It`s more like a poll than a question to racing folk here - at auto-x or track - do/did you have this issue after the race lap?

If you did have this problem, how was it remedied, if it was? Have anyone here had engine damaged over this?

 

Well, I see no people had that. Long story short I am ordering X51 oil sump from suncoast, as well as ordered 5w-50 M1 oil. Will update if this problem will go away after those mods.

Not sure how will I trim X51 oil pan to fit my 997 C2 but hopefully it should be doable.

 

utkinpol, I have the complete X51 Powerkit on my car that I retrofitted when the car only had 3000 miles. The oil pan on the 997 Carrera S is exactly the same as the 997 version of the X51 Powerkit. You have a Carrera, not an S, and I don't know if your pan is the same as the one on the S cars, though. You might want to check if the pan on the 997 Carrera and Carrera S are the same because I am under the impression the X51 pan Suncoast sells is the 996 version. If your pan and mine are the same, then there would be no advantage to getting the X51 pan that is out there on the market. Just trying to help.

 

I cannot find proper description of all this. Only reference I found was that:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...d-baffles.html

it is not clear to me. from other posts it seems like any 997 engine 's' or base have same style plastic baffle. x51 996 based pan is supposedly different and may be trimmed to fit any 997 engine. i guess i will find for myself, not sure what else i can do to fix valve lifter getting air anyway.

 

What about the Motorsport air separator I've heard on this forum somewhere? May be a solution in case the oil pan is not the answer. If you find something conclusive let me know because, if the X51 oil pan sold by Suncoast is better than the one we have, it would seem like a good upgrade for me also. Keep us posted, please.

 

i believe air separator is a different animal - it is intended for keeping oil from getting into intake air stream - essentially it prevents those white puffs of smoke and cylinder damage if too much oil gets inside.

metal knocking of valve lifters is a result of oil forming foam from constant splashing in the oil sump during turns so hypothetically this x51 oil pan with higher baffles should prevent this from happening. at list folks at rennlist suggest it is a must thing to do. will see.

 

utkinpol, i've had the same issues with my car even after i had the x51 pan installed. tha x51 pan is probably still a good idea if you're tracking the car. where in ma do you live? i'm in the back bay.

 

I`m in Natick. If you`ll be racing at Devens next season I run under #222 (hopefully it will stay mine next spring).

Hmm, it`s discouraging... So, were you able to figure out why your valves lifters are still knocking? Does it happen every time you run? What oil do you have?

Rennlist folks suggest racing with 15w-50, I am sort of cautious to put anything heavier than M1 5w-50.

 

Of course Mobil 15W50 is better than their 0W40 water or their 5W50. And it will foam less. Mobil 15W50 has an HTHS Viscosity 38% greater than the Mobil Water which you run and more than 16% greater than the Mobil 5W50.

Educate yourself on what a higher absolute viscosity means for your engine and you'll understand why 15W50 is better.

 

Your point of view is understood and taken to consideration, no need to get so agitated over all this.

Anyone may think about himself be smarter than engine manufacturer is and to know more about the subject. It may even be so. It does not change that simple fact that there is list of approved oils to be used on this particular engine and I see no reason to go outside of these boundaries while engine is still on warranty.

I`ll use 5w-50 for beginning, if issue will remain will try to change to 15w-50 at summer time.
Right now during cold winter months I do not think it is wise to put 15w-50 oil into this car.

 

It seems to happen when its very hot out and the oil gets hot. I've been using 15-50. The problem goes away after the car sits for afew minutes. I also have the oil pan extension and deep sump kit. I was thinking about going with a larger oil cooler. Not sure if this will help.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread back from the dead but this is the exact question I was going to ask. I suspect I have a lifter that is ticking after I come off the auto-x course. I'm researching to educate myself on their operation and pose the question of why it is so noisy only after an auto-x run. Oil starvation due to constant cornering? Lifter going bad? Engine sounds fine on start up and regular street driving.

I included an edited video of before and after my run on the course. The first 10 seconds you can hear a normal engine operation and then cut to the last portion of the video you can hear a distinct ticking noise that increases and decreases with engine RPM as I pull into my parking spot.

 

Although I do not track, when I had my 996, I did the normal (or abnormal) oil research and remember reading somewhere that Vario Cam Plus does not like viscosities too much more than 5w on the lower end. I used M1 5w-50 in my 996 for about 6 years and I am a big fan and will use it in my new to me 997.2. Not sure if the same Variocam issue pertains to 997 or 997.2 if using anything heavier than 5w on the low end. Just a thought.

 

I might consider using a 50W oil and see if that remedies my condition. I've been using M1 0W-40. Our auto-x runs are usually set up as flying laps and typically 3-4 laps per heat which equates to about 2-3 minutes of extreme cornering, acceleration, and braking all in one session. I've never noticed a drop in oil pressure at any time... 4-5 bars during throttle and hovering just over 1 bar at hot idle. Perhaps I need to cut my runs down to no more than a couple laps...if oil foaming or oil starvation is actually causing a lifter to collapse from lack of oil pressure. I'm just speculating at this point.


Our next auto-x is Nov 7th and will be on a track with one run at a time(maybe 45 seconds to a minute per) so I will be able to see if a shorter time on track makes any difference in lifter noise.

 

Update: I changed my oil to 5W-50 and had no engine lifter noise during our last autocross.