Quiz, 23 March 1996
Copyright 1997, by Harry Pellow, All Rights Reserved.

One day last month, a 356C wheezed into the Shop for an Engine AND a Transmission Overhaul.

.....This Owner had put some 390,000 miles on his car, driving every day across the Bay, to The City & County of San Francisco. And back, necessarily.

.....The engine had been rebuilt three times before, the last time about 90,000 miles ago. This would be the Fourth Time. One past The Charm.

..... The Transmission however, was Factory Virgin, never having been overhauled since leaving Stuttgart 390,000 miles ago.

..... The Owner said that his shop had found a "Bolt Head" on the transmission drain plug magnet, and thought that now would be a good time to get both done. He was right.

..... When the transmission was removed and disassembled:

..... 1. How many Bolt Head(s) had broken off?

..... 2. How many Bolt Head(s) had loosened up and backed out?

..... 3. What do the Bolts do?

..... 4. What Happened? And: 5. Did it destroy the Transmission? KEEP THE 356 FAITH! The Maestro The Maestro's 356 Quiz of the Week: The Answers: The Owner of a 356C with 390,000 on the Original Factory Virgin Transmission had found a "Bolt Head" on the transmission drain plug magnet, and thought that it would be Prudent & Timely to have an Overhaul done. He was right.

.....When the transmission was removed and disassembled:

.....1. How many Bolt Head(s) had broken off?

.....2. How many Bolt Head(s) had loosened up and backed out?

.....3. What do the Bolts do?

.....4. What Happened?

.....5. Did it destroy the Transmission? Answers:

..... 1. At first it was thought that TWO Ring Gear Bolt Heads had broken off, for both had been found in the bottom of the transmission, miraculously missing Things Very Expensive. But when the other Ring Gear Bolt Retainers were removed, two MORE broken Ring Gear Bolts were noticed, still held by their retainers. That makes a total of FOUR Broken Ring Gear Bolts!

..... 2. And the other EIGHT Ring Gear Bolts (that's all of them!) were Finger Tight. (Or, if you prefer, finger LOOSE!)

..... 3. The Ring Gear Bolts, of course, hold the Ring Gear onto the Differential Carrier.

..... 4. Normally, with all the Ring Gear Bolts loose, the Ring and Pinion would quickly destroy themselves, or the differential carrier would fail, or both, taking with it the Ring & Pinion and maybe the case. And by rights, the above SHOULD have happened! But because the guy had kept his car for 30+ years, driving it 5 days a week to and from The City, he had Kept The Faith! By Definition.

.....And the Faith had rewarded him- for though there were the beginnings of "fretting" between the Ring Gear and the Carrier, things hadn't progressed past irreversible, and proper set-up of the Ring & Pinion was still possible. (Albeit it with much more work, of course.)

..... 5. Did it destroy the Transmission? Nope. Why? 'Cause the guy had Faith! The Porsche gods saw that, and rewarded him. He stopped driving the car EXACTLY at the right time.

.....Now you see what "Keeping the 356 Faith" really means! KEEP THE 356 FAITH! The Maestro
 

 

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