Oil Leak on '02 996

I pass this along so other can be aware of this problem: Last week I took my '02 cab to Storms Motors in Southamption for its 15k service. (I took deliver in Oct. 2001 and the car is a daily driver.) About an hour after I left it off, the service manager called me and said there was oil leak from the main rear seal area that would involve taking the engine out even though I would get the car back the same day. I mentioned that I hadn't noticed any great increase in oil usage during the time I've had the car and he said the leakage was very small. He said it would be fixed under warranty, but advised that when they removed the engine they would check the alignment of the crank and if it was out of alignment by a certain amount, I'd get a new engine from Porsche. As it turned out, the alignment was ok, although I had to bring the car back a second day because they also had to replace in oil tubes in the spark plug tubes but didn't have the parts. My invoice also made note of a "Misc 205 recall" which involved replacing the gasket on the gas cap. Shades of what occurred with the '99 996's. In any event, this experience, plus the problem I had with a very rattly convertible top that I had when I first took delivery (that the dealer fixed--cables were rubbing together) plus the recent C4 debacle of disentegrating transmissions, gives me concern as to whether Porsche's quality control is no longer what it used to be. Certainly, I had none of these problems on my '99 even after it had 55k miles.

[quote] In any event, this experience, plus the problem I had with a very rattly convertible top that I had when I first took delivery (that the dealer fixed--cables were rubbing together) plus the recent C4 debacle of disentegrating transmissions, gives me concern as to whether Porsche's quality control is no longer what it used to be. Certainly, I had none of these problems on my '99 even after it had 55k miles. <hr></blockquote> My thoughts exactly. I expressed the same sentiments <a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001749" target="_blank"> in this forum </a>. Regards.

I have an 01 996 cab with 8000km on it and have a similar but worse problem! In early June, I went in for my annual service and was told that I had an oil leak in the main seal. It was repaired after a couple of days but then the dealer said there was another leak which they were unable to locate because it had spread on the waxy surface of the engine. The dealer cleaned up the oil slick and told me to bring the car back in a month to see if they could isolate the leak. They found a further three leaks and my car was in the shop for 10 days. I am not mechanically inclined, but was basically told that the engine had a manufacturing defect and a new engine would have to be ordered, which would take 6-8 weeks. Appraently, the engine had some sheared metal in the opening where a pipe with "O" rings attaches to it. It sounded like the factory tried to force this pipe into the engine block and caused damage to the block. Because of this damage, I did not have a perfect seal. Or is my problem above the crank problem that you posted? They did mention that one of my three leaks had to do with the "mid-crankshaft" or something like that. I had to wait several days for the part to be flown in from the US. Do you think getting a new engine is something I should just sit back and accept or can I push them for more? I am hoping to get an extended warranty or a generous trade-in (in my dreams!). Should I make them pay for my annual service next year since the one I paid for this year was for a defective engine? I am almost contemplating selling the car and getting a different make as I don't want to spend the next few years at the service dept.! I am weary of what else may go wrong. By the way, last year, after I had the car for a couple of months, I had it detailed and the detailer pointed out to me at least a dozen dust particles underneath the clear coat as well as some bubbly pin-***** like paint on the edge of the hood. The detailer said that Porsche qulaity has gone down a lot in recent years as far as the finsih is concerned. After I showed the dealer the defctive paint, they were so perplexed that even they thought that I had the car re-painted. After expert inspection, they realized that it was indeed a poor factory paint job. PCNA offered to repaint the hood for me. Quality control at Prosche is indeed asleep at the wheel if you ask me. Maybe there is no quality control and this is why they are so profitable!

I think your problem was probably the "mid crankshaft". As my dealer explained it, they measure the tolerances at 12, 3, 6 and 9 and if the tolerances are off at any reading, a new engine is installed. I definitely think you should get a new drivetrain warranty since basically your engine and drivetrain are new and you should not be penalized for the 8000km you drove on the old engine. You should also ask for a certificate of authenticity with the new engine numberindicated which will prevent problems on resale in terms of the car's originality.

I know I'm going to regret this post, but after 6200 miles on my 02 C4 Cab I do not have a rattle, oil leak, or anything. Driving is 50/50 city-highway. Have had the car up to 140 mph (after break-in) and 100+ mph on rambles. Are the people having problems working their cars harder than normal or are there definitely factory defects. If they're defects are they random or would they follow a pattern that could be ID'd thru VIN numbers ahead of time. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Speed: Thanks for your suggestion, I will press PCNA for a new drivetrain warranty. That is very helpful as I would not have known to ask for that specific item. Don Watson: I live in Vancouver, BC and there are no big freeways here like most major US cities unfortunately, so I do not get to drive my car very hard. I have had my car up to 100mph for a very brief period as most of my driving is in the city. I attended the 2 day Porsche Driving Experience at Road Atlanta and went away with the idea that the retail Porsches are true to their racing counterparts and can be driven hard. I'm not so sure about that now. Anyway, the dealer told me point blank that my engine block was damaged at manufacture and I certainly did not put dust particles under my clearcoat so I am convinced that there is a quality control problem. I have also had other minor problems such as rattles in the doors, dashboard, and hardtop, not to mention electrical problems with my seat heater on two occasions. Overall, I enjoy driving my 996 but am concerned about what other problems I will have in the future and the hassles of dealing with it outside of the warranty period. <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Wilam: just to let you know that after we talked on the phone I traded my '02 C4 Cab. in for a '02 Targa last Fri. Dealer gave about a 6% premium on my best trade-in offer from others. Salesperson tried to be helpful & I'm reasonably satisfied (keep my fingers crossed). If you're not planning on trading yours in, definitely an extended warranty is justified (it was promised to me & Serv. Mgr. told me they made an application to the factory for me). They said the engine # will be inputted into their computers & no one would be able to tell it's not the original on the car. David Poon '02 Targa 6-sp Blk/Blk

Guys... I think the reason for the knowledge of more problems with our Porsches, is posting forums like this one. Porsches are cars, just like any other, and will have problems. Read some of the history of the marque. Scott

My only point was the engine problems might be traced to a series of engine numbers that if known could provide more knowledge to this group. Regarding ratio of problems to cars produced, there were 12,000+ Boxsters produced MY 2002; 8700 996's (of all NA types; 2100+ Turbos. So if Porsche shipped over 200 replacement engines as I recall an earlier post, and they were all NA 996's, that's about 2.3% anticipated defective engines, (and maybe more as time passes), so I don't necessarily accept the argument that this is a "normal" ratio. It would seem to me that if this ratio occurred in a high production mass produced vehicle like the Ford Taurus (900,000/yr...I don't know), there would be nearly 22,000 Taurus' with potentially bad engines) Note: Taurus used only as example If MY 03 is basically unchanged, then what has Porsche done to reduce this incidence? <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" /> <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" /> <img src="graemlins/icon107.gif" border="0" alt="[icon107]" />

Don... good point. My observation is just a thought.

This is defintiely a great forum for sharing the good and the bad of Porsches. I have learnt a lot during the two weeks since I discovered this board. I am learning to grin and bear the problems now that I know that my problems are not an isolated case of bad luck. Thanks everyone for your posts.

Interesting. With the multitude of replaced trannies and motors on 996's, it would seem that our concerns of replacements "devaluing" the vehicle are unfounded. Seems like everyone eventually will have a major component replaced, so nobody will sell their car "factory built"..... so no devaluing!!! &lt;/end dripping sarcasm&gt; Thank heavens I leased mine...can you say "walk away"...

Urbanski: There's nothing worse for us who paid $ to buy the P-cars, than leased returns in the resale market with rebuilt engines/tranny. Speaking of pulling down resale values.... How's that for sarcasm?! You can walk away from your P-car, but you're tromping over us while doing so! David

[quote]Originally posted by dtsp: <strong>Urbanski: There's nothing worse for us who paid $ to buy the P-cars, than leased returns in the resale market with rebuilt engines/tranny. Speaking of pulling down resale values.... How's that for sarcasm?! You can walk away from your P-car, but you're tromping over us while doing so! David</strong><hr></blockquote>heh, yeah, but I didn't built it with a bad tranny When I leased it, I never dreamed of the hassles I was inheriting!!! And I'd never personally want to drag down P-car resale values. Porsche QC seems to be dragging them down all on their own...

Don Watson: you're so lucky you haven't had any problems! I've had an intermitant oil leak that the dealers can't seem to locate. After reading this post, I'm scared to take mine in for it's 15K service. Does anyone know if the entire manufacturing takes place in one factory? Or is the engine built somewhere else in Germany and brought to Porsche for final assembly.

At 9k miles my '02 996 Cabrio (March '02 delivery, daily driver, 120 miles a day) has no problems. The convertible top squeaked like mad in the beggining, but that went away all by itself. I'll be doing the 10k mile first service soon, but up until now, no known oil leaks.