'99 996 10th birtday. Time to stop talking about RMS, yet?

Ok. So my car is approaching is 10th birthday. It was manufactured 12/98. 10 years, no RMS failure. Is it finally safe to say that when it comes to the RMS issue, either: 1. Those cars actually affected originally have had their motor replaced. 2. Those cars actually affected originally have already shown themselves at some point and been repaired by now. 3. Those cars that have never had the problem, and do not currently show any signs of the problem, have survived the test of time and miles and thus need no longer carry the stigma of impending engine catastrophy and financial doom. It is like reading about the 2.7 engines and their chain tensioner problems in the mid-70's. I see "experts" still guiding folks away from those cars for the chain tensioner and pop-off valve for the fuel injection. Are ANY of THOSE cars STILL waiting to explode? How much longer do we beat that horse? So many rookies lean on stuff that hasn't been an issue for years on some models. The Cayman guys stopped worrying about clutch pins years ago. If it was going to happen, it has already happened and been repaired. Thanks. I feel better now for having said this. PS. I apologize profusely for misspelling birthday in my title line. My normally excellent writing skills were impared by emotion and haste.

Good for you. How many miles ? My 99 is on the original engine(no RMS) at 43k miles and I love the car.

It now has migrated up the ladder to the 997 GT3s... https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-gt3-forum/447530-do-you-have-rms-pls-report-here.html https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-gt3-forum/447063-just-so-you-know-porsche-just-paid-for-my-3rd-rms-replacement.html https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-gt3-forum/447407-2nd-rms-leak-for-me.html

This car currently has 38,800 miles (so far). I did not buy it brand new, but I bought it essentially brand new in 2005 when I bought it from the original owner after he had piled on an astounding 7,500 miles in his 6 years of ownership. I thank him profusely for purchasing this beautiful car with such an excellent and lengthy choice of options and add-ons, yet driving it no more than 100 miles per month during his ownership period and thus preserving it so that I could buy it in absolutely perfectly brand new condition (except for one item I was more than happy to "repair") and at substantially less than half what he paid for it originally. When I test drove the car, one 360 circle in the driveway, I knew it was perfect and what it needed but he had not troubleshooted cleverly enough to fix himself and was thus frantic to trade off his "damaged" car for a used Viper (not mine). This beautiful car made a very loud roaring sound that nearly deafened the passengers, even at very slow speeds, and was nearly painfull at freeway speeds. I knew in an instant what was the "problem": the car was still wearing its original set of tires and they were hard as rocks from age. Four new tires later, I had a brand new car. This is not my first Porsche (have have owned 16 since 1972), nor even my first 996. This is my 4th/5th 996. I have put over 50,000 on each of the first 3 and was unaware in those days of any widespread 996 RMS issues because I never had the problem with any of them. And Brumos Porsche's Master Technicians have kept a steeley eye on all my cars for decades of happy service there and my hypochondriatic maintenance desires. This is my 4th/5th 996 because I bought it twice. Yes, twice. I am the 2nd and 4th owner of this car. I have lead a life of loose wallet and short attention span with toys. So after my first year of ownership, I sold the car to a willing buyer who (unbeknownst to me) apparently knew I was making a mistake to sell this car to anyone else. In my first year of ownership in 2005/2006 I added an additional 20,000 miles to the car - and it was not my principal daily driver. A year after I sold that car, I still had not found a suitable replacement. The Lord above made the right moves and the current owner contacted me almost a year to the day and stated he needed a change of pace now and was I interested in buying the car back at a much reduced rate. He admitted to adding another new set of Pirelli's PZero Rosso's, attending to the annual service, and solving the oil separator issue he had heard about but had not yet experienced. He also gave me back the car cover I had given him, and another new one he used in the garage to keep the dust off of the car (fitted, light cotton). For the exchange time he also had only added another 2,300 miles in that year. A car so nice I bought it twice.

I just read the threads you linked us to. I don't get outside the 996 threads much, so was surprised this is still going on. It's a design defect that's inherent to the M96 NA engine. You'd think after 10 years they'd have it fixed.

Congrats, mine was born one month later.

Isn't the average RMS failure been extensively documented to occur at 38,801 miles?

My wife's '99 986 started weeping at the RMS at 90,000 - so age/mileage is no guarantee No issue either way - it's a cosmetic issue rather than a real panic. Some evidence to show that Air Oil Separator failure can cause RMS leakage due to excessive crank case vacuum.... not yet proven, but interesting idea. Congrats on 10 years - amazingly low miles!

I have just completed an extensive documented, double blind, interweb based statistical analysis that demonstrated without question that RMS problems develop 95% of the time, in cars that have a RMS issue, somewhere between 5 miles and the day they burst into flames for unrelated electrical issues. And the numbers are even more alarming for vehicles using non-recommended oils in combination with yellow side markers. As an interesting side note, running tail up - poser style - at low speed was shown to dramatically increase the likelyhood that the driver was a former Miata owner, but was otherwise unrelated to RMS issues.

Quotes source post: 5693614

could you explain then what impaired your spelling skills the 2nd time And my RMS failure was discovered at 44K miles.

Congrats on your 10th year !! Mine is a November/1997 build, one of the first production 996's; perfect, no RMS issues ever. Had the clutch recently replaced; the Porsche mechanic was astounded as the RMS was perfectly dry. Anyhow, I keep a "lucky charm" at home (a bag with all the necessary spare parts for RMS replacement) in the hope I'll never have to use it. If and when I do get an RMS failure, my mechanich will do it in under 8 hours.

63K miles, all original (including clutch), no issues. Dry as the desert. Top of the engine looks new. It's quite a testament to Porsche that their owners expect the cars to never have a problem and run perfectly forever. It is also truly amazing that anyone buys a Porsche, considering the long list of poorly designed engines documented on Rennlist since 1934.

Quotes source post: 5694793

The reason for the second misspelling is obvious. Sadly, I am missing one of my i's.

Quotes source post: 5695255

Although I expect and accept the maintenance on a 996, there are a long list of cars that are virtually maintenance free until at least 100k miles. Among them just about every Japanese car built in the last 30 years.

Quotes source post: 5694578

LOL!!!

Yea but a Honda CiViC or toyata prious wont do 175 mph now will it... In fact if you want a Hionda jap type car to NOT make the 100k mark, all you would have to do is 175 mph..... once... end of car POOF!! LMAO <thinking> what happens at 100k anyhow?? Ed

My 99 is at 102k and still driven weekly. No issues other than some alignments and a water pump.

Quotes source post: 5695403

1. There was this issue with sludge in Toyota engines. 2. The Nissan V6s in the G35/350Z manual transmissions have a tendency to consume oil leading to engine replacements. Grass is always greener..

Quotes source post: 5695403

In 37K miles you can add my car to that list.

Quotes source post: 5695403

Having owned more than a few Japanese cars, I would have to dispute that claim. While they do tend to be less maintenance intense than many other cars, you might want to explain to me why we had to replace an engine in a Civic at 50,000 miles or why the clutch in an Acura Integra had to be replaced at 12,000 miles. On my current 2007 Honda Civic I have to take it back for two recall items and the driver's sun visor broke last week. The service manager told me that was a common flaw and why they keep a large stock of visors in stock. My 996 is now over 100,000 miles and has been mostly trouble free, just maybe not quite as good as some of the Hondas I have owned, but then it gets pushed a whole lot more. The Honda seldom sees redline, while the Porsche meets it everyday it is driven. There is no sense in owning a Porsche and babying it.

Thundertub, So are you bragging, that you have not had to do the RMS? Maybe if you drove it more you too could replace your RMS.

Ah, 1303RS, nice to have you finally chime in. I'm not bragging. Just sayin'. Wondering if the dark cloud had passed or if I needed to keep my prayers going on this. Folks seem to be split, as I expected, but wanted to hear others give an update on mileage they have achieved without this problem as well, The higher the better. If I get 99,000 miles and THEN have the problem like the Boxster guy, I won't feel cheated. The new alcantara steering wheel and shifter feel AWESOME. Probably have quelled the monthly new car fever for some time.

Ttub, Im glad yours hasnt happend yet. I was looking at the e-bake, I think it can be done too. More homework first. Glad the Alcantara is a hit. Always knew it would be. Post some pics. to show it off. Nice avatar by the way

Congratulations and thanks for posting the positive story! My 996 has a very similar story. I have 34,000 miles on my '99. No issues so far. But, I can't take it anymore - can you post a picture of your '99 996 pls? Once you started talking about mods, I had to ask. Thanks, Thundertub! Bob

Rotokim, Stop by the Super 8 motel in Black Mountain, NC on August 31 and we can look and chat it all up together in person. See my thread on the Tail of the Dragon. Your car looks STUNNING in your avatar. I have been lazy about posting stuff. Once I get started I get long-winded about it all. I am convinced that the 996 Aero coupe is the most beautiful design Porsche has ever done, and that the stupid "purists" ruined a beautiful thing and thus we later got squared-off rear spoilers and upright round headlights again. The 996 Aero coupe is fluid and dynamic, like the air it slips through.

Quotes source post: 5696844

I would explain that your sampling is a bit small, exceptions are not the rule, anecdotal evidence is not a good way to make generalizations, my statement started with "expect and accept" and included "just about."

I posted my first picture of my car on the thread titled "Dedicated to the Mk I Aero", post #169. That was the day after I took the first delivery in 2004. My car has a very unusual pre-Mk I Aero kit installed by Brumos when the car was first delivered to them 01/99. The front has splitters and the sides are smooth rather than twisted. And there are no spats. But the spoiler is a factory one-piece build with an adjustable upper spoiler. Still has the original engine room stickers on the underside.

Quotes source post: 5695403

Once again, read your last sentence. If that is not a sweeping generalization unsupported by hard facts, I don't know what is. I have only owned a grand total of 9 Japanese cars and on the whole they averaged out maintenance wise just a bit better than the 11 or 12 german cars I have owned. I never had one that was perfect for 100,000 miles. They all required some kind of extra repair or another even following the maintenance schedules. To the best of my knowledge nobody has ever succeeded in making a mass market car that is absolutely perfect.

Quotes source post: 5704711

Nobody has made a perfect car? So that's why I have all those tools... I will rephrase: Some people expect cars to last a long time because there are those cars that last a long time. Therefore, they sometimes expect a Porsche to be as maintenance free as some other cars. I am not one of those for various reasons, but those people may have a case. Some people do not understand tongue in cheek, so it may become necessary to rephrase (see above.)

Thank you for the compliment, Thundertub. It made my day. I was actually very pleased that there was only one other mk1 aero at the Parade in Charlotte (beautiful guards red '01 from Atlanta). I loved that there were so many unique Porsches at Parade, but none of them looked just like mine. I've looked up Black Mountain, NC. It's about 3 hours from home for me. I'll check out the thread under Tail of the Dragon - hope we can meet and have a drink. Bob

Kim, I really look forward to meeting you that weekend. I am brining another buddy who owns a black/black 996 coupe. I'll let you two guys run in front and behind me and we'll look like a strawberry Oreo. LOL!