Engine Ticking Noise And Crack Rim Question

[hayaku]

hello folks.

last sunday, while i was prepping my 1999 996 c2 for a track event yesterday, i noticed on my driver's side rear rim, a crack almost all the way around on the ridge of the turbo-look rims. its a small crack, and its almost all the way all around the rim. air pressure was still where i set it. nevertheless, i swapped wheels with my wife's boxster s rims (17"s) for the track event, while her car sat on the the set of spares in the rear.

at the track event at fontana, everyone was noticing that while i accelerated hard or blipped the throttle, a white puff of smoke would come out of my pipes and there was a loud ticking from the engine. i checked oil level and was still full. no leaks anywhere. i ended my trackday early because the ticking got really loud.

i let it cool down while i packed and waited for the event to end. on the drive home, it felt as good as normal but the ticking is still there. the warranty is out and i got 22k miles on the car now. everything seems normal except for the ticking and the cracked rim.

otherwise, the car handled amazingly well at the track, even with 17" boxster wheels and tires.

can anyone shed any light on either of my mysteries?

thanks so much!

[hayaku]

Found out what the ticking noise was... the solenoid that controls the cam timing chain failed... so the tensioner was not holding the timing chain.... so the timing chain was slapping around in the head.

trying to find out if anything else is broken... all indications are looking good so far.

the rim is not useable nor repairable... its structural failure. the hairline crack goes all the way around and follows the lip-ridge on the 993/996 18" turbo-look solid rim. so its a replacement for me.

hope this helps..

[SPR]

on that cam solenoid, did you not notice a significant decrease in power?????