I'm curious if any one has had this happen and what the potential issue may be, and of course the remedy.

I've just changed my oil and found a plastic piece in there. Mechanic says its a part of the tensioner or chain(?) and that the engine should be taken apart.
Has anyone had this before - and if so what was the remedy and costs to fix?

Also my engine has been very oil hungry, consuming a quart every 500 miles (800km).
So something is not 100% right.

Curious to get some expert input.
If it's an engine rebuild, what options would be recommended? STay with 3.6 or go 3.8 and which vendors are recommended?

 

OOoooowww that doesn't sound good (the oil consumption). I assume something has happened if it's a change in consumption. My car is a bit of an oil pig but I don't think it's more than a quart per 1000miles which Porsche says is "okay". As far as builds go...I don't know anyplace in Canada that has a track record building these engines. John Bray at Evospec (I think) is usually recommended. If my baby needs an engine build I'll take it to AIM because they are not too far (8-10hours away) and have a great track record. And hey, Prodigy vouches for them so they must be ok. Good luck.

 

Yeah - considering my options. It's running actually quite fine, no strange noises, or vibrations. Seems smooth (well for a metzger).
But have a feeling I'm gambling right now, and wouldn't want to destroy a perfectly good core.

Funny you mentioned John Bray as I'm just chatting with Sam (By Design) and he works with him. Given the amazing service and my custom tune from Sam, if I go the "build" route I'll be going with him.

 

Dzenno did a monster build using John Bray, and many others on the forum have used/recommended him for engine builds...
Yeah I know what you mean about not wanting to destroy a perfectly good core. Who gave you the opinion that the engine needed to be opened...was it dealer or indy?

 

Indy.
Given the oil consumption and the plastic in the engine, and good experience with them before I have no reason to think there's anything nefarious going on. Maybe though that he's being very conservative and not wanting to risk anything going awry under his watch - if you know what I mean. Given the large $$$ in the decision, I'm trying to get as much info before making a decision either way.

 

I doubt the plastic is related to the high oil consumption, although the two are issues.
Any smoking or soot buildup? I wonder if your VTGs are starting to pass some oil and that's where the consumption is driven from.
You could probably take a head cover off and look down inside at the timing chains to gauge how serious the issue with the tensioner is.
Was the plastic the typical 'tensioner orange/yellow' color?
My vote is to determine the health with some compression/leakdown testing and possibly borescope each cyl to see if there are any markings.
This testing is relatively non-invasive and would give you an idea if there's something more serious.

All that said, you've got enough invested that sending the engine out for some 3.8 bores and a slight refresh may be best.
We should all plan a convoy down south to John or SRM,
I've been debating some 3.8 bores, rods and headstuds. But it's difficult to find a builder I trust. I've even debated doing it myself, but the engine timing is the difficult part!

Bogg, are you still considering an engine build?
Where is AIM based?
John is the best... Wonder if he'd travel to Canada?

 

Hey Mitch, we've checked the turbos and they are not leaking - that was the first thing we looked into. But they do have a lot of KMs on them though.
So it's very high probability its inside the engine.
Agreed that the two are not related, but my concern is that the engine may be getting a little aged - lets just say, it hasn't been a garage queen with over 130,000km on it with some serious rally's in between (one of them being the Gold Rush).

I like what you are thinking.
Maybe a group deal with Sam (By Design) and John.

Actually I am chatting with Sam last night and this morning, and he has some really, really good ideas on what he and John could do with a build, that has me thinking.
At the same time, 30 to 40k US, to get it done right, could mean an upgrade to a (much slower) 991.2 GT3 manual, which is tempting.

I'll post a pic of the plastic piece as soon as my mechanic sends it over. Had to grab the car late in the evening last night, so didn't get to see it yet.

 

I agree the plastic and oil consumption are "probably" not related. Compression and Leak Down tests are a great idea.

If it is the yellowish color for the tensioner blades, I would not wait on that. While you do not have to rebuild the engine, you do need to drop it and remove most of the front end of the engine to get to the cases that contain the guides and the blade. While I think only the cam covers have to come off, the bolts that hold the guides cannot be gotten to unless the from water manifold is off the car.

The reason I wouldn't wait is if you have any component of the tensioner set up going bad (blade, guide or tensioner) your chain could slip and you could grenade your engine.

As far as the oil consumption is concerned, that would depend on where you find it coming from. If pistons/rings - full rebuild, if valves, head job, though you could argue going for a complete rebuild if you are going to tighten up either the top or the bottom of then engine.

Ed

 

I would just get a second opinion from the dealer. It's not a trust issue...an engine build is a big deal - money and time. And more money, lol.

I recently had the p1100 cel again but once again it cleared so my interest in an engine build has gone back down again, lol. Car is plenty fast. Took the wife for a drive last night and we took on
some litre bikes, lol. Just briefly...until the boost cut protection came on from the boost controller...whoops I had it on the wrong preset. But it was superfast for those few seconds in 4th gear!

AIM are in Philadelphia. Loads of really fast cars showcased on this forum.

 

Did you get any pictures of the plastic?

 

 

How big is that? were there other smaller bits too?

 

You have a chain tensioner coming apart. It could be caused by a damaged chain from a $ shift or over rev. Leak down test your cylinders. If they are OK then you can just pull off the heads and replace the tensioners if the chain isn't damaged. I'd turn the motor on its nose and try to flush any plastic out with diesel fuel.

 

That is definitely part of the chain tensioning system. As Brn says, do the leak down/compression tests and do the R&R work. maybe you can match up the broken piece to what you pull out to decide whether you have to flush out more plastic, but that is good advice.

Man those chains are very beefy, I would hate to know what would cause one of them to fail.

I am not sure I would run that engine until this is dealt with.

Ed

 

Put it in 3rd gear. Rev it all the way out and then slam it into 2nd! 100% do not drive the car.