Common 996 Failure Points - What Are They?

I've just had a water pump failure, which I believe is common on the 996. A couple of years ago the coil packs failed, which I suspect is just normal aging. So apart from the IMS bearing issues, which everyone knows about, what are the common failure points and when should we be expecting them?

Not so many on the GT3. Coolant pipes would be the worst. Non-GT3. Where do we start... MC

No set items as such other than normal items on a 15 year old car or older . Things wear out .. a water pump has a bearing thats continuously under tension from the belt .. 15 years aint bad .. exhaust silencers .. 15 years aint bad .. you wont get that out of the cheaper dansk for example . Coffin arm bushes .. " common " diagonal arms knock after 60 k ish miles .. a new set will last about the same . In short the items that fail have worn out over a long period of time the same as any other model of car . Coolant pipes .. they need to be wax oiled or something to try and help protect them .. a/c pipes the same .. joint o/s/r is prone to leaking .. better protection would help make them last longer . If its a coastal car then these suffer the worst .. ally and salt air really don't get on well with each other .

Interesting stuff. Both you and MisterCorn mention Coolant Pipes. Can either of you elaborate? Sorry, but I don't understand what "joint o/s/r" is. Is that one of the joints in the A/C system? In any case, how do I protect them?

Herr Mezger to the rescue I suspect.

My comment was specifically WRT the bonded in coolant pipes on the GT3 and Turbo which can let go. Best to get them welded but to do the lot is an engine out job. As for Hans Mezger, he retired before they started work on the GT3 and turbo engines, but the 996.1 engines still carry a 964 part number on the block. They are ljv6ely to work on but way over complicated due to being an air cooled.engine converted to water cooled. I could happily share photos of GT3 engine parts alm day long. MC

I would add indicator stalks, headlight switches and ac condensers to the above list.

As per MC,s comment .. yes that can be an issue .. not what i would call a common one but it can happen ..alley coolant pipes are bonded into the housings .. this can fail causing water leaks . Not a cheap fix if you do all of them .. engine drop regardless . It entails engine removal , cleaning of the bonding material and ally welding of each individual pipe . Circa £2500 Any ally pipes could do with protection to help them last longer .. the a.c pipes have a joint for the front to rear pipes and this is at the o/s/r wheel area underside . There is nothing you can do for the engine coolant pipes though as that's a separate issue with them unbonding .

Anything you recommend using to protect the pipes and give them the best chance of lasting longer?

So calling them Mezger engines is a misnomer?

It's a bit of a misnomer I suppose in that the engines in those cars were 'adapted' versions of the engine he developed for the 959 and GT1.

If you remove the undertrays o/s/r .. that means in front of the rear wheel on the drivers side .. you will see 2 pipes joined to the 2 rear a/c pipes .. this is an area that corrodes .. the bolts seize .. the pipes corrode and the system leaks . For any pipe i use a spray waxoil .. the best possible solution would be to remove a pipe .. coat it in bitumen and then refit .. obviously that's not really feasible but the pipe would last pretty much forever in that case ! Any kind of spray on or protection or coating that will keep moisture away from these pipes will help the longevity of them . Coolant pipes and a/c pipes then they need protecting as much as possible .. salt air and ally don't mix .

Thanks will find something suitable and give them a treatment.

Thanks, that's close enough for me to call them Mezger engines.

I use ACF50 as my 'go to' corrosion inhibitor/protector spray coating. Developed for military jets originally. Mark