal choice.

The stock pads are actually pretty good overall, but if you want to get more bite, there are several aftermarket brands that could help you there, but with increased rotor wear and the potential for noise. If you are going to switch pad compounds, you would be better to do it on all four corners rather than one end only. Flushing the brake system is critical on these vehicles. Over time, all brake fluids absorb moisture which can then corrodes some pretty expensive to replace components in the ABS and stability management systems, resulting in thousands of dollars of repairs. Brake fluid is cheap, components are not. I have to agree with Loren on the price quoted; seems very high.

We have a lot of customer's running one, they seal just fine at 19 ft. lb.

This is a fairly common mistake. LN used a larger Allan hex and hardened their magnetic plug to make it more durable with frequent oil changes. While they lowered the recommended torque specs, a lot of people either did not read that, or chose to ignore it, which can lead to the plug failing like yours, or even damage to the sump cover. The same type of thing also happens with their spin on oil filter adaptor; people try to torque the spin on like they did with the OEM canister, and then wonder why the filter adaptor unscrews from the car when they go to change the filter. Once installed, the adaptor should not come loose if you lubricate the spin on filter's sealing gasket with a little oil when putting it on, and then only tighten it 1/4 to 1/2 turn past hand tight.

It can be an oil cooler, but often is not. Do not run or drive the vehicle, get it on a flatbed into the shop ASAP. Some diagnostic test (leak down, etc.) are needed that most DIY are not prepared to handle.