Serious Engine Problem

I've had my 996 from as new in 2001 (it was a demonstrator) and have done 66,000 miles. It's been meticulously maintained by Porsche main dealers in Hatfield. I've never missed a service and, in fact, have had extra services carried out to keep it in tip top condition. It was last in to be serviced in October. It's in almost perfect condition, no scratches, wheels refurbished etc. I've paid for the extended warranty every year till it ran out about 2/3 weeks ago. You can't renew it for cars over 9 years old. Driving to work last week, crawling in London traffic, the engine stalled and starting making a horrible noise. It sounded like something inside the engine had broken. I switched off the engine and the car was taken on a flat bed by the RAC to Porsche in Hatfield. I've had a call this afternoon to say that they are still not 100% certain what the problem is and that they won't know till they take the gearbox off. If it's what they suspect, the car will need either a new engine (£14K) or a rebuild (£10kish). Two questions for your advice/knowledge: 1. Have you heard of this type of issue happening before? If so, what has been the outcome? 2. What do you think of my chances of successfully appealing to Porsche UK's sense of fairplay and allowing an insurance claim to go through? Thanks in advance for any help. Regards Andrew

Andrew, I've very sorry to hear of your woes. If the car was bought/serviced and warrantied by Porsche then you may have a chance at a goodwill claim. It's age will count against it however. Did the car dump lots of oil at the time? If so then it sounds like the Intermediate Shaft Bearing has given way and it's terminal. I would give Barry at Hartech a call, they rebuild these engines to better than new (making sure that the problem won't happen again). They offer a very good servicing plan and warranty too. Hartech and Autofarm are the two main reputable companies that deal with these issues at much lower expense than at your OPC. Good luck.

I strongly second the Hartech recommendation as a 2nd option (could/should half that bill) but definitely try the warranty option first through the OPC you've always used.

i had a 996 cab bought from new was three weeks out of 2year warranty had part engine failure-porsche repaired as a gesture of goodwill-but it was my third porsche bought from them chris

Thank you. I suppose one of my options is to use it as a trade in with Porsche Hatfield against another car. But that does put me in a weak bargaining position.

But a strong one with the missus for getting a new Porsche [ ] 'I had to because the old one would have cost too much to repair'[ ]

GT1 engine, GT1 engine, GT1 engine. You know what that means ............................ [ ] Your only decision now is whether you need back seats and 4wd or not. [ ]

Sorry to hear your bad news, I will say what everyone want to tell you, The word on the tip of everyone's tongues is "IMS" as Rodney suggested. Having your car only serviced at Porsche naturally you would never have heard of such an issue as therefore Porsche would be admitting failure. Do you self a favour and get it rebuilt by one of the independents. Once again sorry to hear your bad news. How often was the oil changed out of curiosity?.

Sorry just had to quote from your original post. "Made me smile" After 10+ years of IMS failure and there still not sure!. Man these tech's at Porsche are slow on the uptake.

Yes, it is an intermediate shaft failure. I had the oil changed at least twice a year and kept it meticulously topped up. The car has been used almost every day, I've never trashed it and it's never been on a track. For a major fault to occur in an engine that has been so well looked after and only done 66,000 doesn't seem right to me. Anyone got a good recommendation for a specialist to carry out the repair? I've spoken to JZ Machtech who seem very knowledgeable and who tell me they get 20 -30 calls about this from owners with intermediate shaft failures in 996s per annum.

I would have said Autofarm or hartech. Hartech 'may' be able to do a base rebuild half of what the OPC told you, but if you want upgrades and other work in there then it would be more like 7k+ perhaps - just depends on how bad the failure was and where swarf / debri has got stuck as well as how much damage to internals colliding, but those two places would be my first thoughts. Either way good luck, i hope it all gets sorted out without too much pain.

+1 for Hartech. They are usually considerably cheaper than others, and have some innovative solutions to effect a permanent repair. Give them a call.

Sorry to hear about your engine problems. I cannot believe that Porsche will not help you out here! You said that you have always had Porsche warranty, since 2001 and it only ran out 2/3 weeks ago? Surely they are going to make you a good will offer here!!!!!!! A new Porsche engine with 2 years warranty is the least they ca do [ ].

Any decent motor manufacturer would do that - but don't hold your breath and expect help from Porsche! Their customer service track record is appalling.

Porsche are considering whether to help out. The service department chap is as sympathetic as he can be, so just have to keep my fingers crossed and wait.

I'm sure they'll do the right thing, you are a good customer. Fingers crossed for you.

Tell them you posted on here and we diagnosed it A: Before they did. B:without seeing the Car. Login then they can read up, they may learn something. They could use Google even. How are they so unsure of such a common failure? What cars do they work on? Fords?. My RMS "slightly off topic" Had to be done three times by Main dealer before they got it right one time it lasted 10 Days. The car was 6 month old. Funny how I have three Cars none of which get taken to main dealer. I wish you luck. Regards. Sorry just for some info: This was on one of the US Forum's "Just sold (gave away) my '99 carrera in Germany for 18,000 euro.. 115,000km, PZ serviced, immaculate mechanically and visually.. When I bought this car here four years ago for 35,000 euro I had heard about some select engine issues and was told that 15 - 20% of the early 996's were effected. More recently I have heard that 80 - 90% of 996's will suffer failures sooner or later.. Porsche dealerships in Germany immediately resell traded 996's to smaller dealers and most Germans wont buy a Porsche without dealer warranty. 996 prices are still dropping and the replacement engine price is now 50% of the cars value! Thank god I didnt have an engine failure! 35,000 purchase price + 8,000 new engine = 43,000. market value 20,000?! DISASTEROUS! I have always been a great supporter of the Porsche brand and have enjoyed my 911 driving experience beyond expectation BUT I feel screwed. I personally believe that Porsche has been remarkably evasive and dishonest. I wonder if many other longer term 996's owners feel that porsche has responsibilities beyond standard warranty with this model ?! I was considering getting a 997 now but do not have the confidence or respect to go there". I Have to agree.

I am not sure if you are in the mood to wade through all the technical explanations and details relating to youtr failure - but if you have already looked at section 4 of our buyers guide (about 996 engine failures) and not found an explanation about your particular failure - you might like to know that we have just managed to make section 5 of our buyers guide available on the Internet by going to our web site www.hartech.org and buyers guide section 5 or by this link This section brings the other one up to date with more information on some new failures afflicting later (but not gen 2) engines. http://www.hartech.org/docs/buyers%20guide%20web%20format%20Dec%202010%20part%205.pdf . (n.b. section 5 follows the foreward) This explains in detail the differences between the 3.4 Cayman S, 3.6 and 3.8 engines (the models that exhibit cylinder scoring problems) and earlier engines, the potential causes and various new solutions and road test results INCLUDING A RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE SOLUTION. For those wanting faster answers "" whilst increased piston to cylinder wall loading results from increased bottom end torque "" at the same time changes to the coolant flow and distribution increase the temperature of localised hot spots and in some combinations of driver style, other older typical wear/age related problems, and general deterioration - push them beyond safe levels in an engine type already running hotter (but previously better balanced) temperatures than older typical designs. The result in some combinations of circumstances is too thin an oil film being unable to keep the piston and cylinder wall apart safely and resulting scoring of the piston and cylinder. Fitting a lower temperature thermostat (while checking out other contributory factors) will lower the odds of you experiencing this failure while new exclusive pistons and modifications to the inside of the engine during a rebuild - will reduce repair costs further and protect against a reoccurrence. All this research, design, rebuilding, testing and sharing our results with everyone takes up enormous amounts of time and energy "" hence often too little left to promote our excellent standard products and services in a more market orientated "" reader friendly style "" sorry - but I hope the information will help those unsure what to do to protect their interests, enable them to fully enjoy this fantastic model range and if they are unfortunate enough to experience the consequences (which is extremely unlikely) "" remember to call Hartech first before potentially incurring unnecessary expense elsewhere that cannot then undertake the same quality or value for money repairs and preventative measures. My very best wishes and good luck for the New Year "" until then Baz

Hi Baz, thanks for some very useful info (will probably take me a few days to read through...) Just a short question, does the X51 option reduce the risk of these problems (different pistons,rings etc) or doesn't that influence those matters at all? Thanks Alex

Good article in latest addition (Number 69) of Total 911. The article gives a good simple explaination of the IMS problem. Hartech or Autofarm both a good option. Good luck

In reply to Alex I don't think we had an X51 engine in for rebuild from a seizure yet - but their comparative rarety may obscure a problem. Baz

Baz, I am currently researching 996s with a view to purchasing a 2002-04 model after the summer; I'm away with work until then!! I was initially drawn to the C4S, but am now considering spending the extra money to get a Turbo?? Hence joining this forum to start finding out as much as possible about them. I have read through your guides and found them very informative - thank you. I may have missed it, but I get the impression that the Turbos do not have as many issues for a number of reasons, but one being the lower temp thermostat - is that correct? Out of interest, how many Turbos, compared with C4Ss, do you have in with the described issue? As you suggest, I presume one of the more cost effective methods of reducing the chance of it occurring is to fit a lower temp thermostat - how much roughly does that cost? Many thanks Steve

Welcome Steve! The Turbo uses a completely different engine to the naturally aspirated cars. It is much more robust, although it also has it's little foibles, like turbo wastegate actuators, but the crankcase, cylinders and heads are considered fairly bullet proof. I have heard of timing chain problems, but they seem to be incredibly rare.

Thanks Richard. I've always longed after a Turbo, but thought they'd always be out of my price range. I may have got it wrong, but looking through the classifieds (Auto Trader, Pistonheads etc), it would appear that a 996 Turbo of roughly equivalent age and mileage is approx £5,000 - £7,000 more than a C4S...please tell me if I am off. As many people say, you only ever hear of the things that go wrong, and not about all the people who have had no serious issues. But still, when forking out that kind of money on a second hand car you don't want it to blow up in your face 3 months after you've bought it!!! Clearly, when I get round to testing later on in the year I'll get a better idea of the difference between the two driving styles. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Until then I'll just keep researching and following the list prices. Regards Steve PS. Is there a price at which people think the used 996s (specifically the Turbo and C4S) will settle at?

For early C4Ss and Turbos there is probably less in price difference than you say. Best bet is to drive both before you decide. I'll wager it would be the Turbo though! Both will depreciate, so don't fool yourself, but the Turbo will likely be slightly less (IMHO) as it will be on a slightly flatter part of the depreciation curve. The Turbo will probably be slightly more expensive to run, in terms of servicing and maintenance, but cheaper on insurance. It also depends on your use. As a weekend toy the Turbo will always be a bit more of an occasion, but if you do a lot of town driving the C4S might be slightly easier to live with - not that the Turbo is difficult. (Again, IMHO). Enjoy your research and hunt, which is all part of the fun.

Careful, when I looked at turbo's in the entry level for Turbo World. There used and abused.

Richard, Thanks again.

Have i read this correct that a Turbo is cheaper on insurance than a Carrera4s.I would very much like to upgrade to a turbo from my c4s if i can use that for a lever with my better half that i am going to save money on insurance then i am half way there. Kind regards Brian

I was quoted £46.00 more for a gen 1 turbo if that helps

If you look through the 'ultimate' insurance thread, you will find a few instances of the Turbo being cheaper to insure. There have been quite a few posts on Pistonheads too. I think it is most likely due to claims history, but all it takes is a phone call to your insurer to find out, or do a comparethemeerkat.

For those of you that did wade through our section 5 you might be interested to know that GT4 (911.uk) explained how to programme the air con unit to read the coolant temperature and it shows it running about 10 degrees higher than the dash board instrument (exactly as we stated and as our tests revealed). Baz

CONCLUSION The Internet has thrown up a useful confirmation of our findings when a contributor called "GT4" showed how to read the coolant temperature by another system by re-setting the existing digital air con control unit on the pre face lift 996's. The result confirmed that our own test readings (that showed higher engine coolant temperature readings than the dash board temperature gauge) were right and showed some other interesting facts (that we had also noticed) that add weight to our general conclusion that the engines can run too hot in some circumstances in the cylinder/piston face area. You will remember (if you read section 5 of our buyers guide) that instead of 100% of the coolant passing each cylinder to cool it "" only about 1.5% to 4% passes each individual cylinder and then mixes with the majority of the coolant that goes through the cylinder head before travelling on a relatively long journey back to the radiator and even later reaching the thermostat and back inside the engine again. This means that if there is a sudden temperature rise inside the engine (as a result of suddenly driving much faster) it is the cylinder walls that will try and transfer this heat first (because the coolant in the cylinder head is far less effective) and because the coolant in the cylinder area is travelling relatively slowly - that temperature rise will be higher. The coolant from the cylinders then mixes with about 80% of the coolant going through the head (the temperature of which will not yet be affected) "" so the temperature of the resulting mixture will be only slightly elevated as it travels back to the radiator (where it is then cooled) before even reaching the thermostat. The result must be a system that results in much higher immediate cylinder wall temperatures and much hotter pistons because it reacts much more slowly to dissipate that sudden increase in cylinder temperature than more traditional engine designs. Now the change in cylinder head gasket design has made that balance different in the 3.4 Cayman, 3.6 and 3.8 engines by about 50% - or put another way "" the amount of coolant (as a proportion of the rest going through the cylinder heads) has been reduced in those engines compared to a 3.4 engine "" by about half "" less through the block and more through the head. This must mean that the temperature rise it has to handle is higher, the proportion of it mixing with the coolant coming out of the cylinder head is less and the resulting mixture going on to the radiator is cooler "" thus creating a further response delay in quickly bringing those temperatures down again (because the thermostat can only react to the whole coolant mix temperature and not the rise just in the cylinder area). Now if we go back to looking at the difference in the actual coolant temperature readings (between the dash board gauge and either the air con digital signal or our test gauges) "" we find that whereas they rise from cold almost together "" once the dash board gauge reaches about 80 degrees it becomes very slow to read any sudden rises (that the other instruments pick up immediately) and starts to lag behind the true reading as the temperature rises further. It means that owners don't realise that during some dramatic changes in driving "" temperatures are rising and falling very quickly and to high maximums "" and bearing in mind that this rise came about from a very small amount (that was in the cylinder block) mixing with the cooler majority that is in the head "" when we see a sudden rise of 10 degrees C in the mixed temperature (using the digital or test gauges) "" the rise in the small amount of cylinder coolant temperature must be many times higher than that and certainly could be in that area of boiling and creating air bubble screening 9all of which our tests confirmed). Now the problem pistons have a PTFE type coating (which some 3.4's have and some don't but has not been a problem in 3.4's) that has always delaminated on the pistons that have not seized - in engines that have scored bores. So our conclusion still is that the change in the head gasket design has altered the coolant flow ratios and speeds resulting in higher cylinder wall temperatures while the pistons are transmitting higher cylinder wall loads and the consequence is either that the additional load and heat gradually de-laminates the coating that then jams against the pistons rings (causing scoring) or the increased load/unit piston face area is too much for the oil film to support. This justifies the changes we make to the coolant flow when we rebuild the engines and also verifies the benefit that fitting a lower temperature thermostat to engines that are presently Ok will have "" by compensating for the slow reaction time of the cooling system (because it then starts off at a lower temperature) and allows the slow reacting cooling system to recover back to a sensible running temperature before it has risen far enough to cause damage. Baz

Excellent work Baz. Thanks for your valuable contributions.

OP, how did this work out for you? The reason give by Porsche GB for not making a goodwill payment to me when the engine in my 996 failed prematurely was that the car had never had an extended warranty. Given that you had paid for 7/8 years of additional cover which was in force until a couple of weeks prior to the incident, I was expecting to see you posting that all had been resolved to your satisfaction?

Well, Christmas and the New Year slowed everything down but I've just heard from Porsche Hatfield that Porsche UK are unwilling to make any contribution towards the cost of the repair. I have to say that has surprised me. I am going to contact Customer Services myself and write to the MD, but I'm not very hopeful. If I can't get Porsche to help out - which are the best independents for me to go consider using?

Hartech Link:- http://www.hartech.org/ I am sure many others on this forum will support this suggestion.

Thank you. They are top of my list. Has anyone actually had experience of them carrying out significant work on their car, like an engine rebuild?

Just so you know, bazhart (the technical post above) is Hartech. Plus yes I've had an engine strip done there and they are very good. You should see their workshop and machine rooms, its a lovely to know we have a setup like that working to keep Porsches on the road and even nicer that its in the UK for a change! Usually when you see these things they come from across the sea. There was a big article on Hartech in 911 Porsche World last year (can't remember which month sorry), but if you get a chance to see it they give a nice discription of the place. Plus some good photos from behind the scenes.

Hi Andrew I wouldn't waste your time contacting Porsche GB -the customer service department are unhelpful and rude - unless of course you happen to be a perpetual buyer of new Porsche's. My recent experience with them over my sports exhaust failure ( document here on the forum ) was not very pleasant. I also wrote to the MD, Andy Goss, with all the details etc and despite knowing him personally for over 10 years I never heard a words from him. How disappointing that was. They even questioned my loyalty to the brand because I had not had an extended warranty! Anyone in the club who knows me would realise how insulting and hurtful that was to me. You claim, like mine and everyone else is judged on a matrix of information and if it doesn't fit the model then tough - you are on your own. I would love to be proved wrong in your case, so the best of luck to you.

[FONT=arial"]Dear Peter, Thank you for your post. The really disappointing thing about all this is that Porsche have known that there is an inherent issue with the IMS in the 996 engine since the start but have decided to deny it. That says a lot about their loyalty to us, their customers. They want us to be loyal and passionate about the brand but are not prepared to respond back in a similar manner. That's upsetting. I knew about it from this forum shortly after I bought the car (my posts are recorded) and that's why I continued to renew the Extended Warranty year after year. The fact that the MD, Andy Goss, did not reply to your letter is, in all honesty, unforgivable. I didn't realise that people were able to do that in these "˜connected times'. My lawyer friend suggests a class action, joining all IMS suffers together, to take Porsche to court to force them to admit their liability for an inherent fault. I doubt whether it would be successful as Porsche would have so much to lose that they would throw a lot of money at top lawyers to defend it. I will write to Andy Goss and will let you know if I get a reply. Regards Andrew

I Understand your frustration and agree with what your saying especially since the car has always been serviced by them. It wouldn't hurt to at least check for play in the IMS bearing now and then. I do think that its a bit far down the line to get anything done by Porsche as in recalls etc. If it were life threatening faults they would have too. Lots of people have made lots of noise about this issue before. one example http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/08/porsches-deadly-sin-1-1999-porsche-911-996-3-4/ + the fact is no one really knows the percentage of this failure and the scaremongering is great business. Hopefully your engine can be rebuilt by Autofarm or Hartech for not too much £ They are the only people I think I would want to touch my car. Certainly not Porsche. As I said before Porsche did the RMS on my car once and it lasted 10 Days. Again I wish you the best of luck.

I am afraid having just sold my 993 I have decided not to buy another Porsche for the moment, despite my initial enthusiasm for moving up to a 996 or early 997, having been put off by the engine failures regularly documented here and on other forums. I am going to stick with my 28 year old 3.2 Cab. It is such a shame as otherwise one of these fine cars would have been proudly sat in my garage by now, but I am not prepared to always be worrying about what "might happen" to my expensive purchase. I have had a number of very different cars over the years, including modern and classics, and have never had a warrenty in my life. I find it unacceptable to be effectively told the only way to own and enjoy a modern Porsche is to have an expensive warrenty so you are prepared for when it goes wrong. This is not the image of a precision made car that I had bought into. Just my thoughts, I am sure some will disagree.

Hi Tony, I thought most people sell there 996 to buy a 993?. And people sold there 993 to buy a 964. Nice Cab by the way.

hiya peter, i find it astonishing that you have been treated in this way, your loyalty should never have been questioned and to not recieve a reply from an md you have known for such a long time is totally unacceptable, if this is how porsche treat an administrator, what hope for the rest of us? thank god for the indie specialists, regards jason p

Buy a turbo, different engine entirely used in the 1998 Gt1 le mans car and no common faults[ ] better still buy mine. (Gt3 aslo has the different engine)

As I stood by the side of the road waiting for the flatbed truck, a chap asked what had happened.  I told him and he said "that's ridiculous, Porsches don't break down". The image is (or has been) that they are bullet proof.  That is the image I bought into.  This has been a real disappointment and has given my 'Porsche hating' friends plenty of extra ammunition. I originally went out to buy a 993 for the usual reasons - air cooled and gorgeous shape.  But at the time I was still doing the morning school run and was seduced by the extra comfort of the 996. After I get the car repaired, the question I face is what to do with it?  At the moment, I think I will sell it and get a Carrera 3.2 for fun and city car for the journey to work.  The 996 was meant to satisfy both needs - what a shame. Edit: quote tags

Really disappointed for you, I remember the pain well. I have tried to find my copy of the letter Andy Goss sent to me when I challenged the negative response from Porsche customer services when my 996 engine let go. I can't find it and can only assume that I ripped it up in annoyance at the time. I could have sworn that any goodwill claim for me was rejected on the grounds that my car had never had an extended warranty which could have been good ammunition for you. I think that legally, the reality is that you won't have a leg to stand on, it just seems a pity that a modicum of goodwill is completely absent, even to enthusiast owners who have stood by main dealers for servicing. Best of luck in finding a satisfactory solution.

Rob I'll second that too!

It's sad to say but BMW are at the top of their game for that. I'd forgotten what goodwill was until my local BMW (Northampton) treated me so well. It had such a big effect that if there was any BMW model I wanted, I would have one now. You can't beat knowing you've got a good team behind you and they made my ownership experience the best I've ever had.. even though the car I bought from them was not new! It was 6months old, used approved. Other manufaturers could learn a lot from the day I spent wondering around the showroom pondering which BMW I could have next because I wanted to stick with the garage, just a pity they haven't made a car to replace the Z4M.

Really? Not the experience my mother had with hers. She had a 5 series - the engine blew up, it was sold for scrap (no help from BMW) Then she bought a 7 Series, the engine died - she got a new one under warranty. She made another claim on something else, they accused her of lying (in the showroom) and made her cry. They then recanted and realised she wasn't and paid up. Then once again the engine gave way and it's been sold for scrap (no help again). She wanted to buy a Range Rover but realised they used BMW engines so decided instead to by an S-Class which has been superb.

I can add an agreement to that, though I suspect much depends on the actual dealer or service manager. My son had a Mini Cooper supplied new by a main BMW agent. After 18 months, the gearbox chewed itself up, a not uncommon problem with early Coopers. It was taken into the agent who rang 2 days later and said 'New gearbox needed; unfortunately we won't cover it under warrantly so that will be £2300 please' On querying the reason, we were told: you have fitted a new induction kit and so it has put increased load on the gearbox. Now the induction kit itself probably added no more than 5HP to the output; BMW themselves do a John Cooper kit that adds 20HP and they don't make any changes to the gearbox. He also had a letter to the Mini Owners club from a BMW Customer Service rep at head office confirming that small aftermarket mods would NOT affect the warranty apart from that part itself. A suitably worded letter to Sewells BMW provoked a grudging acceptance of the warranty claim, but it was with very bad grace. 2 months later a friend of my son, also with a Cooper, had exactly the same problem- gearbox just chewed up with no warning. She took it back under warranty to the same dealer who next day phoned to say: 'sorry, you need a new gearbox at £2300, but we won't do it under warranty as you have changed the tyres to a non standard make' Bearing in mind that the new tyres were the same size, and of a reputable brand, we advised her to write a similar letter pointing out their legal obligations. This had the desired effect but it all leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth. Happily that dealer went bust and was taken over by another one- Elms of Cambridge, who have been much better to deal with.

I've decided to have Hartech carry out an engine rebuild. Fingers crossed they don't find anything too horrendous when they split the engine down. I'll let you know how I get on.

I Had a similar problem in may as i was taking the car off the drive, it cut out, on re start it sounded like it was misfiring, when the AA Arrived, they told me misfire in cylinder 4, called porsche specialist, who said 30.00 for coil pack, told him to get on with it, then came the bad nbews, he called to say it had started by there was water comming out of cylinder 3 which meant there was a crack on the engine head, and the engine needed replqacing or re done, i phonned aroud and porsche offerewd me a Brand new engnie for my 996 c2 2002 for £8k plus vat and 2 year guarantee, specialist quoted 4400 for rebuild and repaqir, so got it rebuilt anf seems ok now, was told common problem on 5% of all 996 haqve this issue, sad but now sorted only took 6 months to raise cost of engine (merry xmas to me)

5% of all 996s i suppose isnt too bad ideally it should be 0 but its just unfortunate if it happens to you as 4k is a bit of a big bill to swallow.

Well how did it go at Hartech?. I hope all is well.

Hartech carried out an engine rebuild and, so far, all seems to be fine. In fact, the engine feels tight and new, it's amazing the way you don't notice how it slowly deteriorates over time. Hartech were really good. They arranged for the car to be collected from London, stripped the engine down and confirmed that it was an IMS failure. Grant then came up with a short list of items that should be done at the same time, which I agreed to. These included re-rounding the cylinders, supplying and fitting restraining rings, new latest design IMS, crank shaft oil jets, crank shaft bearings, timing chain set, chain tensioner rails, cam chain guides, hydraulic valve lifters and a low temperature thermostat. He was very good, in that he explained every non-essential repair and we discussed whether to do it or not. The end result was a rebuilt engine with a new IMS at a cost of £6.5k plus VAT, £7.9k. A lot of money, but half the estimated cost from my OPC. Hartech were recommended on this Forum and get another recommendation from me. If you've got a 996 - have the IMS checked!

Good to hear your back on the road. Unfortunately if your going to check your IMS then you may as well replace it. As your going to have to drop the trans anyway. unless of course its a;ready gushing oil, but then that could just be RMS. Russian Roulette springs to mind.

I'm not sure whether I posted this before, but my OPC took me to Silverstone in January and I got the chance to drive a new Gen II 997 around their track as fast as I dared - fantastic fun. There were four of us sitting around a table having some lunch and it turned out that three out of the four of us had had engine rebuilds - two 997s and my 996. The fourth chap always bought new and moved on to a new one within 2/3 years, so he never had a car long enough to experience any major problems. 75% of a random sample of Porsche owners had cars that required engine rebuilds - thats scarey! And ... one of my close friends, who I helped buy a Cayman S (2005) from my OPC rang me yesterday to tell me that he'd just had a call to say that they'd dropped the sump and found 'bits of metal' in the oil and they suspect his IMS is about to let go. Luckily he has a current Porsche Extended Warranty. The service technician said that they had a 'spate of these' recently. I'm not sure how much longer Porsche is going to able to keep this quiet. Sooner or later the media are going to get hold of this and they'll have a field day. God only knows what Clarkson would do!

But Porsche wont replace IMS Bearing?. As for keeping it quiet, Its not just google "996 IMS " its the first engine problem you will find on what ever side of the world. Its not life threatening so Porsche don't have to do anything about it. If it were a stearing rack etc that would be different. Bottom line is we replace our IMS or we take the risk. Even if he gets a new engine from Porsche I would still have LN's Bearing fitted.

Just out of interest how much would an independent charge to change the IMS ? AngusR

Angusr - after recommendations from many people here, my car went to Hartech. The IMS in my car failed whilst I was sitting at a set of traffic lights and I switched it off immediately. Because of this there wasn't a huge amount of extra damage as opposed to what would have happened if I was on the motorway at the time. Even so, there were a number of repairs that were sensible to do while the engine was apart and so the total cost came to around £8k.

http://www.autofarm.co.uk/engines/water_cooled/shaft_tech2 Around 2k depending on what Trans you have.