Another "new joiner" to the Hartech Rebuild club

I don't post very often here but "lurk" regularly as a good source of info. So in mid July this year my 2002 996 Targa blew up after a fairly leisurely 20 mile round trip to take my daughter to swimming on a Sunday evening. I was fortunate as the engine let go as I exited a busy dual carriageway & I managed to pull over safely into a lay by just off the slip road. RAC recovered me to home & a few days later an ex OPC tech mate came to see my car....plugged in his diagnostic laptop - he knows the car which has had much preventative medicine in my 8 yrs of ownership incl change IMS low temp thermostat. His initial opinion was...could be a valve seat "let go". Anyway, long story short decided to take the plunge & sent the car to Bolton. Hartech confirmed issue was indeed a valve seat gone on cyl 3. Car is on 93 k miles, FSH OPC & specialist. After a tortuous few days considering my options I elected to do a proper rebuild with all 6 cylinders re lined & replacement pistons & new IMS & numerous other worn parts sorted. Collected the car yesterday...so despite now being skint I'm happy. I love my car & it's a keeper. The "man maths" works out that when I plan to retire in 3 yrs time I no longer need or want to buy a newer 911.....anyway that's it. Couldn't fault the guys in Bolton. Top engineers & the quick guided tour of their facility was a real insight into these engine issues.

Bad luck, but then eight years and many more to go, it'll work out a lot cheaper than a lot of folks spend to finance their boggo SUV. Plus you get to drive around in a Porsche with, to all intents a new engine. Sensible economics and environmentally sound decision making :thumb: Enjoy

Cheers....& yes unlucky as valve seats going is still a fairly rare occurrence apparently. Anyway, time to enjoy enjoy 2k running in period. They've told me to drive it as it was meant to be driven during running in!

Sorry about your troubles mate. Sounds unlucky. Out if curiosity, what were the cylinders like? I'm assuming all normal. At least now you'll have a belter of an engine moving forward

Bad luck OP, but like you say, you love the car and are more than happy to keep it. It should outlive you now. :thumb:

Is the valve seat issue sorted as part of the rebuild? I got the impression from member Ghianightmare's experience (needing a second Hartech rebuild after a valve seat dropped) that they are difficult to change.

Welcome to the club B16! It is a nice club. You get to drive a really nice car and eat spaghetti hoops on toast a lot... mind you, my weight hasn't dropped so I'm clearly not starving! Out of interest, how were your cylinders? Mine were free of any signs of borescore. Best of luck with it. @Robertb - Hartech haven't found anyone that will replace valve seats and warranty the work. There isn't much surplus metal around the factory seats and the spark plug hole is in the middle. Mine had one seat replaced in cylinder 3 previous to me buying the car which was still in place when cylinder 2 dropped one, but i have no idea what process was used and whether the replacement was oversized. That head is on the scrap heap now.

Mmmm spaghetti hoops.... Sounds like a win-win! It would be interesting to know what Hartech do to the heads, if anything.

If it makes you feel any better, I've lost AT LEAST £20,000 in depreciation on 3 "daily driver" over the last 6 years. I'm sure it's probably a bit more.

Apparently 2 main plausible hypotheses for why valve seats let go. 1. Manufactuers defect. 2. Overheating & loosening over time. In my case over & above cyl 3 & head which was badly damaged, 3 of my other cyls had signs of deterioration, & 4 pistons also had poor skirt coating. So I considered & rejected the minimal fix & decided to rebuild all 6. Convinced this was the right call for not that much more money. Hopefully many years & miles of trouble free (engine at least) 996 use ahead.

There in lies the calibration for my man maths abacus. :thumb:

Definitely made sense to get the works done while its apart. Think of it as "M96... Re-Imagined by Hartech, handbuilt by a specialist engineer using only the finest, exhaustively tested replacement components..." Sounds much more exciting!

I've known the OP since before he bought his car & when his engine 'clattered" as he described its failure when speaking to me, I was one of a number of 911 owners who were surprised given it's service history/preventative maintenance undertaken during its current ownership. The valve seat failure is accepted as a rare cause of failure on 996s though is apparently almost untraceable as has been previously discussed - it's what else is found when the engine is cracked open for a full investigation that can be slightly alarming. In reality, when the engines break, they are likely in many instances to represent a cost proportional to the original new price of the cars & I'm sure many forum members appreciate this. As was mentioned when it was collected from Hartech, 996s are invariably driven much more than their equivalent peers I.e. 355s & Maseratis etc & in global terms the failures are probably still a small percentage although at least the OP has driven his car regularly during his ownership.

Hartech don't repair them as they cant find anyone to do it that will warranty it. They wont re install a head with a dropped valve seat as if it drops another one - like mine did - it needs a full rebuild.