Suggested Maintenance Schedule - Porsche 968 - ASSEMBLY INSPECTION PROCEDURE AND MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE Maintenance Manual

camshaft. Even if there are few or no missing teeths, a cam has to be changed when
the central teeth part is too thin, hence prone to break. Compare teeth profile of fig. 3
(bad) with that of fig. 6 (new), and you have a good idea of how to judge your cam.
If you change one camshaft, do not mix used and new ones: via the new chain, the
wear pattern is rapidly transferred from the used cam to the new one, and in a few
thousand miles, you will have two badly used cams. You have only two options:
1) Substitute both camshaft with new ones. This is a costly option, but gives
you at least 60,000 miles, and following the maintenance many more ☺, of
trouble free Variocam functioning;
2) Search for two used camshafts in good condition, coming from same engine
(or matched by a true expert from different cars).

Suggested maintenance schedule

The following schedule applies in case of normal (road) use of the car. If your car is
in an "unknown" status , that is in case of missing/unreliable information about
previous Variocam inspection/maintenance, as soon as possible carry out the
inspection procedure detailed above.
Miles Km
Unknown or Unknown or
greater than greater than
60,000 100,000
It is highly recommended to do the Variocam inspection before buying a new car, as
part of the pre-purchase inspection: this avoids big $$ bills for hidden problems, can
be used to lower the car value, can avoid catastrophic failures when driving the car to
home garage.
The following schedule applies to a "known" car, after the initial inspection and work:
Miles Km
12,000 20,000
48,000 80,000
144,000 240,000
Contacts and Information
Action
Immediately inspect the Variocam, following
the procedure above. See also the section
above regarding "wear limits"
Years Action
2 Re-inspect the Variocam. Reuse valve cover gasket
if in good condition (no splits or cracks at borders)
and no oil leakage is detected.
8 Replace both nylon pads and the camshaft chain.
Replace valve cover gasket and grommets.
- Replace whole Variocam actuation assembly
unless correct functioning of all parts (oil feed
pipe, electrical solenoid, spring force, ...) can be
verified. Substitute valve cover gaskets and
grommets.