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New to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water

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18 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW

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YOUR RESEARCHNew to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water

Leading reported evidence

Clean water

Suggestion or failed attempt

No successful repair reported for this finding.

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Unsuccessful attempts
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Discussions
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.

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Suggestion

Or if a minor case you may get away with doing several flushes with hot water and shout detergent....followed my several flushes with clean water.

New to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water
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Leading evidence: 'Clean water' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Clean water' (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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Replace water hoses

Suggestion or failed attempt

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context

Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.

Discussions that contain suggestions
1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion

You can start at the oil cooler to see if the bladder is shot (there is youtube on a DIY) but I think you have a cracked head and dependent on how severe it is you may need to replace the water hoses.

New to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water
Frequently discussed actions (2)

These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.

Clean water

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion

Or if a minor case you may get away with doing several flushes with hot water and shout detergent....followed my several flushes with clean water.

New to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water

Replace water hoses

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion

You can start at the oil cooler to see if the bladder is shot (there is youtube on a DIY) but I think you have a cracked head and dependent on how severe it is you may need to replace the water hoses.

New to Porsche, 911 C4 mixing oil in water
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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.

18 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.

  • Rennlist: 1 discussions

0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.

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Generation: 20261027T165639Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources

POST 1 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

So I have traded another car for a dead Porsche 911 Carrera 4 2001. After reading about all the failures I tried to find a new engine but they were very expensive. I figure I should at least find my problem before spending that amount of money. I figured I should try to remove the heat exchanger and see if it is broken. Any advice regarding this procedure?

POST 2Original post

Renntech will probably have some guidance on that if you become a paid member. They seem to be a great resource. Otherwise, consider getting the Bently Manual and the 101 Projects For Your Porsche books. I mention those because it sounds like you may be doing a lot of work on your own and they're good to have around. I don't have any experience pulling the heat exchanger on the 996, so I can't help more.

POST 4 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

Thanks, I'll look at the Renntech place and look for service manuals. The car is silver with black and orange vinyl. Not something I would have done but it'll stay on to protect the paint while I work on it

POST 6 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

The previous owner said he took it out of storage and then let his son borrow it. The car overheated and they found oil in the water. When I got the car the water is like caramel, light brown and seem to have been "whipped" into the water. Much like many of the BMWs I've had with cracked heads but that was water in the oil (same mixture) The way I figure, the error must be somewhere where oil pressure is always higher than water pressure. No water is going into the oil system but a lot of oil is moving into the coolant system.

POST 7Original post

from what I have read the cooling system doesn't react well to oil coolant intermix, don't quote me but you might want to flush out the system before the mix degrades the hoses. AOS (air oil separator) may be something else to read up on. Interesting colour combo, works with those wheels

POST 8Original post

You can start at the oil cooler to see if the bladder is shot (there is youtube on a DIY) but I think you have a cracked head and dependent on how severe it is you may need to replace the water hoses. Or if a minor case you may get away with doing several flushes with hot water and shout detergent....followed my several flushes with clean water. Either way I would get the car to a good indy but get some pricing first.

POST 9 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

Thank you for the answers. I'll probably remove the engine to get access to everything. From what I have read I should upgrade the IMS bearing while I'm at it. Maybe I'll find some small leaks I can take care of as well

POST 10Original post

Do the RMS while you're in there too, and you may as well just switch the AOS too. Peace of mind blah blah blah.

POST 11Original post

I keep these hosted for members to download. Links are: http://www.adrive.com/public/zJ6p56/996.serv.man.99.zip http://www.adrive.com/public/9uwGxQ/Porsche996Man.zip

POST 12 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

Great, thanks for the links to service manuals. I will download tommorrow when I'm on the computer. I need to read into what the AOS does. Also tried to look at what I need for the IMS upgrade. Is the LN kit with install kit the best choice or are there several alternatives out there? Different solutions?

POST 13Original post

One of the symptoms of a blown head gasket is a chocolate or creamy colored oil. Also a loss in the coolant level and steamy looking exhaust fumes. Sounds more like a faulty AOS to me though. If you are removing the engine you will find your problem no doubt.

POST 14 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

Exhaust fumes seemed normal to me. I haven't been able to find a good explanation how the AOS works. It separates the oil from the crankcase ventilation but I would like to understand what the diaphragm does and how it is heated by coolant

POST 15Original post

Yes, good choice on both counts. It does look a bit...ethnic, as currently outfitted. Enjoy your silver car, once you've restored the power.

POST 16Original post

Head gaskets do not blow on the m96. More than likely you have a cracked head. Depending where the crack is there are shops online that can repair them.

POST 17 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

I'll inspect the heads a soon as the engine is out of the car. Not sure when I'll get the time. At least I drained the engine from fluids today. The water looks tasty

POST 18Original post

Quotes source post: 12335094

Yes, the 101 projects book will definitely come in handy while you prepare for the fixes that need to done. Otherwise, these tech articles here should be helpful. There's a very detailed one about the IMS bearing as well. -Luccia

This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.