108 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHMy 3.4L Engine Rebuild
Leading reported evidence
Replace oil cooler
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
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Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
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Leading evidence: 'Replace oil cooler' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check pictures if i have any piston close ups' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
It has little to do what oil was used but everything to do with NEVER changing the oil at all.....the owner just kept topping it off for years.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
He used stock c2 pads and hardware on TT calipers and GT3 rotors.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Sorry for the low quality pictures I used my work camera today.
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Suggestion · Original poster
I'll check my pictures if I have any piston close ups.
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Suggestion
My guides were worn more than that on my BMW that even new chain tensioner's couldn't account for all the slack so it continued ticking until I could replace all the plastic chain guides.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
108 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T135432Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I'd like to share my first Porsche rebuild experience. So Long story short, I bought a 99 C2 coupe and now there is oil in my coolant. I made a few calls and visited a few dedicated Porsche repair shops. I chose 9XX Motors in Long Beach because I read good reviews on on this forum, its near my home, and Jason, the owner, is very knowledgeable.
Since I asked nicely, Jason, allowed me to take pics of the rebuild process.
The engine of my car will not be out until Monday. So I guess I'll start with the pic of the night I found the oil in my coolant reservoir.
On the way to the shop
9XX Motors facility
Customer's Boxster 3.8L hybrid
More pics to come.....
Sounds like you and your Porsche will be on the road again soon. Lots of Porsches being worked on in the photo, nice to know that the shop is familiar with the brand and its inherent foibles.
Owned it for exactly one week today, 129k miles, the rebuild will consist of new chains, water pump, ims, seals, gaskets, rings, AOS. I might be missing a few things but I will take pics of everything as the build comes along.
Thanks everyone! I will try to document and take pics of as much of the rebuild process as possible.
Until the motor's torn down you'll have no idea what the source of the intermix is. Your parts list is optimistic though you've covered all the ancillary parts. The source of the intermix will dictate what else is required. Hopefully it's only a cracked head.
Keep us informed. There's a lot of us with 996 engine rebuilding experience here....
Jdm538 sorry to hear about your car have these issues so soon after your purchase but rest assured your car will be up and running stronger than ever here soon. Jason at 9XX Motors knows these engines very well.
BTY that's my silver 996 in the lift next to yours
Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Visited 9XX Motors today and saw my car on the lift getting prepared to drop the engine.
An upskirt shot
Car came with an updated oil pan.
So the previous owner's mechanic decided to break the throttle cable clip and JB quick weld it back.
More updates to come......
Does that offer a noticeable improvement vs a plenum? I have 200 cel cats, headers and aftermarket exhaust but that's it. I'm looking for all the cheap hp I can get out of a 99 3.4L.
rich
Updates....
Engine has been dropped
What a dirty engine
some water deposit
pretty sure this is bad
wow ghetto rigged by previous mechanic
there shouldn't be oil/water going into there
the oil cooler was replaced before
the clutch is pretty much done
scored flywheel
My camera ran out of batteries so I was only able to take a few photos.
I got some overnight parts for the car today.
New flywheel
New clutch
Visited the 9XX and found the engine partially torn down
Some oil deposit on the intake side
not the parts for my engine but I thought it was worthy of a photo.
stay tuned for more updates ...
Hopefully its destined for the scrap yard. Imre your such a scavenger.
I hope the OP knows how much this repair is really going to cost. I repeat, who buys a roller to bring to a shop??
I think it was more clear in the other thread but it was still murky after several posts. Seems he knew he was paying a "roller price" so he must have or should have known it was a roller.
I would still like to see more rebuild updates posted and costs. Great info for myself and others interested in these engines. So thanks for posting the updates.
With my camera fully charged and my engine taken apart I have a big update with lots of pics.
Half of my engine torn down
Piston rings need replacing
The IMS bearing is really bad... (lots of play)
other crank case in the hot tank
The following is not my car stuff....... but I thought it would be nice to share..
Jason showed me the difference between cayman s head vs 996 3.4L head
cayman s
3.4L 996
intake ports shaved
crank and bearing case
shaved down to the copper
Transmission rebuild
2nd gear pop out look...
torn up bearings
Thanks for actually taking out the *****, unlike most that just turn them and check it for play. Based on the condition of a few, looks like a rebuild was inevitable soon anyways.
Never thought I would see you type that Alpy.
Anyway, yeh looks like the trans was about to self destruct which would have upped your costs even more. Curious, what kind of estimate are they giving you for the total bill?
Keep the pics coming. Awesome job!
On a side note, looks like another DR IMSB failure was coming. Thought these were rare but it seems theres been a few posted recently of the "low risk" engines.
If you are willing, for the cost of a couple cases of beer and the cost of shipping, I'll take it off your hands. Let me know if you are intrrested in this and I'll PM you.
That's not my transmission, I just took pics of other stuff that Jason is working on.
Sounds good. Let me find out how much the shipping is and I'll let you know.
My build Monday update....
Thrust washer old and new.
before Jason took off the right side guide rails
Right guide rail old vs new.
The left side is abnormally not as bad as the right side.
The IMS bearingas a lot of play
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** The following is random photos **
Track 996 with Leather Recaros
Boxster engine bay with the 3.8L build
View from interior
So the chain rails were really grooved down. And the IMSB had a lot of play! What did the bearing itself look like?
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
There were no obvious signs of what the intermix problem could have been. The heads were sent out to be pressure tested and resurfaced. I will find out tomorrow or Thursday when the heads come back from the machine shop.
that's the stuff! Beautiful picture in terms of here is what the IMSB looks like before catastrophe. Never saw one like that.
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
Maybe it's the camera angle, but notice the unequal ball spacing @ 6 oclock as these are supposed to be equidistant caged ***** . Also the designed ball population for this application seems sparce offering marginal support.
Bob
01 C4
31 Ford cp chp & ch, 302/350
40 ******, 302/350, IFS
38 Ford cp, 327/350, IFS
57 Belair
62 356B --long ago
Sorry, my only reason to point this out is because you said you would find out "tomorrow or Thursday".
Seeing as it was Wednesday night when the post was made, "Tomorrow" would have been "Thursday".
Seems pretty normal on a 100k+ mileage car. My guides were worn more than that on my BMW that even new chain tensioner's couldn't account for all the slack so it continued ticking until I could replace all the plastic chain guides.
So...the line of thinking is that in the absence of obvious component failure that head warpage or a failed gasket could be the cause?
JRGordon, any speculation?
Update....
Jason called the machine shop and they told him no cracks BUT the head is warped.
the bottom end is assembled
new IMS bearing in place
some of the things that will be replaced: new chains, piston rings, bolts, gaskets, bearings, seals, air oil separator, water pump, thermostat. I know I am forgetting stuff
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random stuff...
New Update...
My heads are back from the machine shop. Valves lapped and inspected.
My engine is ready to be assembled.
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Random stuff again..
difference between 3.4 head & 3.6 head
3.4 on the left 3.6 on the right
check it out LN on top & OEM on bottom
from oldest to latest IMS bearing styles
What a beautiful sight...
My engine is back in one piece.
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RANDOM STUFF AGAIN...
Remember to change your oil
look at that gunk
this has been a great thread, keep up your reports once you're using the car. This might end up being a good advertisement for 9XX.
That last picture of the sump . . . OMG! Luckily when I pulled mine, which was original, it looked like it was on it's first oil change! Running the oil to long in these cars is a death sentence!
I was thinking the same thing, or maybe they were using cooking oil ... that pic is unbelievable.
I removed my oil pan yesterday to install a deep sump kit and baffle. Was relieved to find no sludge and no metallic fragments. Had been having nightmares about finding a quarter pound of timing chain pieces :-)
Was that your sump or another engine at the shop?? Those pics are pretty unbelievable. I can't believe someone could let it get that far and not notice...
I've seen engines with more sludge that that. It has little to do what oil was used but everything to do with NEVER changing the oil at all.....the owner just kept topping it off for years. I bet you that's the case here too.
If you think about it, it kinda does as synthetic oil lets one neglect your OCI intervals longer since it doesn't break down as fast as dyno and can provide better protection even in extended situations over dyno.
The above pic looks like the PO took Porsche's 15k OCI but was too cheap and thought he could do those intervals with dyno oil.
As probably most know, another way to sludge & ruin an engine is not allowing the block & oil temps to get hot enough ---long enough, for the oil to do its cleansing & release of moisture----inherent in synthetic lubricants when cooled. (short trips)
Bob
01 C4
31 Ford cp chp & ch, 302/350
40 ******, 302/350, IFS
38 Ford cp, 327/350, IFS
57 Belair
62 356B --long ago
The sump photo is nuts... When I dropped my oil pan it looked brand new after one cottons wipe the oil was gone and sump was clean!
No wonder people end up having engine problem when you see thing like these!!!
Back from Vegas to see the car started and running!
Thursday....
Monday....
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More random photos.
Engines arriving for rebuild
Wait what cracked head? You mentioned a heads was warped (post #55) but said the machine shop stated they weren't cracked.
Do you have photos of the head damage you can post? That would explain the intermix....
I spoke to him offline, and the ~$9k was quoted for a potentially cracked head before the teardown. It would be interesting to see the final bill, which should be less(?)
I want to see a video of the car running/driving. Excited!
No I did not have a cracked head. Jason's quote is $9,000 flat rate for all rebuilds, it also covers head core if the head is cracked. He did warn me if there is damage to other parts like case or crank then he or I would have to source those parts but the labor cost doesn't change.
I'll have a video up soon. I found out the previous owner did a weird TT brake upgrade. He used stock c2 pads and hardware on TT calipers and GT3 rotors. The pads are barely hanging on the calipers. It very unsafe to drive so I ordered the correct pads and hardware.
Look on the caliper to make sure they are indeed TT caliper part number. What you are saying doesn't seem to make sense physically unless you also have custom bracket spacers on there. It could be some other kind of Brembo calipers possibly.
I spoke to Jason today and The rotors are definitely GT3 but the caliper is unknown. I bought TT pads and and hardware and they bolted right on. As of right now I am unsure how the previous owner did the swap as they are definitely bigger than stock C2 front/rear brakes.
I know how he did it. Check the rear of the calipers and tell me if you see any markings. I'm currently in the process of doing the same poor man's gt3 brake mod myself.
I'd like to hear the details of what you're doing with your brakes.
to the OP when will you get to drive with the new motor? Like to hear about that as well.
I apologize for the lapse in updates. I took the car home today and was able to take a start-up video. I'll take more driving videos of the car this weekend. So far so good. The car sounds great and runs strong.
1999 Porsche 911 996 Rebuild - YouTube
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As usual here are some random pictures....
Nice, glad you're back up and running.
It's good to see that you're running the black cap mod instead of the orange. You'll sacrifice a couple ponies but it will be more reliable instead.
So... How's the car running after 10 days or so and are you going to tell us what your final rebuild costs were? Did he keep to his original proposal?....
I am very curious to know how. I was able to check the front caliper markings yesterday and the part number comes up as gt3 mk1 front calipers. I didn't notice any spacers or unusual bolts. I'll check the rear calipers this coming weekend.
The car is running great. The engine sounds and idles well, no stumbles or hiccups. It has been a pleasure to drive. I'm still in the process of breaking-in the engine so I haven't really experienced its full potential yet.
The quote of $9,000 stayed the same and yes He kept his original proposal.
I stopped by 9XX today to have Jason make sure everything is OK on my car.
I don't really have any updates on my car since its running well now so here are some random pics. Sorry for the low quality pictures I used my work camera today.
Cracked 3.4L case.....
Another cracked case all the way from Mexico
Cracked 3.4L head (barely noticeable)
My favorite... Cracked crank under black light and magnetized dye
Anyone want to buy my B&M SSK?
