Bore liner failure

Ok , does anyone know if Porsche have issued an accurate percentage of 996 liner failures ? Does anyone else know of this number. Is there any tell tale signs before it happens or is it just a case of now it works...eer now its broke !

Although this is a good forum for Porsche devotees talking about the car that they love, they do however tend to view all things Porsche through rose tinted glasses. With this in mind, you are not likely to gather the information that you are asking for on here. However, there is a thread on this forum that might be of help to you. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=400915&mid=167766&nmt=996 wet-sump engine reliability: enter your statistics here!

Hmm, that's a bit harsh actually - I don't think many of us fail to see the failings of these cars. The problem (as has been discussed loads of times) is that you never get a true reflection of the amount of engine failures, because a lot of people only post when there's an issue. The best site I've found for detail on the issue is hartech - they have a great write up. I'd estimate that about 5% of engines fail, but the reality is that they will all fail at some point, because of the rounding nature of the cylinders (due to the material used). It appears that if a car has been properly warmed up and driven well (ie. not had a missed gear), then they typically (there's always exceptions) are fine. It doesn't appear to be mileage related, although people have observed that engines that are typically going to go, break at less than 40k and if they haven't by then, they should last a while. You can get the engine lokasil'd at places like Autofarm and Hartech. Engines can just give with no warning at all, but usually there's a tapping noise before hand. However, some engines make this noise and there's no problem at all. Oil consumption doesn't appear to be a factor and neither does the RMS. Although, there's a suggestion that OPCs may have contributed towards the perceived RMS problem by replacing them as soon as they started to leak (as it was easy money, covered under warranty!). Later engines are typically better than the newer engines, but there's plenty of examples of later 996 and even 997 engines failing with the same problem. So, my advice is when buying a car, get one that you are happy has been well looked after, get a PPI and buy on condition. The PPI doesn't do an internal engine inspection, but they can listen to the engine for any tell tail sign. Also, if you're worried about it, consider a warranty. Hartech do a fantastic lifetime warranty plan, you can also buy reconditioned engines from them (and also Autofarm). The only problem with Hartech is that they are based in Bolton and it's quite a journey for service if you live in the South.

PS - no Porsche have never issued this information and IMO won't ever either - because it would be an admittance of a definite design flaw. The other thing about liners is you need to watch certain warranties - as they specifically exclude this. Liners split due to the material used (the characteristics of it specifically), which is why you can replace them with a new sleeve and ring that helps prevent the warp and ring distortion. Unfortunately you can only find out the state of your engine and whether it needs doing once it's been stripped!

No Porsche have not issued any numbers on this and dont even really ever talk about it as a problem. General view is that between 5 and 10% of engines are affected by this or IMS failure but nobody has solid figures. Also there is a view that if your engine has got to 80k then its unlikely to suffer. (except of course if its mine which went at 83k!) There are a few signs to watch for: slight loss of coolant, exsessive pressurisation of the cooling system, oil in coolant and coolant in oil with excessive sludge around the filler cap (on a fit engine there is usually a little "mayonaise" present.) That said nearly all of these symptoms can be something else. For more info and interesting reading (if a bit scary) go to the AUTOFARM and Hartech web sites . Both companies do remedial work and have engineered design improvements to rectify and then reduce the likelihood of repetition. I have an Autofarm re-engineered sillsleve engine in mine.

Bore liner Cheers for the replys guys, have looked at a few forums but they all tend to be doom and gloom...!