924Board.org

[Geddy T]

Alright, so I'll admit I'm a little stessing here, but let's get on with the story. Check this out: I live in Washington and decided to take my lovely little '82 931 for a little spin... to Tucson. When I got to about half way through Oregon I noticed something disturbing: on a hill that was not very steep, I had to downshift into fourth to keep the car going up to speed. I'd never had to downshift the thing in the 30K miles I'd driven it. Not once. Not even to pass. It was obvious something was wrong, but I made it to Arizona, anyway. So, being a complete idiot, and realizing that I brought along a good protion of my tools, I decided to disassemble a good portion of car in the street in front of my friend's house. I bought a top-end gasket kit and was going to replace the head gasket thinking that I had just sprung a compression leak in one cylinder, causing the power loss. Fortunately, I ran out of time and tools (mostly because tucson sucks for parts and tools within walking distance) and decided just to put everything back together before it got too out of hand. The one problem I did notice, though, when pulling things off was that my intake plenum and throttle body and cis air pressure plate were covered in a film of dirty oil on the inside--most likely from a leaky turbo. So I cleaned all of these parts out as best as I could before I put them back on--including the fuel distributor. In the process of doing this, I must have scored the bore for the plunger because from then on, it would stick at the top. With the distributor constantly dumping large volumes of fuel into the combustion chambers, I lost all hope and ran out of time and caught a last minute flight home.
I know this is running on, but please bear with me (I'm hoping one of these details might prove useful to one of you).
I had the car towed to the local Porsche dealer to see if they could get it running and got very disturbing news: Not only is this particular fuel distributor like the holy grail of car parts, but apparently my camshaft is hideously worn, taking my followers along for the ride and more than likely accounting for the sad loss in power. It kind of made me think, "Now that you mention it, the car always has run a little on the rough side (though not as bad as this guy makes it sound--not even noticeable as damage to a non-mechanic without the benefit of hindsight)."
Anyway, this is where I need some expert advice. I cannot afford to have the dealer do that kind of work on my top end, obviously, but I love this car and do not want to give it up (I would give you the VIN, Zuffen, if it weren't four states away). I've rebuilt an engine before and wouldn't mind doing it again on this car, for what it'll cost me. The problem is that my car is not here. So I ask the mechanic down there this:
"Well, the cam and followers may be worn--even severely--but that's not something that happens overnight. Even assuming that the cam catastrophically exploded in Oregon when I started noticing the power drop, I still made it here from Oregon. So, technically, the only thing actually preventing the car from running at all is the bad fuel distributor. So if I replace that, the car can't be in any worse shape than when I drove it a thousand miles here, so what's stopping me from driving it a thousand and a half back home?"
The mechanic to NOT like this proposal. He made it sound like if I moved the car another inch, it would suddenly explode into a mushroom cloud (and he may be right).
So what should I do? I can't afford to light a thousand dollars on fire having the car transported up here, but I can afford to have my fuel distributer rebuilt and put back on. Should I do that and try to limp the car home on a seriously messed up cam? I'm no mechanic, but I can't imagine that that very last mile that I drove the car before starting to work on it was the one that would turn it into a ticking time bomb. The mechanic's rather rudely stated opinion was that I would certainly be stranded in the desert. More specifically: with the strong bottom end on the engine, and a top end that I'm going to rebuild after the trip anyway with new parts and bearings, what further engine damage would I really be risking?
Please help me out here guys, as I'm sure you're with me in not wanting to add yet another one of these cool cars to the scrap heap.

[924RACR]

Seems like the damage risk would be minimal as you have stated - main concern would be stranding in the desert! That'd make me think twice.

Can't you go out and swap in a cam and followers?

_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[AznDrgn]

How big a hurry are you in? If not too big get another head and rebuild it then take it down there drop it on and drive back. Just a suggestion.

[924 turbo]

Try and find a used fuel distributor, camshaft, and followers, clean out the oiler tube (usually what's responsible for the camshaft getting eaten), replace the plastic elbow with a new one, throw it all together and drive it home!

[eturbo924]

I agree with John. Find good used parts plunk them in and drive her home. Might be a good precaution to have a friend with a truck follow you. Of course if you have a friend with a good tow vehicle.... truck or SUV... rent a u-haul trailer and pull her back. Wont cost you much.... but the gas for the friends vehicle might.

The cam... seems strange that it would suddenly make the car loose power. When you began the story it sounded to me like you had a slipping alternator belt. Same thing happend to my 1982 924. On a trip to Conn from Mass. Had to work the engine harder nd harder to get up the hills. Turned out to be a belt that was not properly charging the system and giving weak spark.

Also just to add. I had a badly worn cam lobe on my 924 (not at the same time as the above story) and was not completely aware of it until I had the valve cover off. Car did idle a little rough but was not terrible. So I would inspect all the other systems before you assume you have it.... that is if you are driving it back.

Suggest you find that friend drive out with him. Get him a good meal, pay for all the gas, and buy him a 12 pack when you get home towing the 931.

Peace

Eri

[teo]

and you may have some help from someone nearby:

Jarrod Barger
neothespian@yahoo.com Mesa, Arizona

from the registry, year 1979.

[Joes924]

I have 3 cams,and in Oregon you can have one if you want.

[numbers]

Take Joe up on the offer of the cam. Somebody on this site has some used followers. I don't recommend used followers for a new cam as they need to ware in together, but since Joe is offering you a free cam, what have you got to lose. The combination of the used cam and used followers will certainly last long enough for you to get home. Replace the plastic elboe. That is almost certainly the reason that your cam went. It probably cracked during the trip, so you had no oil going to the cam. It only takes a few miles before the wear on the cam would cause the loss of power you describe. Make sure you take your Haynes Manual and the allen wrench you will need to adjust the valves. The reason the plenum is sticking in your air regulator is probably just adjustment. Follow the centering adjustment in the Haynes Manual and you should be back on the road. Also consider just borrowing or renting a a flat bed trailer and hauling it back.

[wdb]

borrow or rent($50 each) a tow dolly and pickup truck and go get your car.drag it home and fix at your liesure.

[Roger Hall]

tow it home and fix it properly

[wdb]

UHAUL has every thing you need.

[wdb]

UHAUL has every thing you need.

[Geddy T]

It wasn't the air pressure plate that is out of alignment, it is the plunger in the fuel distributor. Thanks a lot for the cam offer, I'm going to take you up on that. I'll send an email. Also, thanks a lot Bob for the email you sent as I think I'll also take you up on the fuel distributor loan. I think that I'm going to go down there and try to replace the cam and followers and drive it back here. My only concern with that would be that wouldn't I have to remove the head to do that and isn't that kind of a pain to do for a guy that is a few states away from home without a proper shop?

[D Hook]

This isn't a recommendation but I'll tell you what I did to get my TR-6 home from Indiana to Nebraska. I loaded it into the back of a 20' Uhaul truck, chocked the wheels by screwing 2x4's to the floor of the truck bed, set the e-brake and took off. Like I said, I wouldn't recommend it but it is possible. Just probably not legal, is it? But if you can find a friend to tow it back on a flatbed or a uhaul dolly, I'd go with that. Good Luck! Don't give up on it.

[924 turbo]

You don't need to remove the head to replace the cam.