Bummer

Pulled the car out of the garage this morning and discovered a flashing coolant light as I turned out of my driveway onto the street. Turned around and came back to the garage, stopping to check the floor to see if there were any coolant puddles. No such luck. From the looks of the dipstick, the missing coolant is in the crankcase. The car started and ran as usual, so I think I'm looking at a cracked head, a head gasket failure, or a leak in the oil cooler. 67K miles, about 23K of which I've put on the car. I think at this point I'll drop the engine and begin the diagnosis and repair if possible or simply replace.

A cold chill just went down my spine. Here's hoping for the best...

sorry to hear.... you sound very calm about it, tread on!

GL, Keep us posted. Would love to hear about your progress.

Awe man... sorry to hear it. Best of luck!

Hope it turns out to be less severe, best of luck, and keep us up to date.

Thanks guys!

Sorry to hear this, but hopefully you caught it early and it could just be a bad head gasket...Please keep us updated. GL & cheers...

Soory to hear about your car Doug! Hope the news you find is far from worst.

OH CRAP!!! Doug, as others have said, I hope it is "only" a head gasket. Let us know how you make out.

Good luck, keep us posted.

That sux, sorry to hear.

GL! Your calmness is inspiring!

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Cory, You got that engine back together yet? Don't make me have to drive 4.5 hours down to SA to kick you in the butt!!!

Sorry to hear about your unfortunately news. Hoping that it's only a head gasket. Keep us updated,

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No, I wish . Life changes happened......

Another one bites the dust. Mine happened in September, oil in the coolant, and coolant in the oil. It ran fine for awhile, and I changed both the coolant and oil to see how long till it showed up again. Wasn't long, and after only a few miles it started missing badly. As you said, it could be the oil cooler, head gasket or cracked head, but might also be a cracked liner or porous crankcase. No one knows which is more common as Porsche continues to hide any real stats. The TSB for oil/coolant intermix says to first remove and pressure test the oil cooler, if it doesn't leak, they say the next step is a new engine. Of course this is Porshce, and it was a few years ago. There are some rebuild options now. Lots of threads. Some says this is a rare problem, but as one who has suffered it, it seems like we see the posting of a failure of a 996 engine at least once each month. Good luck, let us know what your problem is. I am going to remove my engine this spring and have a look.

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Did he just??? Oh boy...

yeah he did... one a month, Ok lets say 5 a month 60x10=600 600 blown engines... not to bad considering there are 10's of 1000's out there... but Im just saying, I kid

That's the exact same thing that happened to me Doug. I feel your pain. I won't comment any further as that horse has been beaten.

Actually, IIRC yours was worse, as wasn't yours an 02, and you pretty much just got it? I don't recall if you got a new engine put in or what, tho......

Finally had some time to do a quick test before I drop the engine. I pulled all the plugs and found they all looked nearly identical with no signs of coolant. Then I pressurized the cooling system to ~20 PSI and listened in the oil filler and in each plug hole with with a stethoscope. I could hear escaping air and bubbles in the oil filler but nothing from the plug holes. Of course, this doesn't rule out some other form of block failure but it does seem to indicate that a cylinder hasn't actually let go. The fact that this happened immediately after the car had sat outside in 16 degrees F weather for a few hours the night before gives me some hope that either the oil cooler seals have failed or a freeze plug has let go inside the engine. Of course a clean coolant sample tested at about -35 degrees F, so if a freeze plug did let go, it wasn't due to the coolant actually freezing. Anyhoo, I'll know in the next day or so what the problem is as I've bought a nice ATV jack to assist with the engine drop. Let the fun begin!

Doug, Good to hear some preliminary good news. I hope for the best.

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Good attitude Doug! Hope you learn more about the car, and that you don't find anything major. Keep us posted?

Well, things are moving a little more slowly than I would like, but working by myself and without a lift a certain amount of extra planning and care was needed to get the engine out. But it's finally out, albeit still attached to the transmission. I'll part those later today and begin disassembly of the engine after I move the car around in the garage to give me a little more working space. It's not a difficult job at all to drop the engine on one of these. Much easier than doing a clutch on a 944 turbo, for example.

No lift? By yourself? Wow. Nice work. *subscribed*

Before beginning disassembly of the engine, I pulled and pressure tested the oil cooler with 90 PSI of shop air. And of course there were no leaks. Due to the design of the oil cooler and the 4 o-rings that seal it to the engine, there really is no conceivable way that any of those o-rings could fail and cause oil and coolant to intermix inside the engine (unlike some other heat exchanger implementations I've seen in the past, for example the Porsche 944 and the GM 3.0L V6). Worst case, failure of all of the o-rings would simply cover the rear of the 4-6 bank with oil and coolant. So it's something much more serious.

I'm not sure I am happy to hear your take on the oil cooler as I was hoping my intermix might only be a bad oil cooler (wishful thinking). I know that the TSB for intermix says the first thing to check in the oil cooler (pressure test). But from what you say it seems I am probably going to be disappointed. However, I am still going to pull the oil cooler and test it before I drop the engine. Did you drain the coolant before you dropped the engine? I have tried to remove the drain plug on my engine but is is stripped. Do you know what size the tools is and whether it is hex, torqx or what?

Impressive work so far. Your positive outlook is refreshing. Best of luck.

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I'd encourage you to go ahead and pull the cooler, as it doesn't seem that difficult to do with the engine in the car (once you get that stinking A/C compressor out of the way, that is). I hope you find yours leaking! I did drain the coolant before removing the coolant hoses. But if you are dropping the engine you'll empty most of what you might get out of the drain when you disconnect the coolant hoses, so you can deal with the stripped plug later. The plug is definitely a hex, and I believe it is 5mm. BTW, if you do end up dropping your engine, I've answered your "How High do you have to raise car to remove engine?" thread over on Renntech.org with some pictures showing jack stand and rear clearance heights.

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Thanks!

LINKY to his renntech thread WAY TO GO...

Doug: Any update?

Any direct evidence of intermix Doug? Oil sent to the lab for analysis? (I'm sorry if I missed it in your posts) The reason I ask is only because there are just so many ways for coolant to escape the system slowly, between the leaky expansion tanks, old design caps, regulator, and the miles of hose to the front radiators. I once ran with coolant far below the min line (cold) for two or three weeks without realizing it, and didn't get a coolant warning until after a big burp tripped the regulator. No spots on the floor, since the slow trickle was evaporating on the block and headers.

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Sure, lots of evidence. I'll post some pics later showing what Mobil 1 looks like when it's cut about 50/50 with coolant. Anyhoo, finally got some time away from business / home activities to continue the disassembly of the engine. Both heads are off and other than the 1-3 bank head gasket being a little easier to peel off the head than the 4-6 bank head, nothing looks out of the ordinary (except for a block full of the aforementioned Mobil 1 / coolant mix). Surprisingly, the cams, cam bearings, lifters, and cylinders look practically new with little evidence of wear. I'm very impressed with the condition of the engine in that regard. Oh, except for the plastic guides on the variable cam timing mechanisms. Three out of the four guides show some moderate wear. Strange that one looks new, which might point to something wrong with the mechanism on that bank. The crankcase will be opened up and the investigation continued. Pics will be up later in this thread.

Transmission off and ready to pull the intake and wiring harness:

Intake and wiring harness removed:

At least the RMS and IMS aren't leaking the coolant/oil milkshake:

Because I'm a cheapskate, I fabricated a (crude) copy of the factory tool to hold the cams to allow removal of the cam covers:

Tool installed on the 1-3 bank:

Bank 1-3 cams out. You can see the latte-colored coolant/oil mix pretty well in this pic:

A 100mm length of 5mm x 0.80 threaded rod, a washer, 3 hex nuts and a wing nut makes a nice tool for compressing the Variocam mechanism:

Before removing the bank 4-6 cams:

Heads off:

Our fingers remain crossed that it's something minor - be sure to report back and best of luck!

Thanks Skiracer!

Wow Doug! What is this circled?

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Head gasket residue.

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That's excellent news I'd say..

Doug: Thank you for the update. None of tihs is minor IMHO when you have to tear the whole engine down.

Wow, you are doing great work. This gives me hope if I have problems.

Agreed ...ultimate awesome DIY job.

Very impressive. Keep up the good work.

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+1.... appreciate all this information!

scares me a bit, glad you are doing it.... makes me wonder if there will be a "fix" or just a pile to clean up when you are done.... Nice job on the tool fab to get it done w/o buying them !!

Thanks for the support guys! I finally dismounted my spare 951 block from the engine stand and got the crankcase properly mounted where I could safely rotate it to complete the disassembly. About all I accomplished after that was doing a little garage cleaning (did you know a 50 lb. bag of oil dry is only $9.99 at Ace Hardware?), removal of the pulley, water pump, oil pump, and sump cover. I found some interesting things inside the sump. Looks like a collection of case sealant (they should be more careful when they apply this at the factory), aluminum shavings, and the tensioning spring for a seal, presumably from the orginal RMS, as this was replaced shortly before I bought the car. Not sure if the aluminum shavings are manufacturing artifacts or something else. Whatever, it isn't likely they caused or are the result of this particular problem so I'll split the case tomorrow and either be more confused or finally discover the root cause.

Wow Doug! I hope you are able to determine the cause, these pics are excellent, thanks for taking the time to document your progress and let's hope for the best!

+1 Awesome -

Keep us posted Doug and we are hoping for the best for your engine. I think you have Ferdinand beat on finding metal bits in your engines. I am too scared to open my filter..

So, I split the crankcase and removed the pistons, the 1-3 bank rods, and the crankshaft bearing assembly. And I still can't find anything wrong with either crankcase half or either of the seals that join the upper and lower coolant passages between the crankcase halves. I also disassembled the oil pump and see no abnormal wear there. And I've found no source for the aluminum shavings I found in the sump, so I'll assume those were missed by the cleaning process after the engine components were machined. I do still need to disassemble the crankshaft bearing assembly and inspect the crankshaft mains, but based on the condition of the 1-3 bank connecting rod bearings and journals, I expect them to be in very good condition. All the pistons appear to be in very good condition as well, with minimal wear marks. I've done an initial cleaning and inspection of the heads, but after trading email with Jake Raby of Flat6Innovations.com (who has been very generous with his time in answering my questions, BTW), I've decided to do some further cleaning of the heads and tear them down to inspect for cracks under the exhaust valve springs. Once I get things cleaned up I'll take some pics of the pistons, bearings, cylinder walls, etc. and post them here. In the meantime I've attached pictures showing the wear on the plastic chain guides on the variocam mechanisms I mentioned further up in the thread (1-3 bank followed by 4-6 bank):

I am not surprised at that...that seems like a "wear part" and they should make them replacable somehow... I have no doubt that mine look the same or worse since I have nearly 109k miles... For me the chain guides (all of them) are my biggest concern, followed only slightly by the little oil leaks that I keep chasing... on the cam soilenoid assy, do you see any way or reason that oil would seep THRU the solenoid? (coming out of the wire seal) I know on one of the cam guides there is an O ring under it and not on the other... but what path would oil take... just curious...and do you plan to take apart that assy to replace any o rings or seals inside of it? Thanks for more awesome pics!

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Those guides are replaceable with the engine in the car. It's basically the same process as required to replace the variocam mechanism. I'm not sure it'd be much fun, but it's probably something to think about if you ever need to have a cam cover resealed or removed for any reason. I'm not sure about that. I haven't examined the assembly in much detail but I imagine disassembly of the solenoid would be destructive. I'll take a look. No problem!

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really, that might be worth doing on my car as a winter project next year.... thanks I will look into it

Awesome Doug.... hopefully it was just a head gasket.

Doug, Great write-up! I'm interested to see what you find. Andreas

After cleaning and stripping the 1-3 bank head, I believe I've found the problem. There is a crack in the head rooted very near the stem of one of the #1 cylinder exhaust valves (the valve is the one closest to cylinder #2). The crack runs from the valve guide, under the spring seat, across the head and down the spark plug well to almost the first step. The attached pics (massaged a little for contrast and shadows) show the crack. I sprayed the head down with a dye penetrant crack check kit and although the can of developer I had on the shelf was out of gas, the red dye still helps expose the crack. So, for your entertainment, this is the guy who killed my M96:

Oh my! What's your next move? Andreas

****! That is so small!! You are a good detective to find that.

So, after all the very precise pics and description of your engine teardown, what is your next step Doug?Is there a fix or replacement , or are you talking new/reman engine at this point? Does Jake have a solution for your engine crack in your head, or can it be replaced?

is there a magnaflux variant that works on alloy? would seem like a good idea to have everything done.

Good find Doug.... thanks for the updates!

Doug - Good to see you found the problem. There is a series of videos on rebuilding a Boxster engine on Youtube and Truvideo that show alot of details on the rebuilding of a M96 engine. The problem was also a cracked head. Here is a link that shows the head leaking http://www.truveo.com/Porsche-Boxste...3/id/279963674 I thought I remembered that he had his head "fixed" rather than replaced, but I can't find that video. I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Did the leak show up on either a compression test or a leak down test? Did you perform both? 2. I know you had coolant in the oil, but did you also have oil in the coolant? I was told that oil in the coolant is more common as the oil is under higher pressure when the engine is running. Although when the engine is turned off, the coolant is still hot/presurized so then it is under higher pressure. In my car I had a significant amount of coolant in the oil, and the coolant level was low (this is how the problem first became apparent as is usually the case), but there was alot of oil in the coolant, to the point that it is thicker than mayonaise. I finally got my oil cooler off this week and am planning on pressure testing it this weekend. Maybe (but not very likely) I wll be one of the few that actually has a bad oil cooler. More likely a problem similar to yours. In draining the coolant it took hours just to let it flow out of the engine as it was not hot, and the coolant/oil mixture was so thick, almost like pudding. This mix needs to be flushed out of the entire system, engine, lines, radiators, etc. and is supposed to be very hard to do. You may want to look at PhillipJ's posts post on Renntech.org on his upgrade from a 3.4 to a 3.6 after the intermix problem on his engine. He ended up replacing the radiators with new ones. I guess the best news is that it is not either a cracked liner or a porous block. Liners can be replaced, but it is expensive, and porous blocks can be impossible to find or fix. I would hope that a cracked head like this could be found on either a compression test, or more likely a leakdown test. If this is the case maybe I can do less than a complete teardown of my engine as cylinder heads can be replaced. By the way, in taking the AC compressor off my 2000 C4, a non-Turbo, is does have a fuel cooler attached to the rear of the compressor. I will post a picture of the cooler which I am told only comes on some non-turbo cars (and the part number on the unit does not come up on any PET program, either mine or Sunsets). Looking forward to your answers and further posts for some guidance on my repair.

this is great news!! however, do you stop, or keep looking......... naturally you will take both heads in for service and/or replacement

Told ya so.... Your welcome :-) This is a common issue with the 3.4 engines that we see. This is also common on the 3.2, since they share the same root head castings and essentially a 3.4 is nothing more than a bigger bored 3.2 There is no repair for it, the crack is at a point where the port, water jacket and an oil passage all come very close to intersecting. This head is now a door stop. The issues also occur most often on cylinders 1 and 6 and more often on the outboard exhaust valve. This is actually a best case scenario, heads are abundant and fairly cheap compared to the cost of a crankcase, etc, etc.. These kinds of issues are my specialty... Looks like its time to go bigger, a 3.6 would be so nice and when applied to the 3.4 heads its a torque monster and I'll take that any day over HP!

Jake, heads are interchangeable on either banks? what do they run $$$ nowadays? That 3.6 with 3.4 heads sounds interesting.... info?

Heads are not interchangeable. There is a 1-3 and 4-6 head. Intakes have to be on top and exhausxt on bottom so they can't be interchangable. Or are you talking heads between a 3.4 and a 3.6?

Jake - Are you saying to use 3.6 heads on a 3.4, or use larger liners with a 3.4 head?

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Jake, what about head "reliability" on 3.6 vs 3.4/3.2?

No, What I am saying is he can use the 3.4 base engine coupled to our technology to create a 3.6 big bore engine that will use the 3.4 heads. The heads have interchange IF you know what components to utilize and you apply our big bore technology.We even have our own big bore head gaskets that allow this to be a possibility. Heads are side specific and certainly are not interchangeable... As for reliability, the 3.2 and 3.4 heads suffer from these cracks, the two engines are essetntialy one and the same, Porsche made confusing part numbers to mask the reality that the 996 spec engine is nothing more than a glorified Boxster engine internally... The only M96 engines that don't suffer from cracks in this area are the 2.5 and 2.7, due to their smaller valves and exhaust ports keeping this portion of the head cooler.. The toughest of all M96s is the 2.5 Our interchange directives are a mile long, its all been learned by mixing and matching parts and paying attention.

SOOOO his options are.. ? stop at the heads, and build it back up using stock spec parts -or- keep tearing down and changing out what to make the big bore then add new 3.6 heads? I dont know..... for me, I would be very tempted to replace heads with stock (or some super engineered replacement) and get the car back on the road. what are the cost options for both ways too (keep stock and start to build it up -vs- go with this "big bore" thing) Thanks jake, it's a good aproach for you....much better than the early posts ( last year) which seemed a bit pushy and mr. know it all (even if it is true, this is better and we are listening)

So Jake, what are the torque increase for the bore with 3.4 heads?... can I find this on your website?

Redridge, This info is not on the site.. Unfortunately I have not had time to post any of this type of info, as it keeps changing constantly as we apply variables to the engine combinations... We are working at a fast pace and throwing tons of changes at the engines, but stability is just around the corner as we work to find the best combinations and standardize them. . He has already torn down the majority of the engine as he didn't contact me for some pointers until most of this was done.. That means he is already deep enough to have some serious decisions to make. He can replace whats worn with new parts, or even better condition used parts along with replacing the one head, or he can apply our technology and replace the IMS, liners, etc... Its up to him and what he wants to spend. I am with you, but what if he does this, then some of the parts that were damaged by the intermix come back to haunt him??? Honestly the cost is pretty damn close, but the application of the JE forged pistons and Nickies cylinders is not cheap whether you stay stock or go to a bigger bore. To make a cost analysis for this engine I'd have to see and measure the internals.. Of course the bigger bore higher performance engine will cost more, and it should.. BUT it would have full upgrades and the cost is more justified when you get Overkill Engineering components along with added performance. No matter what he does other than a junkyard patch up, he's gonna spend 6K at minimum. People want to learn from what we are doing.. I am sometimes too direct because I am a very intense person that only knows one way of communicating.. I never meant to be pushy. I understand what makes this engine tick and want to share that with all of you, but it'll have to wait until lots of variables are eliminated and we have more data than anyone would ever expect from us.

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like I said... lots of ears are open Thanks again !

I am no good with words. Can someone post a picture of where the head is on our engine? Is that where the valves are located?

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No, I did not because the oil was contaminated and I didn't want to rotate the engine any more than absolutely necessary, even if it meant turning the crank bolt to get the valves closed for a leak down test. However, I'm sure the combustion chamber isn't cracked so I'm betting either test wouldn't have show anything out of the ordinary. I also know that when I pressurized the cooling system before dropping the engine, I didn't see coolant leaking or hear air escaping from cylinder #1. I actually didn't find that much oil in the coolant. I just went to the garage and checked the container I used to drain the engine and hoses, and there are a few ounces of oil film on the top of the coolant. The symptom on mine was lots of coolant in the oil, and a little oil in the coolant. You should test that cooler ASAP. I hope that is your problem! I'm pretty familiar with cleaning cooling systems that are full of oil. It's very labor intensive and results in a lot of hazardous waste that needs to be properly disposed of, which is why most shops will simply replace instead of clean. My approach will be to flush the system before putting an engine back in, and if that requires removing parts for hot tanking or replacement, then that's what I'll do. I suppose that's true. If the crack doesn't extend into the combustion chamber, and this one didn't, you won't see the problem in a compression or leak down test. What might make sense is to pressurize the cooling system with the cam cover off and see if you can locate the leak before removing the engine. But seriously, if the oil is full of coolant and the engine has been run with even moderate contamination, I don't see how you'll ever have any confidence that you don't have some major damage lurking on any of the rotating parts. For that reason I think it's not prudent to simply replace the head without taking the engine apart and doing a complete inspection, bearing replacement, etc. The above is offered with the caveat that I'm just a hobbyist mechanic, YMMV, etc.

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Thanks dude...your comments about the location of the root of the crack were right on the money and allowed me to quickly find the problem once I had the valve springs off on the first cylinder. I'd like to reiterate the kudos I gave you in my post #60 in this thread and thank you again for entertaining my emailed questions. You're a generous man and the 996 DIY community is richer for your presence here.

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<coughs> Bullsh*t <coughs> this is a LITTLE bit more than just hobby tinkering, your modesty is admirable

No seriously, the hardest thing about this was keeping the garage floor somewhat clean.

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+1, seriously... If your making your own tools and such... you da man!

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Ed, I agree with you. Doug, by my definition, I am a "hobbyist mechanic" because I know where the engine is located in the car at least 50% of the time. Me thinks you are too modest and are very knowledgeable!

Doug, this is an awesome thread, sorry it is really at your expense, but I know I for one am learning quite a bit. Please keep your "hobbyist mechanic" pics and descriptions coming and keep us up to date.

Sad result, but awesome photos and posts! You know your **** Doug! If that happens to me, I pray it will be before my extended warranty runs out next month!

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Doug will take offense to that. After maintaining a 951 as long as he has, he's earned 'pro' stripes by now. Great job, Doug. Have a couple of these before you decide what to do...

Also, those plastic variocam chain guides look very much like the plastic guide on the cam chain tensioner on the 944 S2! Mine looked about as worn when I replaced it on the S2. When the guides go on the 996, does that result in catastrophic failure, like in the 944??

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I agree 100%, this is way beyond "hobbyist" that's why I put it in quotes.

I was happy to help... This level of internal plundering is beyond the scope of many... We want to change that. That said, I am assembling a stroker M96 engine tonight... What a bitch! (but I love it)

I consider myself a hobbyist mechanic and I would never DREAM of attempting this. You are a modest man.

I am also a hobbyist mechanic and installed my own fabspeed cold air intake, sport exhausts and spacers.......YOU ARE A VERY ADVANCED HOBBYIST MECHANIC.....one that I would like to have as a neighbor....... keep us updated.... this is the best rennlist post EVER! Still sorry you have to do all this and can't just drive and enjoy!!

What a brilliant thread. I'm sorry for your misfortune but, you've turned it into an incredible source of information for our community. By the way, you're quite a few levels above hobby mechanic as in my day when I was working on my Jeep, I considered bolt-ons and lift kits as hobby level. Extracting the motor, tear down and creation of tools is quite a bit more. With my 996, my level of tinkering is changing my steering wheel, seats, exhaust swap, oil changes and the like. I'm going to attempt cleaning my radiators tomorrow. Thanks again for the great info and I hope you get her back on the road soon,

I had some time to do some more parts disassembly and cleaning over the weekend, and thought I'd put up some pics showing something ugly that I found inside the oil pump. Apparently, at some point in the engine's 67K miles of use, some trash made it's way through the gears and damaged the pump housing and the gears. I suspect the trash was a piece of the seal tensioning spring I found in the sump and posted a picture of earlier in this thread. So now I need to add a new pump housing, cover, and gears to the list of parts I'll need if/when I reassemble the engine:

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I disassembled the 1-3 bank adjuster and took a couple of pics for you. Because the unit is basically sealed (with crimped closures) during the manufacturing process, this is as far as you can break the unit down without some machine work:

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AWESOME !! Thank You !! It looks like the solenoid has a drain or galley in the housing and is "open" to oil on the mounting surface. That is differant from what I was thinking. So any oil on that surface is not under pressure, but just there... is there anything or anyway for oil to go thru the solenoid? (cant see the mounting surface side) weird that mine seems to have oil coming out the wire.....(or did at last check) awesome pics.. again thanks

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Right, there is a channel that keeps any pressurized oil off the face of the solenoid. But there certainly is some oil inside the solenoid, because there doesn't seem to be anything to seal the shaft coming out of the solenoid. So if the fitment between the wire and the case breaks down, you'll probably see some oil leaking there. Maybe a good cleaning and some slow cure epoxy would be worth a try before spending a couple hundred dollars on a new solenoid. Here's a better pic:

You are awesome... Thanks a million for the very detailed photos and insight. What do you think about your motor... are you planning to get it running or is this a one way trip (tear down) -

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At this point I'm slowly proceeding down the path of a rebuild, cleaning and organizing parts, but I haven't actually bought any gaskets or bearings yet so I could still decide to do something else before I start placing orders. It also seems that 3.4 heads are a little scarce (at a reasonable price anyway, given their tendency to destroy engines) so that may ultimately come into play here as well. I did talk to a guy in Costa Mesa who claims to have welded these heads up before, but I haven't yet done any research to verify his claims.

Did you check Oklahoma Foreign, they seem to have them for $700-$800. DC Automotive seem to be out of stock, but they are usually a couple of thousand. And of course how can you tell if the used head is cracked or not.

Herre are a few on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORSC...Q5fAccessories http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...Q5fAccessories http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...Q5fAccessories I foret whether you need 1-3 or 4-6. At least Oklahoma Foreign warrants them against cracks.

I don't know, all that work and put a welded head on. Boy tough call. Yea its less money, but what is the risk. At any rate you have a great attitude about it and have really posted some great info for the benefit of all of us. GL finding the correct path for it and getting the car back on the road.